"WMP can't play DVD Video because Display Resolution or Color is too low" - WinVista Error

[dugganrouthorn5]

Hello HP Community,

I hope everyone is doing well today. I have an interesting, odd query with my 2008 HP Compaq DC5800 Microtower PC running Windows Vista. I recently installed an ATI FirePro 3D V5800 GPU in there to use over the integrated Intel GMA Graphics on the Motherboard. The installation went successfully. However, when I try to play a DVD, the machine throws up an error saying that it "Cannot play DVD Video because the Display Resolution or Color is too low. This is odd because it could play DVDs before with its integrated Intel Graphics. As I had XP installed alongside Vista, I tested DVD Playback on that OS and it works no problem.

I am using a 1280x1024 Dell Monitor at its max resolution, I tried different DVD Player Software like VLC Media Player with no success, I tried to disable the graphics drivers just to see if the problem was related to the drivers, but nothing. I use K-Lite Codec Pack on both Operating Systems and have attempted uninstalling it and reinstalling it on Vista but that makes no difference. It seems to come with some kind of DVD Decoder as when I try to play my DVD without K-Lite Codec Pack installed, it tells me it can't play the disc because "There is no compatible DVD Decoder installed"

This is really confusing and frustrating and I would really appreciate your help. Thank you.

Note: This post is mostly the same from the one I posted on the Microsoft Q&A page. The troubleshooting steps they gave me there didn't help solve the problem. After contacting Microsoft Support, they told me to reach out to my OEM so here I am. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5790166/windows-media-player-cant-play-dvd-video...

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi:

Try the WINDVD5 app from my Skydrive folder that I have shared the link to below.

SkyDrive

Download, unzip and run the file.

[dugganrouthorn5]

Hello @Paul_Tikkanen,

The link you provided to InterVideo's WinDVD5 has solved the problem. Thank you so much, I really appreciate it. Do you know why Windows Media Player as well as VLC Media Player refuses to play my DVD? Or in the case of VLC, freezing up when it is able to display an image? The only program that is working correctly with DVDs on Vista, is the program you provided. I would like to know if there is a way to resolve this problem with the other programs as well.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

I had that file from my old HP 6910p notebook which was made around the same time as the dc5800, and it also came with Windows Vista Business.

I upgraded the notebook to W10 and figured I could use newer software and much to my surprise, I had the same results you did.  VLC would not work in that notebook even with W10.

I even tried my Win DVD8 software and that didn't work either.

WMP won't work because it doesn't have the DVD codecs, so that is an entirely different problem.

I used the free k-lite codec pack to get WMP to play DVDs before I decided to go with WINDVD5.

Download K-Lite Codec Pack

But since the WINDVD5 software works fine, you wouldn't need to install the K-lite codec pack unless you wanted to use it on a different brand PC that would probably not support the HP WinDVD5 software.

AFAIK, there is no solution to get VLC to work on your PC unless perhaps you run W10 on it.

VLC works fine on my dc7800 running W11 23H2, which was the last version of W11 any Intel PC that doesn't have an Intel 1st gen or newer core processor it will work on.

The dc7800 is the upscale version of the dc5800.

[dugganrouthorn5]

That's very interesting to know, thank you.

I tried reinstalling Vista on my Compaq DC5800 and that seemed to solve the problem. My Vista Installation started to become unreliable when the Snipping Tool refused to work properly. It also couldn't find a DVD Decoder, even though on a clean install after all the hardware drivers were installed, it was able to work with no problems.

I am currently in the process of setting Vista back up with all the updates and all my programs, including WinDVD5. 😉 Which is going to be a long process, especially with an older operating system like this.

I also discovered that when installing K-Lite Codec Pack on Vista, it causes DVD functionality in Windows Media Player to break. After uninstalling the Codec Pack, does the functionality restore. If you install the Codec Pack only for Media Player Classic however, Windows Media Player will continue to let me play DVDs on there. I don't know why but I wanted to share my findings on the matter. I found it very interesting.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Yes, that is interesting.

Microsoft no longer supports automatic updates for XP and Vista, so you have to download the available individual updates from the Microsoft Update Catalog website for the security updates and Vista SP1 and SP2 if you need to install those service packs.

[dugganrouthorn5]

Yeah, I downloaded all the Service Packs and any updates available from the Microsoft Update Catalog long before I acquired the HP Compaq DC5800. My previous Vista machine was a Compaq Presario from 2007 with an AMD Athlon 64 Processor.

Unfortunately, I am running into trouble updating Vista on my HP Compaq DC5800 after reinstallation of the operating system. I never had problems updating the system when it was using the integrated Intel GMA Graphics, but I am encountering issues while using the ATI FirePro V5800 discrete GPU. I am confused here and have attempted multiple reinstallations. The HP Vista ISO asks for drivers when the ATI Card is installed, so I used the regular Vista ISO and that has allowed the OS to be installed. But it can't be updated without throwing up a blue screen.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Perhaps you should remove the AMD video card, do the updates and then reinstall the video card.

[dugganrouthorn5]

I have removed the ATI Graphics Card from my machine, reinstalled Vista and started installing the updates again. It has been stable and hasn't crashed, just like before. Thank you very much. Once I have installed all the Windows updates, I will install the drivers for the computer and graphics card, as well as the software that I run on the machine. ☺️

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Anytime.

Glad to have been of assistance.