change default / automatic video output
Using VLC version 2.2.6-1~deb9u1 in Debian, trying to play a video file with a resolution 720x526, 25fps, MPEG-1/2 (problem also observed with other videos at different resolutions)
With the window maximized and the option "Always Fit Window" selected, it appears to zoom to less than the full screen width and playback appears good.
When fullscreen is selected (up to the 4k resolution/full width of the display), I frequently see what appears to be a horizontal tear across the middle of the picture, especially when there is a lot of movement in the video.
Using mpv 0.23.0-2+b2 at fullscreen with the same video I don't observe the problem.
I don't have libvdpau1 installed due to problems with the frame rate[1]
Hardware is Intel i3-7100U CPU @ 2.40GHz and Kaby Lake integrated graphics Intel HD Graphics 620 (Kabylake GT2)
The issue was discussed in the Debian bug tracker[2]
I had a look at the preferences window, video tab. The "Output" option was automatic.
Looking at the logs, I notice it was selecting xcb_xv (XVideo)
I manually changed it to "OpenGL GLX video output (XCB)" and the problem goes away.
Looking at the mpv logs as well, it appears to be using OpenGL by default.
When the video output is "Automatic", would OpenGL be a better default? Then users won't have this bad first impression.