VLC Media Player Problem under Vista

[Update] I tried the latest version of VLC player (0.8.6d) and it played OK without modification. 12/27/2007

VLC is my favorite media player. It plays almost every media format and you can get it for every major platforms.

I tried VLC to play some AVI files on Vista RC2. It didn’t play them properly. I can hear sound but no video showing. I remember running into similar problems on XP. I had to reduce the color from 24 bit to 16 bit. I tried to do the same on Vista RC2, but it’s a no go. Still no video.

I then found this solution. It tells you to set the video rendering engine to OpenGL. I tried to use other settings and found that “DirectX video output” and “Windows GDI video output” also work. Here are the steps.

  1. Open VLC media player.
  2. Click on Settings and select Preferences… .
  3. Expand Video and click on Output modules. Note that DON’T expand Output modules, just click on it.
  4. Check Advanced options in the lower right corner.
  5. Set Video output module to either “DirectX“, “OpenGL” or “Windows GDI
    vlcpref.jpg

You’ll need to restart VLC media player after the change.

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50 Comments

  1. ok i dont know how to follow those instruction, when you go to the output modules thingy, how does it work after? how do you select them?

  2. thanks, i ended up using OpenGL seems to work the best for me, Direct X disabled the areo (its dosent really make a difference, areo is turned back on after you finsh watching something anyway) Windows GDI worked but seem to be missing alot of colors,(tested using 1080p simpsons movie trailer)

  3. Thanks Amida168, good work. Was already downloading that Softpedia package, in the meanwhile I did some research and I found out, it’s related to Alexa and has lots of malware included. I like that VLC player too and I’m glad it works now with Vista.

  4. this helped for me, but cannot click any menu items with mouse (mouse click just toggles fullscreen)

    however dvd menu can be navigated with arrow keys and enter.

    also on fullscreen gdi keyboard commands dont work, and quality is slightly reduced with an occasional millisecond lag. havent fully tried the other options

  5. Thanks alot! I was worried there was something wrong because I coudn’t play the files using VLC. You saved my day ๐Ÿ˜‰

  6. Thank you I just installed Vista, going through all the esential apps VLC instals no problem but only sound play no video. A quick google and your solution pops up. Many thanks without it I would not have found the silly ascii art option.

  7. Thank you so much ^3^!!! I was going crazy! It kept doing this stupid thing where I could only see the video when the subtitles were active D: that’s no way to watch a movie

  8. Aw man. Quick search and this thread comes up.

    Vista’s compatibility issues are getting annoying. Thanks for the quick tip. Now I can go back to using VLC again!

  9. HELP…when i go into the preferences to change the module output, i dont see directx, the only options i have are cube or transparant cube?!

  10. thankss sssssssssssooooooooooooo much!!!

    i thought i’d loose all my divx converted files ๐Ÿ˜€

    gdi works best for me too ๐Ÿ™‚

  11. Mike,

    You looked at the wrong place. The CORRENT setting is at Video -> Output modules. The setting you talked about is at Video -> Output modules -> OpenGL .

  12. dude you rock, i guess the rest of us are just too lazy to spend hours looking into the preferances options. thanks again. man what a let down vista is eh? all the good programs dont work ie. powerstrip, daemon tools (well u have to update) and others too.

  13. Sorry but none of the above worked for me. Can ger Media Player classic to work fine under Viata (business) but not VLC media Player.

    Anybody else have the same problem?

  14. I have vista for business on my new laptop from Dell. I have tried changing to OpenGl and DirectX. I don’t have the option for WindowGDI. When I expand Video – and Output modules, I can’t tell which is actually selected. When I move my curser to one of the 3 I press enter. Then Save but nothing seems to change. Also, my DVD has a menu that can be viewed but when I play the movie, all I get is sound.

  15. Bill,

    You forgot to check the “Advanced options” in the lower right corner. Also, don’t expand “Output modules”, just click on it. Take a closer look at the screenshot and you’ll know how to do it.

  16. ^^^ that’s pretty impressive, don’t think i’ve ever seen a success rate like that before on a forum!

    Here’s another one for the list: It fixed it for me! DirectX didn’t work, but others are fine

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