Settings Video

Settings: Video

⋯ → Settings → Video (Ctrl+P; the header reads Video Defaults). The video output, the picture adjustment, deinterlacing, framing (aspect ratio, crop, zoom, position) and snapshots. These are the defaults every video starts with; the player's menus and Effects change them for the video playing. Rows apply without a restart, most of them from the next video. See how the Settings window works.

Output

Option	Choices / default	What it does	VLC option
Enable video	Toggle. Default: on.	Off: no video at all, not even decoded, which saves processing power when you only want the sound of a video.	video
Start videos in fullscreen	Toggle. Default: off.	Each video starts in fullscreen.	fullscreen
Stop the screensaver during playback	Dropdown: Never / When fullscreen / Always. Default: Always.	Keeps the screensaver and screen power-saving away while a video plays: never, only while the video is in fullscreen, or always.	disable-screensaver (Never = 0, Always = 1, When fullscreen = 2)
Play video as desktop wallpaper	Toggle. Default: off.	Shows the video as the background of the desktop instead of in a window.	video-wallpaper

Picture

Not a list of VLC options: the five sliders of the design's Picture panel, driving VLC's image adjustment filter. They appear while a video plays; otherwise the page reads Play video to adjust and preview the picture. in their place.

Slider	Range / default	What it does	VLC option
Hue	−180 to +180 (degrees). Default: 0.	Turns the colours around the colour wheel.	hue
Brightness	0 to 2. Default: 1.	Darker below 1, brighter above.	brightness
Contrast	0 to 2. Default: 1.	Flatter below 1, stronger above.	contrast
Saturation	0 to 3 (ticks at 1 and 2). Default: 1.	0 is black and white; above 1 the colours are stronger.	saturation
Gamma	0.01 to 10 (ticks at each whole value). Default: 1.	Lightens or darkens the mid-tones.	gamma
Reset picture	Button Reset.	Puts the five sliders back to their defaults and turns the adjustment off.

The video playing changes as you move a slider. The first move turns the adjustment on (adjust is added to video-filter). When the window closes, the values and the filter are saved, so the next videos play with them too. See also Effects › Video.

Deinterlacing

Option	Choices / default	What it does	VLC option
Deinterlacing	Dropdown: Off / Automatic / On. Default: Automatic.	Whether VLC removes the comb lines of interlaced video (TV recordings, DVDs, camcorders). Automatic deinterlaces the videos that say they are interlaced.	deinterlace (Off = 0, Automatic = −1, On = 1)
Method	Dropdown: Automatic / Discard / Blend / Mean / Bob / Linear / X / Yadif / Yadif (2x) / Phosphor / Film NTSC (IVTC). Default: Automatic.	How the lines are combined when deinterlacing applies. Yadif and Yadif (2x) give the best quality for most sources; Bob, Linear, Yadif (2x) and Phosphor double the frame rate, for smoother motion; Film NTSC (IVTC) is an inverse telecine for films telecined to NTSC.	deinterlace-mode (auto, discard, blend, mean, bob, linear, x, yadif, yadif2x, phosphor, ivtc)

Framing

Option	Choices / default	What it does	VLC option
Aspect ratio	Dropdown: Automatic / 16:9 / 4:3 / 1:1 / 16:10 / 2.21:1 / 2.35:1 / 2.39:1 / 5:4, plus a value already set if it is another one. Default: Automatic (the video's own ratio).	Forces the aspect ratio of every video, for example for a DVD that claims 16:9 but is really 4:3, or a video without that information.	aspect-ratio
Crop	Dropdown: None / 16:9 / 4:3 / 1:1 / 16:10 / 2.21:1 / 2.35:1 / 2.39:1 / 5:4, plus a value already set. Default: None.	Crops every video to this ratio, for example to remove black bars burnt into the picture.	crop
Scale video to the window	Toggle. Default: on.	The video fits the window, or the screen in fullscreen. Off: it plays at its own size, multiplied by Zoom.	autoscale
Zoom	Dropdown: 1:4 Quarter / 1:2 Half / 1:1 Original / 2:1 Double, plus a value already set. Default: 1:1 Original.	Zooms the video by this factor. It only has an effect while Scale video to the window is off.	zoom (0.25 / 0.5 / 1 / 2)
Position in the window	Dropdown: Center / Left / Right / Top / Bottom / Top-Left / Top-Right / Bottom-Left / Bottom-Right. Default: Center.	Where the video sits in its window when it does not fill it.	align (0, 1, 2, 4, 8, 5, 6, 9, 10)

Snapshots

Take a snapshot with Shift+S or the player's menu.

Option	Choices / default	What it does	VLC option
Save to	Folder field with Browse (Choose a snapshot folder). Default: empty; the field shows your Pictures folder (written from your home folder, as ~\Pictures).	Where snapshots are saved. Empty: VLC saves them in the Windows Screenshots folder (normally Pictures\Screenshots) when Windows has it, otherwise in Pictures.	snapshot-path
File name prefix	Text field. Default: vlcsnap-.	The start of each file name. VLC adds the date and time after it, as in vlcsnap-2026-10-25-14h03m12s….png (or a number, see below).	snapshot-prefix
Format	Dropdown: PNG / JPG / TIFF / WebP. Default: PNG.	The image format. PNG is lossless; JPG and WebP are smaller.	snapshot-format
Size	Dropdown: Same as video / 3840 px wide / 1920 px wide / 1280 px wide / 640 px wide, plus a width already set. Default: Same as video.	The width of the snapshots. Choosing a width while Snapshot height is −1 sets it to 0, so the height follows the width and the picture keeps its proportions. Same as video sets a height of 0 back to −1. A height you typed yourself is left alone.	snapshot-width (Same as video = −1)
Number files sequentially	Toggle. Default: off.	Names the snapshots with numbers that follow each other (vlcsnap-00001.png…) instead of the date and time.	snapshot-sequential
Show a preview after capture	Toggle. Default: on.	Shows the snapshot for a moment in the top-left corner of the video.	snapshot-preview

Advanced Options

Option	Choices / default	What it does	VLC option
Video output module (Developer mode)	Dropdown: Automatic, then the video outputs of this build by name, then Disable. Default: Automatic (any).	The method VLC uses to draw video. Automatic picks the best one available; Disable shows no video. Leave it on Automatic unless you are troubleshooting.	vout
Snapshot height (0: proportional, -1: original) (Developer mode)	Number field, in pixels. Default: −1.	The height of the snapshots: −1 keeps the video's height, 0 computes it from the width so the picture keeps its proportions, any other number forces that height. Size sets it for you (see above).	snapshot-height
Deinterlacing filter (Developer mode)	Text field. Default: deinterlace.	The module VLC uses to deinterlace.	deinterlace-filter
Custom aspect ratios	Text field. Default: empty.	A comma-separated list (for example 3:2,21:9) added to the aspect ratios the player offers for a playing video.	custom-aspect-ratios
Custom crop ratios	Text field. Default: empty.	A comma-separated list added to the crop ratios the player offers for a playing video.	custom-crop-ratios
Monitor pixel aspect ratio	Text field. Default: empty (a grey 1:1, square pixels).	Forces the shape of your screen's pixels. Nearly every screen has square pixels; change it only for one that does not, so pictures keep their proportions.	monitor-par
Time-shift buffer size	Dropdown: Small / Medium / Large. Default: Medium.	The same setting as on Playback, shown again here: Small 10 MiB, Medium 50 MiB, Large 200 MiB per time-shift file.	input-timeshift-granularity

Good to know

• Black bars burnt into a video: use Crop with the ratio of the film (2.35:1 or 2.39:1 for most widescreen films). For one video only, use the player's crop menu instead.
• Stretched or squeezed picture: set Aspect ratio; if every video looks wrong on one particular screen, check Monitor pixel aspect ratio.
• Interlaced lines in motion (TV recordings): leave Deinterlacing on Automatic and try Method Yadif (2x); force On for a file that does not say it is interlaced.
• Smaller snapshots: choose a Size such as 1280 px wide and Format JPG or WebP.
• Picture adjustment applies to every video once saved. Use Reset picture to go back to the original colours.

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