Ubuntu 10.04 video issues

[boosted_4cyl]

is anybody else having issues playing movies and video in avi format on the new version of ubuntu?
My videos playback choppy and the contrast seems waaaaay darker.
i know when i first switched to ubuntu about 2 years ago i didnt have to install a single driver, maybe this one requires a driver of some sort?

 

[pseudolobster]

You can check if you need a video card driver under the System menu, under Administration, click Hardware Drivers.. You can also manually install drivers from the terminal, use "sudo apt-get install fglrx" for ATI cards, and "sudo apt-get install nvidia-glx" for nvidia cards.

If you use Totem for playback, you might also want to try installing different codecs.. Do "sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras" if you haven't already. Personally though, I use VLC. I find it does a better job, and its codecs are built into the program itself.

Finally, if you're running compiz, with all its fancy window effects, you can try disabling it temporarily.. Hit alt+f2 to bring up a run dialog box, type "metacity --replace" to temporarily revert to a basic desktop without all the fancy effects.