Basic VLC Question - Windows 11

[Vectraat]

Why does the grey playback control bar (play/pause, scrubber etc.) sometimes pop up on its own while playing videos in a sequence? It doesn't happen every time during a video transition, and I'm not touching the mouse or keyboard to cause the overlay to trigger. 

I'd like it to not behave in this way if possible. Or, if this is always going to be an issue, can someone point me to another basic media player that doesn't do this? I also need something that won't show file names after the transition from one video to the next. 
 

[FilipposTechGR]

1 minute ago, Vectraat said:

Why does the grey playback control bar (play/pause, scrubber etc.) sometimes pop up on its own while playing videos in a sequence? It doesn't happen every time during a video transition, and I'm not touching the mouse or keyboard to cause the overlay to trigger. 

I'd like it to not behave in this way if possible. Or, if this is always going to be an issue, can someone point me to another basic media player that doesn't do this? I also need something that won't show file names after the transition from one video to the next. 
 

That usually happens because some players briefly reset focus or send a UI refresh signal when transitioning between files, which makes the overlay pop up even if you didn’t touch anything. It’s a bit of a quirk.

If you want something more minimal, you could try MPC-HC/BE or PotPlayer, both let you disable on screen controls and file name popups entirely in the settings. VLC also has options under Preferences  Subtitles OSD to turn off the overlay bar and “show media title on start.

[Vectraat]

7 minutes ago, FilipposTechGR said:

That usually happens because some players briefly reset focus or send a UI refresh signal when transitioning between files, which makes the overlay pop up even if you didn’t touch anything. It’s a bit of a quirk.

If you want something more minimal, you could try MPC-HC/BE or PotPlayer, both let you disable on screen controls and file name popups entirely in the settings. VLC also has options under Preferences  Subtitles OSD to turn off the overlay bar and “show media title on start.

Looking into this deeper, this might work:

• Go to Tools > Preferences (or press Ctrl+P).

• At the bottom left, switch from Simple to All settings.

• In the left sidebar, go to Interface > Main interfaces > Qt.

• Look for “Show controls in full screen mode” and uncheck it.
  
  This change forces the playback bar to stay hidden when I move my cursor. BUT, will it stay hidden between file transitions? I'll have to test it out. 
  
  "One thing to note: if the videos are short (like ~1 minute) and you’re running a playlist, VLC will almost always flash the bar briefly when the next video starts. That’s just how the UI is coded — you can only fully suppress it with minimal view or by disabling the control interface in fullscreen."

[FilipposTechGR]

11 minutes ago, Vectraat said:

Αν το εξετάσουμε σε βάθος, ίσως λειτουργήσει το εξής:

• Μεταβείτε στα Εργαλεία > Προτιμήσεις (ή πατήστε Ctrl+P).

• Κάτω αριστερά, μεταβείτε από τις ρυθμίσεις Απλές σε Όλες .

• Στην αριστερή πλαϊνή μπάρα, μεταβείτε στην επιλογή Διεπαφή > Κύριες διεπαφές > Qt .

• Αναζητήστε την επιλογή "Εμφάνιση στοιχείων ελέγχου σε λειτουργία πλήρους οθόνης" και καταργήστε την επιλογή της.
  
  Αυτή η αλλαγή αναγκάζει τη γραμμή αναπαραγωγής να παραμένει κρυφή όταν μετακινώ τον κέρσορα. ΑΛΛΑ, θα παραμείνει κρυφή μεταξύ των μεταβάσεων αρχείων; Θα πρέπει να τη δοκιμάσω. 

Yeah, that’s the key setting. It hides the controls in fullscreen so they don’t pop up just from cursor movement. As for file transitions, VLC can still briefly refresh the UI, so you’ll need to test it. But in most cases this tweak should reduce the issue a lot.

[Vectraat]

2 minutes ago, FilipposTechGR said:

Yeah, that’s the key setting. It hides the controls in fullscreen so they don’t pop up just from cursor movement. As for file transitions, VLC can still briefly refresh the UI, so you’ll need to test it. But in most cases this tweak should reduce the issue a lot.

Well, if this behavior is a quirk of VLC based on UI coding, maybe I should use another video player like the ones you suggested. Do they behave in this manner if I disable the on screen controls? Because whatever player I use is going to be flipping through a lot of short clips (50 seconds to a minute) and I can't be having the control bar pop up randomly. 

[FilipposTechGR]

8 minutes ago, Vectraat said:

So, if this behavior is a quirk of VLC based on the UI code, maybe I should use another video player like the ones you suggested. Do they behave this way if I disable the on-screen controls? Because whatever player I use will scroll through a lot of short clips (50 seconds to a minute) and I can't have the control bar randomly appear. 

Yeah, MPC-HC/BE and PotPlayer don’t trigger the overlay the same way VLC does, as long as you disable on screen controls in their settings. They’re generally better for running through lots of short clips since the UI stays hidden between transitions. VLC can work with the tweak, but for your workflow many 50–60s clips, trying MPC or PotPlayer might be less frustrating.