How to lighten videos

[Bodrey]

Hi, All:

New to DVF. I'd like to know if there are any programs out there that can brighten/lighten MPEG video files so they're not so dark during playback. I have a program that can do this when converting AVI to MPEG but not when it's already an MPEG file.

Thanks in advance,
- Bodrey

[UncasMS]

where do you play the files?

you should be able to change brightness for example with most softwareplayer

otherwise you will have to re-encode the whole material which will not improve your source in terms of quality

[anonymez]

the "ffdshow" codec has excellent options to change brightness, gamma, saturation, etc.

it 'assists' in decoding every single video file on my PC

[Bodrey]

First response

To UncasMS:

I usually use Media Player Classic or WMP to play back files but neither of these give you the option to brighten the image during playback.


To Anonymez:

I downloaded the ffdshow codec but I don't understand what to do with it...

[UncasMS]

in MPC rightlick => options => filters => mpeg decoder

you may have to restart mpc

[anonymez]

to use ffdshow to adjust picture brightness, contrast, etc:

run "ffdshow video decoder configuration" from the start menu. in the left hand column, click "codecs". in the right hand column, go all the way down to the bottom, and you should see the words "raw video". in the drop-down box next to it, select "all supported". that should make ffdshow 'involved' in playing files on your pc.

to adjust brightness: in the left hand column, select "picture properties". adjust those settings while playing a video. it should give pleasing results

using ffdshow ensures that all video files, no matter what the format, will have the same colour levels

[Bodrey]

Solution let to another problem

OK - I've been using the FFDshow codec to brighten videos during playback when necessary. It's a good little program. However, the use of this codec has created another problem. Whenever I view a video now (regardless of which player I use) the playback is very grainy. I've played around with the settings in FFD trying to fix this but to no avail. Does anyone know how I can fix this?

[anonymez]

if anything, ffdshow makes picture clearer on my sytem

its possible you have turned up the brightness/contrast too much. that introduces artefacts. try lowering it.

you can also try using the 'denoise' function in the 'blur & nr' section. or even 'post-processing'