Windows Media Player vs Media Player Classic Quality

[The Patri0t]

I am amazed, to find out that the Windows Media Player has better quality, colours etc. than Media Player Classic. What's the reason? I am too used to Media Player Classic so I was very surprised. What's the difference here and can same result be achieved with Media Player Classic? I'm just wondering, I don't mind using Windows Media Player now.

See the difference for yourself; Windows Media Player to Left & Media Player Classic to right. I did not change any settings on either player. NVidia control panel settings are at default too.

[Xahid]

I dont see much difference, just MPC has little brightness, which we want usually !

[Glorious]

Which renderer are you using in MPC?

[The Patri0t]

I dont see much difference, just MPC has little brightness, which we want usually !

What for?

[lnmnky]

I had the same problem. I enabled FFDshow with "preferred" merit. And then enabled upscaling for videos below 720p.

Seems to have fixed it for me in MPC anyway.

I think WMP just scales the image better. MPC shows the actual pixels in the movie. (unless you turn on upscaling in FFDSHOW)

this was the thread : https://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?show...=805582&hl=

[The Patri0t]

Which renderer are you using in MPC?

Default whatever it would be since I have not changed any setting as mentioned before.

Luna Monkey: Thanks, will check it out.

[Guest xiphi]

WMP seems to have better color. MPC he just looks pale. lol I only use MPC on my laptop for when I need to have the volume louder than the system maximum.

[SoapyHamHocks Member]

Default whatever it would be since I have not changed any setting as mentioned before.

Luna Monkey: Thanks, will check it out.

Media Player Classic hasn't been updated in a while. Try MPC-HC with EVR and see how the quality compares

[The Patri0t]

Media Player Classic hasn't been updated in a while. Try MPC-HC with EVR and see how the quality compares

It is Media Player Classic Homecinema actually but thanks for telling since I believe the version that comes with codec pack isn't 64bit, I'm trying it now. Same with it and the sound isn't coming with 64bit.

[Cldmani]

I only use WMP cause there is a 64bit version of it. Thats the only reason. If there was a 64bit version of VLC or Media Player classic, i would switch right away.

[franzon]

I am amazed, to find out that the Windows Media Player has better quality, colours etc. than Media Player Classic. What's the reason?

because WMP11 uses the Vista's Enhanced Video Renderer (EVR)

[SoapyHamHocks Member]

I only use WMP cause there is a 64bit version of it. Thats the only reason. If there was a 64bit version of VLC or Media Player classic, i would switch right away.

There is a 64bit version of MPC-HC. http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/

[Udedenkz]

I don't have this problem, make sure you have allowed full dynamic range in your driver options,

For example for Nvidia GPUs,

Right Click On Desktop -> Got To Nvidia Control Panel -> Adjust Video Color Settings -> Advanced -> Set the Dynamic Range To Full (0 - 255).

I am surprised that WMP bypasses the driver settings, it seems, as the driver settings are user set and should be honored by the player.

One thing that I noticed that is rather disturbing though,

audiodg.exe (Sound + Digital Rights Management) uses 1-10% CPU with WMP: Classic Home Cinema, while it uses 0% with Windows Media Player. Is this done to promote the use of Windows Media Player?

Edited August 18, 2009 by Udedenkz

[soulburner]

I know what's the problem here - depending on the colorspace, videos have colors ranging from 0 to 255 or from 16 to 235. When you're displaying movies on a standard CRT TV, you should use the second color space. On LCD monitors and modern LCD TVs you should use "PC" colors, 0-255.

To use that in MPC or MPC-HC, enable pixel shaders and select 16-235 -> 0-255 (right click on the movie -> shaders).

It's always been bugging me and I only recently discovered what's the real problem. Different players and codecs use different colors. It probably could be done with nVidia graphic drivers too, as Udedenkz recommends - I have ATI so I've no idea ;)

because WMP11 uses the Vista's Enhanced Video Renderer (EVR)

You have to enable EVR in MPC-HC to use all its features (DXVA, subtitles, shaders, etc), so the fact WMP11 uses it has no practical meaning ;)

Edited August 18, 2009 by soulburner

[Udedenkz]

I know what's the problem here - depending on the colorspace, videos have colors ranging from 0 to 255 or from 16 to 235. When you're displaying movies on a standard CRT TV, you should use the second color space. On LCD monitors and modern LCD TVs you should use "PC" colors, 0-255.

To use that in MPC or MPC-HC, enable pixel shaders and select 16-235 -> 0-255 (right click on the movie -> shaders).

It's always been bugging me and I only recently discovered what's the real problem. Different players and codecs use different colors. It probably could be done with nVidia graphic drivers too, as Udedenkz recommends - I have ATI so I've no idea ;)

I couldn't get shaders to work with EVR (custom preset), not sure why this is. Any ideas?

Also, shaders are not a solution for this specific case as the video is not old and not recorded in 16-235...

In this case it is necessary to allow 0-255. These settings should exist under video options even for ATi imo.

[soldier1st]

winamp has worse brightness than windows media player but then i am so used to windows media player(fell in love with it since version 8 but didnt like the look of 9 but of 10+11+12)

[The Patri0t]

I don't have this problem, make sure you have allowed full dynamic range in your driver options,

For example for Nvidia GPUs,

Right Click On Desktop -> Got To Nvidia Control Panel -> Adjust Video Color Settings -> Advanced -> Set the Dynamic Range To Full (0 - 255).

I am surprised that WMP bypasses the driver settings, it seems, as the driver settings are user set and should be honored by the player.

One thing that I noticed that is rather disturbing though,

audiodg.exe (Sound + Digital Rights Management) uses 1-10% CPU with WMP: Classic Home Cinema, while it uses 0% with Windows Media Player. Is this done to promote the use of Windows Media Player?

Thanks, I did this and it seems to have become better. I don't know WMP bypasses the driver settings, I mean the default setting is to make color adjustments with the video player settings. Check the screens in end to see the result.

I know what's the problem here - depending on the colorspace, videos have colors ranging from 0 to 255 or from 16 to 235. When you're displaying movies on a standard CRT TV, you should use the second color space. On LCD monitors and modern LCD TVs you should use "PC" colors, 0-255.

To use that in MPC or MPC-HC, enable pixel shaders and select 16-235 -> 0-255 (right click on the movie -> shaders).

It's always been bugging me and I only recently discovered what's the real problem. Different players and codecs use different colors. It probably could be done with nVidia graphic drivers too, as Udedenkz recommends - I have ATI so I've no idea ;)

You have to enable EVR in MPC-HC to use all its features (DXVA, subtitles, shaders, etc), so the fact WMP11 uses it has no practical meaning ;)

I get 'could not load shader' error.

Anyway, the result:

-----

[code.kliu.org]

In theory, there should be no difference, since they are both DirectShow players and should (unless configured otherwise) be using the same decoder and output mechanism.

Also note that the screenshots in the first post are not of the same frame, and the fact that the face has moved slightly could affect the fine details that you are trying to look at.

[d_ralphie]

because WMP11 uses the Vista's Enhanced Video Renderer (EVR)

Then how come it's better on my XP system too?

[soulburner]

As far as I know, EVR is part of .net framework 3.5, so it should be available on XP too :)

But no, I don't think there should be any visible quality differences just because of a renderer.