Why does my laptop lcd screen go blank when I play movies or other video?

Answer 1

Hi there.
I have had the exact problem on a number of laptops.
I tried updating the drivers from the laptop's video GPU manufacturer's website, and updating the media player, with no results. In some cases, the solution was to REDUCE the screen size settings from the normal 1024 to a lower 800 x 600 or even
640 by 480.
One solution turned out to be downloading K LITECodec media player with all the codecs ( free ) at

http://www.k-litecodecpack.com/

which worked in all resolutions with the standard video drivers.
The answers above suggest getting newer codecs, which come with K LITE, and suggest you try newer or updated video drivers.
My experience is to try the K Lite first. If that does not work then, you might try going to the laptop's manufacturer's website for updates, then to the actual video chipset manufacturer's website, and finally to Microsoft's updates ( if you are using an MS OS ).

This problem is listed in a K LITE FAQ as a black screen problem in Win Media player 9 with the following, as well:

To turn off overlays in Windows Media Player 9 Series or later, do the following:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options , and then click the Performance tab.
2. Click Advanced .
3. Clear the Use overlays check box.

If the problem continues, try turning off the video mixing renderer (VMR). You can turn off the VMR by clearing the Use video mixing renderer check box (available in the same location as the Use overlays check box).

One of the methods above should get you going, but as I stated, the easiest method that I found to work was the download of K LITE full, and just use the K Lite player ! ( free ).

hope this helps

robin

Answer 2

You may not have the appripriate Codecs to play the video with it's compression type.

Go to microsoft.com (If using a PC running Windows,) And Download a codec pack nessicary. You may also need to update your video drivers,

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Answer 3

For movies it's probably you don't have the right codecs to play it. Try downloading a Codec Pack and installing it, most usually come with all you will need.

Answer 4

sounds like a video driver problem go to the manufacturer's website for your computer or video card maker and download the video driver and reinstall it.