Video problems usually have three causes: missing decoding support, hardware acceleration conflicting with drivers, or a site using a legacy control. Identify the player first, then treat the right cause.
Standard players (most video sites)
Symptoms are a black screen, audio only or a decoding error. Try disabling hardware acceleration, updating the graphics driver, or switching engine and reloading.
- Disable hardware acceleration and retry
- Update the graphics driver
- Switch engine and reload
- Clear cache for that site
Legacy control sites
Some corporate and education sites still use old controls. Switch to the compatibility engine and allow the control when the site prompts you.
- Switch to the compatibility engine
- Allow the site to load the control
- Confirm the control is installed correctly
- Ask the site administrator for an updated page
When ad blocking interferes
Strict blocking rules can catch the player, showing an endless spinner. Turn off blocking for that site to confirm.
- Temporarily disable blocking for the site
- Fall back to the basic level
- Add the site to the whitelist
- Report the false positive
FAQ
Audio plays but there is no picture — what now?
Usually hardware acceleration conflicting with the graphics driver. Turning acceleration off or updating the driver normally fixes it.
No sound after popping the video out — why?
Check whether the small window is muted and the browser volume in the system mixer; some sites pause audio in pop-out, returning to the page restores it.