Internal Playback REALLY dark

[Biran000]

Hi,

I have a newish* MythTV build running on Ubuntu 20.04.1 MATE - and everything seems OK.....
*There is longer backstory - the HDD is from a failed computer, which I've just swapped out - so it's an older installation, on completely new hardware and different IP - although I use DNS for everything.

.....everything.... Except playback is really dark. I can play the recordings (without Myth) through VLC and they appear fine - but Myth makes them all really dark. I've have tried most of the options in the MythFrontend - but none of them seem to make any difference.

The obvious solution would have been to switch to using VLC - but that gives me other problems, erroring with "unable to find MRL", that's using both "vlc %s" and "vlc file://%s" (neither work - same error).

This effects both new recordings and (older) videos alike (and I don't have a DVD/CD so can't easily test/confirm those).

Is it time to rebuild again or is there something I can do?

I'm confident that somethings up, and it can be fixed without rebuilding - because it all plays fine - just not from MythFrontend....

(I don't know if it matters, but I'm using a standard VGA cable into a Samung TV)

Suggestions Appreciated....

[Lost Dog]

I've had the same issues with dark playback. I've look at the different RGB ranges (full vs limited) and I either get video playback looking OK and everything else washed out or I get dark video playback and the rest looks normal....

Unfortunately because of this I've mostly moved to Kodi for my front end as it allows me to see correct RGB levels (as confirmed by calibration patterns).

This is with Mint 20.1 Mate.

[Biran000]

Hi and thanks for the info...

I have just run "apt-get purge mythtv-frontend" and reinstalled it, but it has retained the same "dark" playback as before.
(I also got a DislpayPort2HDMI cable - which didn't help)

The reinstall was quicker than I'd anticipated (I did use the "Mythbuntu Control Panel" - so could it have retained some configuration?? Also I assume that any playback details are set for the player and nothing to do with the backend!?... but is anything kept in the database?

I don't want to move away from MythFrontend, because I do still like it, so I wonder if I can get VLC or MPLAYER to work, which was my initial thought/hope??

using "vlc %s" I get: "VLC is unable to open the MRL 'myth://Videos:mythtv/sample.mp4'. Check the log for details" -- I've added both myth any mythtv into /etc/hosts so that both resolve to 127.0.0.1 (assuming that's correct)

...but perhaps I'll start reading up on Kodi, and how easy it is to setup and what it adds to the "party"....

[Steve Goodey]

I don't know if this still applies or if it is of any use but from https://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Keybindings

"F rotate between the various Picture Adjustments (Colour, Hue, etc.) While Picture Adjustment is on-screen, use Left and Right arrows to adjust. These settings adjust the look of the video playback, and are independent of the G-key settings used at record-time. The Xv picture controls must be enabled in the Playback settings. "

[Biran000]

Steve,

That'll be it then!.... I had searched for keys and API settings, thanks for sharing the URL which should help others further...

...but MANY thanks, as I was just looking at Kodi, but the family will be pleased that they don't have to learn how to navigate new software