As far as I’m concerned the K-Lite decoder is not bugged, but the KMPlayer one may be. Since my last post I’ve messed around with codec a little bit more and solved the problem with sharpness during playback on the Media Player Classic.
The thing which no one messing with codec should ever forget is not to mix together different codec patches, that is installing one and only one version of the same codec at a time.
My mistake was mixing together the ZMBV codec from K-Lite Codec Pack and the same codec from the DOSBox single codec patch. Because during playback the Media Player Classic uses codec not only from its internal directory, but also from the “system32” system folder, the conflict occurs as DOSBox ZMBV codec installs itself in the “system32” folder, and as a result the Media Player Classic try to use for playing back of the video files two ZMBV codec at the same time. That’s why if someone tries to play the same video encoded by DOSBox “zombie” codec on the Windows Media Player which doesn’t have a ZMBV codec of its own, but uses only the one installed in the “system32” folder, the colours will show up right. Unlike the Media Player Classic and the Windows Media Player, the KMPlayer uses codec only from its internal directory, and that is why it doesn’t get affected by the DOSBox ZMBV codec installed to “system32” folder.
Other important thing is that DOSBox encodes video with right colours no matter what, because it uses for encoding video files not the ZMBV codec installed to “system32” folder needed only for playing back recorded videos, but built in ZMBV codec, just like the KMPlayer uses only built in codec for media files playback. To check if it’s true, try not installing the DOSBox “zombie” codec – you will still be able to capture videos and to play them with right colours on the Media Player Classic, as I did (but you won’t be able to play videos with the Windows Media Player, because it does not have a ZMBV codec of its own). The only problem will be the rather bad sharpness, which can be solved simply by not installing the ZMBV codec which comes with the K-Lite Codec Pack.
To do that, while installing a K-Lite Codec Pack, make sure to deselect the function of playing the ZMBV and a few other codec at the bottom of the last window before starting the installation, since you won’t be able to disable this codec after installation is completed. After installing a K-Lite Codec Pack go to its “Video decoder configuration” and check if ZMBV codec is disabled, if not reinstall the Codec Pack and deselect the ZMBV codec playback function. In this way, for playing back videos encoded with a ZMBV codec, the Media Player Classic and Windows Media Player will use the ZMBV codec supplied by the DOSBox after you install it to the “system32” folder, and the video will be coloured and sharp at the same time.
To be happy, just make the others feel the same way!