You may have noticed that Windows Media Center and Windows Media Player have slightly different levels of black on your PC monitor (and possibly even your flat screen monitor). If you notice that your black aren’t quite what they should be while using Media Center the reason could be differing nominal ranges.

By default, for the majority, a television’s color ranges are set to 16-235. This means the lowest level of black is 16 and the highest white is 235. On a monitor calibrated for PC use the levels are 0-255, with 0 being black and 255 being the highest white.

Now you may think that having those extra levels could only mean good things right? Well, it’s not quite that cut and dry. If your flat screen is calibrated to 16-235 then black will truly be 16, changing this setting to 0 can result in an image that is too dark. Those extra 16 levels of grey/black won’t be seen and levels above 16 will be improperly darker than they should be.

These facts are important to note before simply rushing in head long and changing settings. Take time to note your monitors specifications as well as your preferences in each setting before settling on one mode or the other.

On the standard PC monitor the difference in black levels will appear similar to the rollover below. The first image represents the black levels in Media Center with the second from Media Player. Notice the difference in the background, the black/grey seperation at the top and the difference in contrast in the character’s face.

Now there are a few ways to change this behavior. For example, nVidia drivers include the ability to change the default behavior for all video playback through the control panel. Under the Video and Television heading select Adjust Video and Television Settings. Inside, under the Advanced tab, you’ll find the option to select the desired color range.

The advantage of setting this at the driver level is that your output will be controlled across all programs. If that’s not what you’re looking for, however, there is another option.

Download these registry files from Hack7MC that will allow you to enable and disable a debug setting that will change the default behavior of just Media Center.

The below rollover demonstrates the difference in black levels between WMP and Media Center after the registry fix has been applied. You can see that they are much closer to the same black levels.

Of course, this will need to be applied in a per situation basis. Not every user should employ this modification and the application will depend on the hardware being used. Specifically consider the specifications of your flat screen TV. There is of course also personal preference to consider and the modification can always be reversed.

The registry settings used were taken from The Green Button forums user Ian Kennedy. Comparison screenshots taken from George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead.