Windows 8 Windows Media Player video quality issue and VLC and Metro Video Player problem

Hello guys, I dunno if this is a Windows 8 conflict issue but I am having some problems with the quality the way a video plays on the default windows media player. When I play any video using the WMP, the video looks either too vivid or too dark or too saturated where it can be adjusted using the intel hd 4000 media profile (darken,vivid,brighten,default).

From those 4 profiles i test, the video quality does not seem right and here is how i found out, when i play the same video i play on WMP on the VLC player and the default Metro Video Player, the video quality looks right and normal where it looks natural. Because of that, I think the problem is not the monitor or the intel hd 4000 because the video looks fine on VLC and Metro Video Player but not on WMP. Another thing is that the video quality when i have the VLC and WMP playing the same video side by side changes only on the WMP whenever i change the intel media profile (darken,vivid,brighten,default) but the VLC stays the same normal natural look.

BTW, the issue also exist while playing youtube videos where the video quality is not right like on WMP.

I dunno if anyone is having this issue but the summary of it is that video quality on WMP and Youtube looks abnormal and is affected by the intel graphics 4000 media profile changing. Playing same videos on VLC and the default Metro Video player isn't affected by the intel 4000 media profile changing and the videos stays normal and natural.

 

Have you run the wizard to calibrate/adjust your profile? Not for WMP, but for Windows? Also, try updating the driver for the Intel HD 4000. It could be a common display issue that was patched more recently.

 

I already have the latest intel hd 4000 driver @prostar. How do I calibrate or adjust the profile for windows? Gotta understand that the problem is not the display or the viewing of photo but the videos that are playing on WMP and youtube. The videos looks normal and fine when viewing on VLC and the Metro Video player.

 

That's what gets me. I believe VLC is capable of using hardware acceleration if you have dedicated graphics, and as far as I recall, so does WMP. So unless hardware acceleration is disabled in WMP or you need different codecs, said programs shouldn't be rendering/processing video using different hardware. Flash, on the other hand, does not use hardware acceleration to my knowledge, so it is probably processing video via the Intel graphics by programming default.

To calibrate Windows color profile and additional info: Color management settings: frequently asked questions

 

Ty for replying, just clear something up that i forgot, this one only have the intel hd 4000 so no dedicated nvidia/ati gpu.

What's weird is that everytime i change the intel media profile, the quality of video on youtube videos and wmp changes, but the video quality on vlc player or the metro video player does not and it stays normal and that is what i want to be on the WMP and youtube videos.

 

Hmm, then let me ask: did this laptop come with Windows 8? Or did you upgrade (and if you upgraded, did you notice the problem on the previous version of the OS)?

 

It came preloaded originally with Windows 8.

 

Only thing I can think of from here on then is to uninstall the current Intel HD graphics driver, and download the latest driver from Intel's site (or use the Intel/chipset driver from your computer manufacturer's support page). If you still run into the problem, then try contacting your reseller or manufacturer for support. Sorry I'm not of much more help.

 

Hey Prostar, problem solved!!

On the HD4000, Intel enables Adaptive Contrast Enhancement by default and it makes videos look really weird and dull or kinda too whitish.

 

Well there you go! Glad you found what it was. I even conferred with someone else and he thought it was a faulty chip.

 

Hi Prostar, can't be a faulty chip because the video looks fine on VLC and the windows 8 metro video player and it only shows on youtube or wmp. If it was a defective chip, then the problem would show on all video players right?

 

Depends on the defect. But in any case, now we both know for future reference. :thumbsup:

 

Hey Colpolite,

Thank you so much for this article! Your problems with Windows Media Player exactly mirrored mine and I wondered if I was the only one as I just brought a new laptop and was pretty upset over why a Windows Media Player 12 had a poor picture quality compared to previous versions. I spent hours and hours looking online for a solution and finally came across your article with exactly the same problems I was having. Unfortunately, I couldn’t work out how to change the Adaptive Contrast Enhancement, so I came across another article which I thought I would include for anyone else that comes across this. The key for me was the “Application Settings” so the below is a copy of how to change. Thank you once again. You are my “IT Guardian Angel”!!

##It might be you have image enhancement enabled in the Intel graphics driver. Open the Intel graphics utility and go to Advanced Mode, under the Media section make sure Adaptive Contrast Enhancement is disabled, and make sure the other settings are set for "Application Settings".

On the HD4000, Intel enables Adaptive Contrast Enhancement by default, goodness knows why as video looks dreadful with this gimmick turned on. They might do the same on all of them.##

Cheers, mate!