VLC Colour Issues During Playback

fitch.j · Member Joined: 14 May 2009 Location: United Kingdom

Hello,

I'm having issues with VLC and i'm not entirely sure why.

I've been working on a video clip today in after effects, and exported it to an AVI. This file plays fine in Windows Media Player 11. I also uploaded it onto Youtube, and it plays fine there... however when I open it in VLC and it is displayed with entirely wrong colours. I have only recently installed VLC on this machine and havent messed around with any settings so i'm not sure what it could be. Any help would be apprecieated.

Here is the file playing as it should (Slightly orange looking): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D29vKOmhOus&feature=channel_page

And here is a Screenshot of how VLC plays the file (Very Blue): http://j-fitch.com/vlcsnap-3294903.jpg

I have the feeling that it is something very obvious that i just cant see.

Thanks for any help...

jagabo · Member Joined: 09 Dec 2005 Location: none

AVI is a container. It can contain video compressed (or not) with any of hundreds of different codecs. What video codec are you using? I suspect the chroma channels are reversed in VLC for some reason.

VLC uses its own built in codecs rather than installed DirectShow codecs (what WMP uses). So there could be a codec problem.

VLC could be using a different video renderer (what finally puts decompressed video onto the screen so you can see it) than WMP. The problem could be happening there too.

Maybe you could supply a few seconds of your AVI and others could see if VLC has the same issue on their system. That will tell you if it's a decoding or renderer problem.

fitch.j · Member Joined: 14 May 2009 Location: United Kingdom

I Believe it is uncompressed. I Export from AE under Lossless settings.

I've uploaded a 1s clip. I've also noticed that VLC plays all of my AE exports like this, with wierd colour representation. It seems to play all of my other videos ok. (Other Avi's, WMV's MOV's, MTS's etc)

Here is the link, Thanks for any help:

http://j-fitch.com/vidsample1sec.avi

jagabo · Member Joined: 09 Dec 2005 Location: none

Your sample is uncompressed 24 bit RGB. VLC (version 0.0.8.a) does indeed play it with the wrong colors (looks like the red and blue channels are reversed). It also plays other uncompressed RGB files incorrectly, so it's not something particular about your file. All other players I tried played the video (and others) correctly. I'll see if I can find any setting that might fix the problem later.

fitch.j · Member Joined: 14 May 2009 Location: United Kingdom

Ok, thank you.. I'll keep looking as well but cant seem to work it out. It seems like it could be a VLC Codec issue then?

Anyone else any ideas on how to fix this?

jagabo · Member Joined: 09 Dec 2005 Location: none

I wasn't able to find any settings in VLC that let you specify the order of the RGB bytes (eg BGR instead of RGB). It looks like this is simply a bug in recent versions of VLC. Every other player I tried (WMP 6.4, WMP 11, MPCHC, MPC, KMPlayer, Total Media Extreme, and Divx Player) played it with the correct colors.