I did install some trial versions of video editing software fairly recently, I can't say whether this issue was happening before that or not. My VLC version hasn't changed for well over a year, nor has my Windows Media player, or my KM player version. So I don't know if this is a recent thing, maybe caused by installing some other software that has affected video codec files on the system? VLC has been my standard for a long time, and I haven't noticed this before. I cross-checked with the KM player, which I also have installed, and it seemed pretty much the same output as Windows Media player. Compared to it, Windows (7) Media player's output looks so much softer that it's startling, but it looks more smooth, doesn't have the halos, and it's greens and brightness look right.

Also it's green's are displaying very poorly, and it's brightness seems a little higher. VLC's output seems very sharp, so sharp it has halos along all the edges, which is not a good thing. This is happening for multiple video files, from different camera sources. I've just become aware that videos on my computer look quite different when playing in VLC compared to other players I have.

Is vlc better than windows media player