When explaining the most important properties of an operating system , the wallpaper is one of the most important attributes, especially when it comes to customizing its appearance. And although it seems incredible, the VLC player, rated as one of the best video players, is capable of setting an image (even a video) as the wallpaper.
And although we are used to using the classic still images as desktop background or wallpaper, there are several ways to achieve that customization, with your own images, animated and a long list of options.
In this opportunity you will learn how you can apply a wallpaper that directly reproduces a video, something that, although it seems a bit strange, offers us the opportunity to greatly expand the opportunities of this area of the system, and that we can also do in a simple way.
With Windows Vista Ultimate
If your computer uses the Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate operating system or a newer one, you have the opportunity to give your desktop an original and surprising look: put a video as your wallpaper.
And how can you achieve this? With the Windows DreamScene utility, the static images that you have saved on your computer can be used and turned into something much more attractive and dynamic. This utility performs the animations using the GPU, so it is not noticeable in the use of the CPU, but it has a high power consumption, especially if you use a laptop.
But what if you don’t have the Ultimate version of Vista or higher installed? Don’t worry, because you can achieve the same effect using a tool that is very easy and that you may already have installed on your PC.
Use a video as wallpaper with VLC Media Player
The possibility of playing a video as a desktop background was one of the options included as an innovation in Windows Vista, this option in Windows 7 is disabled, but you can use a well-known player like VLC Media Player, which is one of the most popular players. complete that exists.
In addition, it is free software, it has no cost and it runs on GNU/Linux, MAC and Windows, and because of this you can find it on almost any computer. This program offers you the ability to copy a DVD or CD, record what you are doing on your desktop or change the format of a file, among other options.
VLC Media Player is used by a large number of people to play audio and video because it recognizes almost all the formats out there. But it has many other functions, such as streaming, both audio and video, to put your radio or TV online.
It also allows you to record your screen to, for example, produce a tutorial on how to use certain software. And although it is true that there are other free programs for operating systems, VLC Media Player is distinguished by being simple and quite stable.
But how can you set a video as your wallpaper and watch it while doing other things without having to maximize the player? Once the program is open, click on the ” Tools ” menu and choose the ” Preferences ” option . Then go to the ” Video ” option and once the window is displayed, choose the ” Output ” option and click on ” DirectX ” (DirectDraw).
Click on ” Save ” and restart the program. Then place a video and in the ” Video ” menu the option ” Set as desktop background ” will appear, and you will see that the video automatically plays the video as wallpaper on your computer.
In this way the appearance of your desktop will be original and surprising, in addition, you will be able to continue working with the applications or documents while behind them the video that you chose as your wallpaper is played.
Why use the option set as desktop background? Because it is more practical than Full Screen mode, since the Windows taskbar is still available in this mode. However, if you have a computer with two or more screens, you will probably be interested in the idea of putting different wallpapers on two or more monitors.