Help Horrible blue aliasing/artifacts in black areas during video playback

[jkc120]

Tonight I started watching a video on my phone and noticed some terrible blue boxes/artifacts/aliasing during playback. The video in question is a 720p mp4. I played it on my dinc and the same blue boxes/aliasing is NOT present. I do see a very, very minor aliasing happening which is just characteristic of a lossy video encoder. But the blueness is not there on the dinc.

It's hard for me to describe properly, but I might be able to find a video on youtube or publicly available video I can post a URL to so people can see if it happens for them.

I thought perhaps it was the video player I'm using on the nexus (mx player), but I tried moboplayer (which I use on the dinc) and it crashes on the nexus. I guess I can try some other video player on both the dinc and the nexus to compare, but I'm pretty sure this is a problem with the nexus.

I watch a ton of video on my phone, and this is a huge deal breaker for me. I'm willing to put up with the less than stellar signal and other issues, but this is just horrible.

I'll reply as soon as I find a video people can try out to demonstrate the issue. Has anyone else noticed this?!

 

[jkc120]

Ok, I found a clip that exhibits this. It shows in the default movie player on the nexus and also the mx player app.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/28717002/test.m4v

Can someone out there play this back and see if you notice it? I think it's pretty hard to miss, but would like some others' feedback. Watch the black parts of the video (especially the guy's hair on the left) and you'll see some really annoying blueish/light-blue blockiness in the black areas. This same video played back on my dinc doesn't show this.

I'm also curious if people with a Rezound can check this? That will probably be my next option if I return the Nexus.

Thanks in advance.

 

[tpags]

Ok, I found a clip that exhibits this. It shows in the default movie player on the nexus and also the mx player app.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/28717002/test.m4v

Can someone out there play this back and see if you notice it? I think it's pretty hard to miss, but would like some others' feedback. Watch the black parts of the video (especially the guy's hair on the left) and you'll see some really annoying blueish/light-blue blockiness in the black areas. This same video played back on my dinc doesn't show this.

I'm also curious if people with a Rezound can check this? That will probably be my next option if I return the Nexus.

Thanks in advance.

I can also see it. As soon as I got the phone I wanted to see the HD screen in action so I watched the Transformers trailer and The new Harry Potter trailer in HD(on youtube) and I saw that when there was dark scenes the blacks were pretty washed out. Kinda like what you see on some LED tvs. For myself, I don't watch too many vids so it's not a deal breaker for me. But I can see where that might bother others.

 

[Mormonstang]

I didn't notice it until I turned up my brightness, but yeah now I see it. That sucks.

 

[BigJS4]

Yup, i noticed it the first day i had the phone. The screen is honestly worse than my old HTC Touchpro 2 with respect to clarity on everyday views.

 

[P M]

could you post a picture of what type of artifacts you're seeing? I dl'ed the vid and put my brightness up and i'm noticing maybe very very slight noise on the blacks, which to me just looks like something similar to high iso on a slr camera type noise. it is very very feint though and i can't really notice it.

i'm sure we all have different levels of what we consider great quality, but maybe it is a batch issue in production? because i'm quite happy with the display.

 

[Worst Enemy]

Apply the "Microbes" from live wall paper and tap around the screen (not long press) and you will get the worst bleed thru artifacts. Its unreal, you can almost make the screen white.

 

[P M]

Apply the "Microbes" from live wall paper and tap around the screen (not long press) and you will get the worst bleed thru artifacts. Its unreal, you can almost make the screen white.

hmmmmm...

"Nexus S" Microbes - Live Wallpaper - YouTube

Microbes live wallpaper from Nexus S - YouTube

do these videos exhibit the same artifacts you guys are trying to describe? to me, the white cloudiness is intentional as part of the design of the live wallpaper.

 

[tomato88]

I smell lemons.

 

[mblouir]

could you post a picture of what type of artifacts you're seeing? I dl'ed the vid and put my brightness up and i'm noticing maybe very very slight noise on the blacks, which to me just looks like something similar to high iso on a slr camera type noise. it is very very feint though and i can't really notice it.

i'm sure we all have different levels of what we consider great quality, but maybe it is a batch issue in production? because i'm quite happy with the display.

This is what I see, as well. For the most part the blacks are very deep and everything is gorgeous. There is a slight bit of noise (that's what I'd call it, also) on his hair, but nothing that I would notice without looking for it.

 

[HanSolo]

Ok, I found a clip that exhibits this. It shows in the default movie player on the nexus and also the mx player app.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/28717002/test.m4v

Can someone out there play this back and see if you notice it? I think it's pretty hard to miss, but would like some others' feedback. Watch the black parts of the video (especially the guy's hair on the left) and you'll see some really annoying blueish/light-blue blockiness in the black areas. This same video played back on my dinc doesn't show this.

I'm also curious if people with a Rezound can check this? That will probably be my next option if I return the Nexus.

Thanks in advance.

Honestly, you might have a defective device. The blacks are deep on mine, even with full brightness. Extremely little artifact in areas that aren't true black.

But in the heavy shadow areas, it's as black as the bezel.

 

[euphoriq]

I see it as well on full brightness

 

[SamMax]

I wish you hadn't pointed this out but I see it as well. I noticed it watching the HD Ghost Rider 2 trailer on YouTube. It's strange though because on the app selection screen you can plainly see the display is capable of pure black so why don't videos show that? Maybe a software update can fix it?

Or this may just be the pentile screen norm.

 

[kyler13]

I know when the SGSII came out, there was talk that the video player would support Samsung's mobile DNIe which would allow selection of things like dynamic, natural, movie modes, etc. I guess the GN has no such settings? Perhaps it's the saturation settings for the display that is causing this.

 

[kishin14]

Ok, I found a clip that exhibits this. It shows in the default movie player on the nexus and also the mx player app.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/28717002/test.m4v

Can someone out there play this back and see if you notice it? I think it's pretty hard to miss, but would like some others' feedback. Watch the black parts of the video (especially the guy's hair on the left) and you'll see some really annoying blueish/light-blue blockiness in the black areas. This same video played back on my dinc doesn't show this.

I'm also curious if people with a Rezound can check this? That will probably be my next option if I return the Nexus.

Thanks in advance.

I have a rezound and just tested the video as this is a very important factor for me as well. I can tell you that there is NO artifacting, blockiness, blueish anything. The video plays perfectly, just like you're watching on TV.

The problem you're talking about absolutely has to do with the pentile display. I played it on my old droid 3, which is also pentile (but not super amoled) and it looked horrible. But I knew it would. All my videos, HD or otherwise, had problems with dark scenes on my d3. This is especially noticeable when the black isn't true black but a lighter shade of it that constantly changes due to slight changes in lighting (within the scene itself). It made certain movies just plain unwatchable on my d3. I never had this problem on my first android phone (DX) or on the rezound. Also makes me think your Inc is of the SLCD variety, which the later ones came with and is the same screen tech in the rezound.

I thought that the denser pixel count of the HD screen on the Gnex would make it less obvious, and maybe it does. But from the sound of it, it doesn't seem enough for those that watch a lot of HD content on their phones like me.

Thank you for pointing this out. If I had any lingering doubts about sticking with my rezound, you just ended them. I'm on the go all the time so do most of my video watching from my phone. My HD rips look stunning. I've seen no distortions in any on the videos I watch.

To the poster, since your dropbox link streams, just go to a verizon store and install mx player on their display rezound (if you can't access the market, you can always download the app directly from the dev's google site, Download - MX Video Player, using the browser). Then side load it and play it on the rezound. I guarantee you will not see a single artifact.

Thanks again for the info.

 

[P M]

I have a rezound and just tested the video as this is a very important factor for me as well. I can tell you that there is NO artifacting, blockiness, blueish anything. The video plays perfectly, just like you're watching on TV.

The problem you're talking about absolutely has to do with the pentile display. I played it on my old droid 3, which is also pentile (but not super amoled) and it looked horrible. But I knew it would. All my videos, HD or otherwise, had problems with dark scenes on my d3. This is especially noticeable when the black isn't true black but a lighter shade of it that constantly changes due to slight changes in lighting (within the scene itself). It made certain movies just plain unwatchable on my d3. I never had this problem on my first android phone (DX) or on the rezound. Also makes me think your Inc is of the SLCD variety, which the later ones came with and is the same screen tech in the rezound.

I thought that the denser pixel count of the HD screen on the Gnex would make it less obvious, and maybe it does. But from the sound of it, it doesn't seem enough for those that watch a lot of HD content on their phones like me.

Thank you for pointing this out. If I had any lingering doubts about sticking with my rezound, you just ended them. I'm on the go all the time so do most of my video watching from my phone. My HD rips look stunning. I've seen no distortions in any on the videos I watch.

To the poster, since your dropbox link streams, just go to a verizon store and install mx player on their display rezound (if you can't access the market, you can always download the app directly from the dev's google site, Download - MX Video Player, using the browser). Then side load it and play it on the rezound. I guarantee you will not see a single artifact.

Thanks again for the info.

Looks like you are right. I had thought the screen of the Nexus was the same as the Galaxy S II; but it's actually a high-def Super AMOLED vs Galaxy S II's Super AMOLED PLUS.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus Phone Review | PCWorld

The Galaxy Nexus has a high-def Super AMOLED display--not to be confused with the Super AMOLED Plus technology found in the Samsung Galaxy S II line of phones. This 1280-by-720-pixel display is actually based on a PenTile pixel structure in which pixels share subpixels. Engadget points out that the Galaxy S II phones have full RGB displays in which the pixels have their own subpixels. This means that the Galaxy Nexus has lower overall subpixel density, reduced sharpness, and degraded color accuracy than the Galaxy S II. But according to site FlatpanelsHD, the Galaxy Nexus has 315 pixels per inch, which is slightly lower than the iPhone 4/4S at 326 ppi.

To be quite honest, the only quality difference I saw between the Galaxy S II, the Galaxy Nexus, and the iPhone 4S was in color accuracy. Colors on the Galaxy Nexus had a slight yellowish tint, mainly in pictures or websites with a white background. Otherwise, blacks looked deep, while fonts and details appeared sharp. Unless you

 

[Trent Reznor]

I think the issue here (at least on my Gnex) is that regardless of what I have the screen brightness set at... it goes to max brightness when I play a video in both google video player and MX video player.

Set your screen brightness to low - open MX and as soon as start a video you will see the whites get much brighter... they then go back to your setting when you stop the movie.

This seems to be a software issue not a hardware... so hopefully a dev can fix this.

 

[jkc120]

I think the issue here (at least on my Gnex) is that regardless of what I have the screen brightness set at... it goes to max brightness when I play a video in both google video player and MX video player.

Set your screen brightness to low - open MX and as soon as start a video you will see the whites get much brighter... they then go back to your setting when you stop the movie.

This seems to be a software issue not a hardware... so hopefully a dev can fix this.

Why do you think it's a software issue? I tried multiple players, including the built in one. I tried various movie formats, various compression levels and configured the players to use hardware, software and "software fast" decoding methods. They all exhibit the same blue artifacts.

The thing that sucks is now I have to pay a $35 restock fee and get a phone I don't really feel thrilled about (the rezound), but I guess I'll have to take all the bloatware and locked bootloader on the rezound and pray they get it hacked and I can run CM9/ICS in the future.

Really, really bummed to have to return this phone. I love every aspect of it, and I was ok with the slightly worse radio performance. But I guess this is just too annoying for me to live with, since I probably watch at least 1 tv show or movie a night, it's totally a deal breaker for me.

FYI, for anyone that claims they can't see it, look again when you're in a dark room. It's very difficult to discern in anything but extreme low light or darkness. I'm trying to figure out how I can show the CSRs in the store since it'll be super bright in there I'm sure.

sigh...after all this wait, I have to take it back.

 

[eyc]

I see the same issue. The side of the guys head is blue.

 

[jkc120]

I see the same issue. The side of the guys head is blue.

Yup

I would report it as a bug, but I am about 99% sure this is a hardware "limitation".

God I hope the Rezound gets S-OFF soon....

 

[jkc120]

What would I search for on google for this? I want to see if anyone else is reporting this on the GSM version since it's been out for a while now. I imagine it's the same, but who knows maybe it's an issue with only the LTE version (highly doubtful).

 

[eyc]

Yup

I would report it as a bug, but I am about 99% sure this is a hardware "limitation".

God I hope the Rezound gets S-OFF soon....

FYI - It is nearly impossible to see the issue if there is strong ambient light or sunlight around you. I checked the video again as I sit next to a window and I could not see any of the aliasing or artifacting at all. I could only see it when I went into a dark room.

 

[jkc120]

FYI - It is nearly impossible to see the issue if there is strong ambient light or sunlight around you. I checked the video again as I sit next to a window and I could not see any of the aliasing or artifacting at all. I could only see it when I went into a dark room.

Yep, exactly. Which means I'm screwed trying to show it to the CSRs in the store. I need to figure out a way to do this. Maybe bring in a shoe box and cut a hole in it or something? LOL, what a sight that would be...

 

[Trent Reznor]

Why do you think it's a software issue? I tried multiple players, including the built in one. I tried various movie formats, various compression levels and configured the players to use hardware, software and "software fast" decoding methods. They all exhibit the same blue artifacts.

How often do you watch your home tv at max brightness and expect a good picture and dark blacks (especially in a dark room)?

Unfortunately I don't know how to test what effect max brightness is having on pq as all of the video players i've tried default to max brightness when watching a video (regardless of what brightness the screen is set to)

 

[jkc120]

How often do you watch your home tv at max brightness and expect a good picture and dark blacks (especially in a dark room)?

Unfortunately I don't know how to test what effect max brightness is having on pq as all of the video players i've tried default to max brightness when watching a video (regardless of what brightness the screen is set to)

I watched videos on my dinc every night probably for over a year. There were zero problems with the video playback. It's not like this is a problem with ALL phones out there. I don't know if it's a pentile thing or something specific to the nexus or what. All I know is my dinc did not have this problem and the video quality is much better and unfortunately it's not something I can compromise on, but that's just me. Obviously not everyone watches a lot of videos in the dark, but I happen to and it's really annoying.