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    Black screen when playing videos

    Opera GX
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    • MagikGimp
      MagikGimp last edited by leocg

      Re: https://opera.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portal/18/GB-4439
      This now applies to regular Opera too as my installation version has caught up with GX. I've had absolutely no response at that site apart from a system e-mail so I'm assuming this is where to get an actual reply. Is it simply because my computer is so old that I'm having this problem? I've seen people having trouble with the Linux build with the legality of a codec or something but am I the only one with these video issues on Windows? It's going to mean having to move away from Opera entirely if that is the case going forward with this new version 80. Thanks for any help, even just to tell me everyone knows about it already and that I need to read other topics.

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        leocg 1 Reply Last reply
      • leocg
        leocg Moderator Volunteer @MagikGimp last edited by

        @magikgimp See https://forums.opera.com/topic/39910/instructions-on-posting-about-problems-in-opera-gx/1

        As you know, nobody here can access your report.

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        • MagikGimp
          MagikGimp last edited by

          Your link doesn't mention that people who aren't staff can't access the support site but if that's the case then I'll summarise-
          Opera used to be fine. Since the v80 update, when I attempt to watch a video e.g. YouTube I get a black screen appear for a second (although I can still see the taskbar), I can hear the video play a bit, the screen comes back only for another black screen and possibly a third. Then the video will have paused itself. Or shows an error message. Playing again produces another black screen and eventually the video will play but the framerate will be so bad as to make the video unwatchable. Going to another video might produce the same black screens or it might work albeit with the awful framerate. Turning off Hardware Acceleration gets rid of the black screens but I'm still left with bad framerate because everything's going through my CPU rather than the GPU. I have updated my graphics card drivers to the newest version.

          I won't be doing the second thing in the list at the link you sent me because I can't be bothered potentially messing everything up and I don't see why I should spend a lot of time diagnosing something that was perfectly fine before but has now been changed for some reason. If that is a problem then I'm sorry you feel that way. What I wanted to know was whether anyone else was having the same issue hence my title for this thread. Someone saw fit to change that however. "Videos aren't working" isn't a useful title because they are; they just aren't working well. I'll live with it though. It's not like I can change that title again myself.

          Videos still play correctly in Edge. Haven't tested anything else yet.
          Windows 10 x64. Nvidia graphics.
          I made a video at the site where Opera told me to (that apparently nobody else can access). But there's no way for me to attach it here. I'm not uploading it somewhere else to link to again.

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            leocg 1 Reply Last reply
          • leocg
            leocg Moderator Volunteer @MagikGimp last edited by

            @magikgimp Any difference if you change the option in chrome://flags/#use-angle?

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              MagikGimp 1 Reply Last reply
            • MagikGimp
              MagikGimp @leocg last edited by MagikGimp

              @leocg Thanks for your reply; setting it to D3D9 fixed it.
              So switching to D3D11+ is new then. Which is what causes the black screens for me, both of them (D3D11 & D3D11on12). OpenGL doesn't create black screens but the performance is poor. Which is odd because I have a 1050 (not Ti). Yes I have a shitty Athlon II to go with it but I wouldn't have thought it would have had such an impact on the graphics card.
              I wonder what the problem is. A bug in the code or some other symptom of my aging hardware? Anyway, things seem OK now and I can stick with Opera which is nice. As the little guy, it's really come from nowhere to be a better contender now. Hopefully D3D9 support won't be dropped any time soon...
              Thanks again. Oh, and is this a known problem for other people too?

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                MagikGimp 1 Reply Last reply
              • MagikGimp
                MagikGimp @MagikGimp last edited by

                Not quite the end of this. I'm not 100% sure but I think I'm right in saying performance is not quite as good as in Edge (the only comparison I've done yet). That might have something to do with the number of tabs open (O- like 20 and E- 2) but I'm looking at the Stats for Nerds on YouTube and the frames dropped is over 100 on Opera and only around 30 or so on Edge. Again, this might not mean anything as it might be dependant on how long the video's been playing and such but I think my eyes are seeing a difference? It is hard to know whether it's just my bias because I was having problems before. Anyway, just wanted to mention that.

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                  leocg 2 Replies Last reply
                • leocg
                  leocg Moderator Volunteer @MagikGimp last edited by

                  @magikgimp Try checking also in other Chromium based browsers, like Chrome and Vivaldi. If possible, using the same Chromium version.

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                  • leocg
                    leocg Moderator Volunteer @MagikGimp last edited by

                    @magikgimp Also, check the first section of opera://gpu and what says about video decode.

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                    • MagikGimp
                      MagikGimp last edited by

                      OK, but give me some time. I sort of wanted an excuse to install more browsers anyway so this is as good as any.
                      Interestingly Edge (latest version, don't know if the version numbers have anything to do with Chromium builds. Doubt it.) is using D3D11 if Default is that as stated in the blurb ("most computers").
                      Anyway, initiate post dump...
                      Opera

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                        leocg 1 Reply Last reply
                      • MagikGimp
                        MagikGimp last edited by

                        Edge

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                        • MagikGimp
                          MagikGimp last edited by

                          Opera GX

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                          • MagikGimp
                            MagikGimp last edited by MagikGimp

                            UR browser (no black screens)

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                            • MagikGimp
                              MagikGimp last edited by

                              Chrome (no black screens)

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                              • leocg
                                leocg Moderator Volunteer @MagikGimp last edited by

                                @magikgimp According to the info from Opera and Opera GX, hardware acceleration is not being used for video decoding, what nay explain the issues with video playing.

                                Enable it if it have been disabled. Also try enabling opera://flags/#ignore-gpu-blocklist

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                                • MagikGimp
                                  MagikGimp last edited by

                                  Vivaldi (no black screens)

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                                    leocg 1 Reply Last reply
                                  • leocg
                                    leocg Moderator Volunteer @MagikGimp last edited by

                                    @magikgimp Vivaldi is also not using hardware acceleration for videos.

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                                    • MagikGimp
                                      MagikGimp last edited by leocg

                                      Both Vivaldi and Opera (regular, haven't looked at GX yet) are using hardware acceleration. The boxes / sliders are ticked / on. Vivaldi is a brand new install in fact. I can post screenshot if you don't believe me! 😉
                                      Does it make a difference if you run the ://gpu output before and after watching a video? Do the black screens suggest a crash?
                                      ignore-gpu-blocklist didn't change anything BTW. It's not a particularly exotic card anyway I don't think.
                                      Another new install: Brave (no black screens, report made after watching YouTube video.)

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                                        leocg 1 Reply Last reply
                                      • MagikGimp
                                        MagikGimp last edited by

                                        Atom (no black, after YouTube, while playing actually.)

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                                        • MagikGimp
                                          MagikGimp last edited by

                                          NAVER Whale
                                          Do you want any more of these?

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                                            leocg 1 Reply Last reply
                                          • leocg
                                            leocg Moderator Volunteer @MagikGimp last edited by

                                            @magikgimp Hardware acceleration may be available and enabled but it's nothing being used according to opera://gpu info.

                                            When playing a video, open opera://media-internals and check what it says about video decoder.

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                                              MagikGimp 1 Reply Last reply
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