VLC not working well --- Black screen (with sound) for videos, while other players work just fine
I can think of two options to try:
change the output module to OpenGL, you need to select "all" in options to see the advanced options, and this one is at: preferences->video->output module
check/uncheck "Overlay video output". This option is located at preferences->video
I had a similar problem. Here's my solution:
Whenever I played any video file using VLC (ver.2.2.4 Weather Wax) only the sound would start. Video frame would show outside of the application window but be black or blank. If I then stopped the play (by clicking the STOP button) and then re-started it, the video would show normally.
Additionally, Windows would drop down to 'Basic' from 'Aero' display type.
I observed that this happened only when I ran VLC. If I played that same video file in any other player like mpc-hc (I never use WMP) etc, Windows would continue to remain in Aero scheme and never drop down to Basic.
This indicated to me that VLC was misconfigured somehow - a hunch which proved correct in my case.
After some amount of Internet research, I discovered that if VLC output to Direct X, only then this problem occurred.
But then I noticed that OP had already tried changing VLC's video output module to OpenGL but wasn't happy with that.
So I tried the other Video Output Modules listed in the dropdown menu available in my installation of VLC.
By trial & error, I found that selecting Windows GDI Video output solved the problem, atleast for me. Now, my Windows 7 Professional does NOT drop from Aero Glass down to Basic nor does my video play quality suffer!
