Video goes dark

[pspower]

Since the last update to PowerPoint whenever I run a video in a presentation
it gets dark while running and is barely visible. The .mpg file will run
properly with Windows Media Player or QuickTime. I can't find any fix for
this and it is making my presentation unusable. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[pspower]

I am running Win XP Pro with Office XP Pro. I have tried uninstalling and
reinstalling PowerPoint from the original CD with no change.

 

[John Wilson]

In the windows (not PPT) start menu > Run
Type in mplayer2.exe
Does the video work in this?
This is what PowerPoint uses.

If not try reinstalling Windows Media Player which will update codecs and
settings.

You could also try looking at the video section on PowerPoint Alchemy and
trying to run the mpg through the encoder described there.

 

[pspower]

I tried the mplayer2.exe and the video still ran dark. I used Control Panel
Add & Remove Programs to uninstall Windows Media Player 11 and it rolled it
back to the previous version. The video still ran dark under that version.
I downloaded and installed Windows Media Player 11 again and tried the video
after restarting the computer. It still runs dark.

 

[John Wilson]

If its not too large you can email me the mpeg.
-- email john AT technologytrish.co.uk (replace AT with @)

 

[Austin Myers]

Is this all mpeg files or just this one?



Austin Myers
MS PowerPoint MVP Team

Provider of PFCMedia, PFCPro, PFCExpress
http://www.pfcmedia.com

 

[pspower]

I probably should have included this information. This is happening with all
of my mpg video files on my computer while running PowerPoint. They run fine
in Windows Media Player or QuickTime but not in PP. I loaded them and the PP
presentation onto an associate's computer yesterday and they played fine with
no darkening on his computer. The three mpeg files in this presentation are
1.56MB, 5.12MB and 5.3MB. I can try to e-mail them, but it is the same with
any video file (mpeg, wmv, mpg, etc.) I try to run in PP. I have tried
several other video files with the same results.

 

[pspower]

It's any video file, mpeg or wmv, that I try to run in PP. They work fine
when played separately on Windows Media Player or QuickTime, but not in PP.

 

[Austin Myers]

This is beginning to sound like a video card driver issue. Have you checked
the manufactures site to see if there a newer driver?



Austin Myers
MS PowerPoint MVP Team

Provider of PFCMedia, PFCPro, PFCExpress
http://www.pfcmedia.com

 

[pspower]

Success! I went into the Nvidia control panel and reset the brightness and
contrast settings on the Television and Movies tab and the problem has gone
away. Because this was a problem specific to powerpoint, I thought it was a
problem with powerpoint. Thank you for suggesting the video card. i have a
presentation today and this has really helped.