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

[jkc120]

Are you kidding me? Everyone (including myself) has been blown away by the screen on the Gnex!

Then you clearly have not viewed a video that's set in a dark lighting in a dark room. Frankly, if you are watching movies/whatever in a room with even a bit of ambient light, you may never notice. *I* happen to watch a lot of videos in my bedroom with full darkness or on a plane with all but the emergency lighting on (read: red eye). So you're telling me you can view that video link I posted in a dark room and NOT take issue with it? I wish I had the ability to dismiss crappy video playback like you, I really do. Then I'd be perfectly happy with the device. I don't even think it takes a real keen eye to see it. I asked my 65+ parents to view the video, and without saying anything they both asked what was with the blue blocky crap in the dark parts of the video and the red bars in the girls' face during the sample clip I showed them. Ok, if this is a fact of life with pentile+amoled, then I should have known what I was getting into. But to just deny it exists means either one of a few possibilities:

1. people are not noticing because they are not viewing in a dark/low-light ambient environment
2. the problem is with my phone (and the one I replaced) and many others
3. people have not actually viewed a video with dark shadows/filming in a dark/low-light environment and are just jumping down people's throats for trying to warn others.

Honestly, I'm not just here to blow smoke up people's a**es. I HONESTLY hate how bad the video playback is on this phone. And I want to warn others who find this feature of utmost importance in their purchase. I wish I'd found something like this of the folks with gsm nexuses so I could have avoided it entirely. As such, now I'm stuck wanting to keep this phone for all the qualities I DO like, but also torn with keeping something that will make me cringe every time I watch a video on it in bed. So please don't try to make me out to be some kind of troll or anti-nexus person. I really do love the device otherwise (crappy signal not withstanding). But I refuse to just live with the abhorrent video playback quality on this device. People are free to choose what device they most like. I'm not saying this is a dealbreaker for most, just people who value video playback from their phone. Anyone who does would definitely be disappointed in what I am seeing. Again, if it's just my device (and the previous one I replaced, and the others reporting the problem), then I will absolutely stand corrected and go swap it AGAIN and hope I get something that works well. I'm not real optimistic about that at this point, however.

 

[XFistsClenched]

I believe the blue blockiness is a video codec issue. I think that if Google is aware of it, it will be corrected in a future update. The pentile thing is a non-issue. I see no reason why the pentile display would cause this to happen.

 

[jkc120]

I don't typically watch a whole lot of video on my phone. In the past I've watched replays of NHL games and the occasion Youtube video, but not much else. With this phone I've been viewing a lot more video though.

Maybe it is my eyes or something in my settings, but I just streamed about 8 minutes of Aeon Flux, Lord of the Rings The Two Towers and Limitless via NetFlix on my phone and they all played back really well. I wouldn't rank the video quality up there with my TV, but its a TV. Now I am in a dark room where the only other light is coming from my computer screens and I have the brightness set to auto, but it looked pretty nice to me. As I said, maybe it is just my eyes or that I don't really know what I am looking for (this is honestly one area I prefer to remain ignorant on personally).

Sorry it isn't living up to what you are looking for. I can say that I thought the Rezound also had an awesome screen, but that probably won't mean much from someone who still thinks the Nexus screen is really nice too. Good luck. I hope you find what you need.

So you're telling me you can view that short clip (I think it's the vampire diaries?) and NOT see the blue crappy blocks in the dude's hair on the left about 7-10 seconds in? As someone else mentioned previously, maybe my dinc was SLCD and not amoled ( thought I doubt that, I got it on preorder from best buy on the release date) and I'm just used to the lack of such banding and artifacts? Seriously, this is why I have asked for someone who does NOT think they see this to let me view it on their phone. I'm on my second phone and it's happening on both. I wish I could show people (but in a way, I don't know if I want to, because as they say what has been seen cannot be unseen). I truly think this is an issue with the combination of pentile+samoled. Maybe I just need to watch videos in bed with all the lights in my bedroom on.

 

[jkc120]

What brightness are you using? The auto brightness is a bit aggressive in putting the brightness down to practically 0, which will create banding. In dark environments it's really common for it to go down really low.

I keep mine at about half brightness and videos look great with no banding at all. It's not really noticeable at 30% or higher.

I use whatever the power widget uses for the 2nd level. that is in this order:

- auto
- low (zero?)
- medium
- hight

I use the medium setting with the symbol that's half filled. Not sure what exact brightness this is set to actually.

I can see this on ANY brightness setting in a dark room, actually. It doesn't matter if it's 0, mid, auto, full. Regardless, it's there and it's blatant. Playing the same video on my dinc or an iphone4 or my old ipod does NOT show the artifacts. It is entirely something related to the nexus.

 

[Dubbin1]

Honestly, I'm not just here to blow smoke up people's a**es.

I don't think anyone thinks you are but you are also telling people they are seeing something that they might not see. Remember that we all see things differently and to come on here and tell everyone not to buy this phone if they want to watch videos is just nuts.

You are sharing YOUR opinion while others have their own.

I'm willing to bet that most people don't give a damn about "blockiness in dark scenes", I know I don't.

 

[OfTheDamned]

Basically, anything that's set in a dark environment will show the problem (at least EVERY video I've watched has). Here's a sample video from the thread I mentioned which you can view for yourself. Again, watch in a dark/low-light room. I've observed the artifacts/issues with both full brightness as well as with the 2nd level brightness from the power app:

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

Like I said, I really want to be proven wrong, but EVERY video with dark parts I've view has this issue, and I'm just not going to sacrifice the ability to watch a movie/video/tv show without the crappy artifacts and banding/etc. But hey, for folks who don't watch much video on their phone, it's probably a non-issue. I happen to watch a lot of things in bed in a low-light situation and any dark video exhibits these problems.

Ok, I guess I didn't want to stay that ignorant.

I just watched the video and the blacks looked really black. I didn't see any blue in them at all. I tried it with auto, 50% and 100% brightness and it all looked great. Maybe I'm not looking at the right thing, but the video looked great to me.

 

[XFistsClenched]

Ok, I guess I didn't want to stay that ignorant.

I just watched the video and the blacks looked really black. I didn't see any blue in them at all. I tried it with auto, 50% and 100% brightness and it all looked great. Maybe I'm not looking at the right thing, but the video looked great to me.

I could only see it on the close up shots on the side of the guys head. I am pretty convinced it is a video codec issue and not a result of the display itself.

 

[OfTheDamned]

ah 30 year olds playing highschool kids. Anyway, I see the artifacts but they arenot nearly as bad as you make them out to be. I find the lack of autocorrect to be a far.more annoying issue, seeing as ive had.to.retype.this a few times already.

Off topic for this thread, but I'll help you out.

Settings > Language & Input > Settings (Icon next to Android Keyboard) > Auto Correction and set to the level you would prefer. I have mine on Aggressive.

So you're telling me you can view that short clip (I think it's the vampire diaries?) and NOT see the blue crappy blocks in the dude's hair on the left about 7-10 seconds in? As someone else mentioned previously, maybe my dinc was SLCD and not amoled ( thought I doubt that, I got it on preorder from best buy on the release date) and I'm just used to the lack of such banding and artifacts? Seriously, this is why I have asked for someone who does NOT think they see this to let me view it on their phone. I'm on my second phone and it's happening on both. I wish I could show people (but in a way, I don't know if I want to, because as they say what has been seen cannot be unseen). I truly think this is an issue with the combination of pentile+samoled. Maybe I just need to watch videos in bed with all the lights in my bedroom on.

No, I'm not seeing any thing other than black in the guys hair or anywhere else. If I had a camera to do it with I would take a video of the screen and show it to you. That clip was pretty much perfect for me in color and a little too good in clarity as I could see how bad the guys skin was.

 

[jkc120]

Ok, I guess I didn't want to stay that ignorant.

I just watched the video and the blacks looked really black. I didn't see any blue in them at all. I tried it with auto, 50% and 100% brightness and it all looked great. Maybe I'm not looking at the right thing, but the video looked great to me.

Ok, then the only explanation at this point is that I have received a bad phone TWICE from the same store in Folsom, CA.

I will go back (AGAIN) to swap it in PA.

This is why I said I think it's something that I need to compare in person. Yeah, yeah it's an opinion. But honestly, if you were seeing what I am seeing, there is no way you would mistake blue for black nor the horrible look of the video. The fact that you don't see anything makes me think the Folsom store received a bad batch of phones, I just don't know.

I don't know what to say. I'm in my parents' house in PA with my family (LONG travel day, ugh) and in a room with very little (but more) ambient light than I have in my bedroom normally, I can totally see the artifacts with the screen set to ANY brightness. I really with others who have seen this would chime in, because it's not just me. Either the lighting conditions in which people are watching are different, or I just got (two) bad phones. I will try again tomorrow, but so help me if VZW tries to charge me for swapping this phone because of this, I will be pissed. It's impossible to demonstrate in a store since there is a crapload of ambient light in there. If I see it on my 3rd phone I get tomorrow, I'm just going to demand they take me to a dark room so I can show them (and hopefully they don't think I'm some sort of freak haha).

I know this subject is sensitive and I wanted to avoid any animosity, but honestly I really don't see how what I'M seeing (key word being what I'm seeing on MY phones, I know) is mistakable. Even my parents who have probably never watched a video on a portable device in their lifetime asked what was up with the video. That, to me, lends credence to what I'M seeing. Again, I can't speak for what others see on their devices, which is why I wish I could compare them side-by-side with people who say their phone's video looks fine.

There is of course the possibility I'm just very sensitive to this, but I've tried viewing it in a number of conditions and the only time I can't see it is if there is a ton of ambient light. Please, someone else who is seeing this, please chime in.

 

[jbdan]

I just watched it for the most part it looks decent. I see what the OP is speaking of. It's very obvious. Problem is, it looks like very poorly encoded video on my 24" H-IPS monitor as well. idk much about how one goes about encoding videos for their phones (not for me), but is there another method for getting it done in higher quality?

OTD's response is exactly what I was saying how people see things differently. I saw nothing like what she sees.

Why don't you try this same video on another device or someones who you know who has a razr or resound?

 

[x25064]

Off topic for this thread, but I'll help you out.

Settings > Language & Input > Settings (Icon next to Android Keyboard) > Auto Correction and set to the level you would prefer. I have mine on Aggressive.



No, I'm not seeing any thing other than black in the guys hair or anywhere else. If I had a camera to do it with I would take a video of the screen and show it to you. That clip was pretty much perfect for me in color and a little too good in clarity as I could see how bad the guys skin was.

You the man.

 

[jkc120]

I could only see it on the close up shots on the side of the guys head. I am pretty convinced it is a video codec issue and not a result of the display itself.

I thought so at first, but as I mentioned in another thread, I tried SW decoding, "SW/fast" decoding, H/W decoding and 2-3 different apps.

I wish I had an adapter to plug into an HDMI tv to see if it transferred to the TV. Alas, I'm at my folks' house who have no HDMI-capable devices. If anyone who has observed this artifacting (let me just call it that for now) has the adapter to plug into the TV, can you see if it happens on the TV as well?

Is there any way to rule out the codec? I have not observed ANY other issues with the display. If I look REALLY close, I can see the "pentile" effect, but that does not bother me. The screen for normal use is beautiful, it really is. I have no complaints there. I just don't know why it looks like this in every (free) video player on the android market I've tried My conclusion was that it was hardware (screen) based, but that may be flawed if it's something to do with the nexus-CPU-specific decoder somehow. let me say that I would LOVE for this to be the problem. If it's software, I will just anxiously await a fix and keep my precious. If, however, this is just a "fact of life" with a pentile+samoled display, I will just have to find a more suitable device for me, and my warning in the title stands as far as I am concerned. I should be able to watch a video in whatever ambient lighting is there, and if the device does not hold up to those standards, I think my title demands some attention for people who are on the fence for this device.

Once again, I hope this is NOT a hardware issue. If it's not, I will happily change the title of this thread and redact my observations. Until then, my warning to potential buyers stands. If this forum is truly for information about the device, I think it's important that negative observations are kept available to would-be buyers, not just all the positives. I could go on and on about what I love about this device. But as we all know, the negatives are what get most of the press/attention.

 

[OfTheDamned]

You the man.

Woman.

 

[OfTheDamned]

Ok, then the only explanation at this point is that I have received a bad phone TWICE from the same store in Folsom, CA.

I will go back (AGAIN) to swap it in PA.

This is why I said I think it's something that I need to compare in person. Yeah, yeah it's an opinion. But honestly, if you were seeing what I am seeing, there is no way you would mistake blue for black nor the horrible look of the video. The fact that you don't see anything makes me think the Folsom store received a bad batch of phones, I just don't know.

I don't know what to say. I'm in my parents' house in PA with my family (LONG travel day, ugh) and in a room with very little (but more) ambient light than I have in my bedroom normally, I can totally see the artifacts with the screen set to ANY brightness. I really with others who have seen this would chime in, because it's not just me. Either the lighting conditions in which people are watching are different, or I just got (two) bad phones. I will try again tomorrow, but so help me if VZW tries to charge me for swapping this phone because of this, I will be pissed. It's impossible to demonstrate in a store since there is a crapload of ambient light in there. If I see it on my 3rd phone I get tomorrow, I'm just going to demand they take me to a dark room so I can show them (and hopefully they don't think I'm some sort of freak haha).

I know this subject is sensitive and I wanted to avoid any animosity, but honestly I really don't see how what I'M seeing (key word being what I'm seeing on MY phones, I know) is mistakable. Even my parents who have probably never watched a video on a portable device in their lifetime asked what was up with the video. That, to me, lends credence to what I'M seeing. Again, I can't speak for what others see on their devices, which is why I wish I could compare them side-by-side with people who say their phone's video looks fine.

There is of course the possibility I'm just very sensitive to this, but I've tried viewing it in a number of conditions and the only time I can't see it is if there is a ton of ambient light. Please, someone else who is seeing this, please chime in.

The whole thing is that if YOU are seeing it, then it is there. It doesn't matter what anyone else sees.

 

[jkc120]

I just watched it for the most part it looks decent. I see what the OP is speaking of. It's very obvious. Problem is, it looks like very poorly encoded video on my 24" H-IPS monitor as well. idk much about how one goes about encoding videos for their phones (not for me), but is there another method for getting it done in higher quality?

OTD's response is exactly what I was saying how people see things differently. I saw nothing like what she sees.

Why don't you try this same video on another device or someones who you know who has a razr or resound?

Well, unfortunately the conditions in which the artifacts are most obvious are not very reproducible in a verizon store environment, and therein lies my problem. I said it in the other thread, but I did the following experiment, just to give you an idea of how far I've tested this:

- took original m4v video and transcoded to a smaller size mp4 which I would previously have watched on my ipod 2g or dinc (had to drop the resolution since neither would play the 720p source hehe).
- playback on my wife's iphone4, ipod touch 2g, and dinc were flawless
- playback on the nexus exhibited the same artifacts

Yes, at face value one could say it was just the crappy encode, but I ALSO watched this on a 46" LCD TV at various distances and could not observe the blocky artifacts and banding and general 'ghosty' or 'bleedy' appearance. It's not the source media - even down-converting it with semi-lossy settings in ffmpeg looked fine on the dinc while not on the nexus.

I really wish I had a rezound and nexus side by side in the same environment to compare. Perhaps I can ask the CSR tomorrow in the PA store nearby if they will let me try it. If I see anywhere near the same behavior, then sure I am willing to admit that it's a video that looks crappy on a mobile device due to the encoding. But this is just an example mind you. I've seen the same thing on youtube videos, etc. And honestly, video that's set in a bright/lighted filming environment looks fine. It's when there are dark areas or out of focus areas that the blockiness and banding rear their ugly heads.

 

[jkc120]

The whole thing is that if YOU are seeing it, then it is there. It doesn't matter what anyone else sees.

Yes, yes. I know. I honestly think it's one of those cases where it's "what has been seen cannot be unseen". I'm almost afraid to point it out to people, because once you see it, you will really shake your head.

I'll go back to what I said - my folks both pointed it out immediately. They watch TV (maybe 5 hours a week, tops) on a 25" tube TV. Even they spotted it immediately. So either my phone's screen is bad or it's a legitimate issue.

Perhaps it would help if I found more examples of publicly available videos (or just upload them to dropbox) and annotate where I notice the artifacts and what exactly I'm observing.

Look, I want to be convinced I'm being anal retentive and to keep the phone. I honestly do, because I love this damn thing. I just cannot reconcile that with cringing every time I watch a video on this thing in a low-light/dark room

Maybe if I leave a deposit or something at a VZW corp store they will let me take a rezound home to compare them side by side. Does anyone have any experience with this sort of thing? I'm really not interested in spending $70 just to bring home a rezound, see the same issue, then go back to get my nexus back (worst case scenario).

 

[OfTheDamned]

Yes, yes. I know. I honestly think it's one of those cases where it's "what has been seen cannot be unseen". I'm almost afraid to point it out to people, because once you see it, you will really shake your head.

I'll go back to what I said - my folks both pointed it out immediately. They watch TV (maybe 5 hours a week, tops) on a 25" tube TV. Even they spotted it immediately. So either my phone's screen is bad or it's a legitimate issue.

Perhaps it would help if I found more examples of publicly available videos (or just upload them to dropbox) and annotate where I notice the artifacts and what exactly I'm observing.

Look, I want to be convinced I'm being anal retentive and to keep the phone. I honestly do, because I love this damn thing. I just cannot reconcile that with cringing every time I watch a video on this thing in a low-light/dark room

Maybe if I leave a deposit or something at a VZW corp store they will let me take a rezound home to compare them side by side. Does anyone have any experience with this sort of thing? I'm really not interested in spending $70 just to bring home a rezound, see the same issue, then go back to get my nexus back (worst case scenario).

It may sound odd to them, but the store has to have a bathroom, right? See if they will let you use it to go play the same clip on a couple of the phones. As long as you don't get butter fingers and drop the thing in the toilet you should be fine and be able to make a solid comparison. Worth a shot anyway.

 

[XFistsClenched]

I'm going to rent the newest Pirates of the Caribbean HD movie on my phone and report back on whether I noticed the same issue in this movie.

 

[jkc120]

I see the blue blockiness that people on here are complaining about, but I don't believe it is a screen issue. It only seems to manifest when the guys head is close. When the pictures moves further away, the blacks seem perfect to me. I would think if the issue was the display itself, that blue blockiness would rear its head in other areas than just in video. I'm not an expert or anything, but it seems to me that this is a video codec issue. I'd be willing to bet that this issue can be fixed 100% through software.

This issue isn't the same as banding. Banding is basically when you can see a strip running vertically or horizontally across your screen like in this image.

Thanks for the example of banding.

What I am seeing (other than the blue blocky crap) is situations where there is ghosting in the image and it's a weird lighter color than the area it should be. It almost looks like a horizontal bar graph (when viewing a video in landscape). Best I can do with ascii art (heh) is this:

==================
=============================
==========
=============
=====================

Where those parts are a slightly lighter shade of red/green or something compared to the surrounding areas.

SO hard to describe in text on a forum. Maybe I can take a screen shot during video playback and try to capture it, dunno.

 

[OfTheDamned]

I'm going to rent the newest Pirates of the Caribbean HD movie on my phone and report back on whether I noticed the same issue in this movie.

Technically, couldn't an issue with that just be the codec or the stream quality?

 

[jbdan]

Well, unfortunately the conditions in which the artifacts are most obvious are not very reproducible in a verizon store environment, and therein lies my problem. I said it in the other thread, but I did the following experiment, just to give you an idea of how far I've tested this:

- took original m4v video and transcoded to a smaller size mp4 which I would previously have watched on my ipod 2g or dinc (had to drop the resolution since neither would play the 720p source hehe).
- playback on my wife's iphone4, ipod touch 2g, and dinc were flawless
- playback on the nexus exhibited the same artifacts

Yes, at face value one could say it was just the crappy encode, but I ALSO watched this on a 46" LCD TV at various distances and could not observe the blocky artifacts and banding and general 'ghosty' or 'bleedy' appearance. It's not the source media - even down-converting it with semi-lossy settings in ffmpeg looked fine on the dinc while not on the nexus.

I really wish I had a rezound and nexus side by side in the same environment to compare. Perhaps I can ask the CSR tomorrow in the PA store nearby if they will let me try it. If I see anywhere near the same behavior, then sure I am willing to admit that it's a video that looks crappy on a mobile device due to the encoding. But this is just an example mind you. I've seen the same thing on youtube videos, etc. And honestly, video that's set in a bright/lighted filming environment looks fine. It's when there are dark areas or out of focus areas that the blockiness and banding rear their ugly heads.

My bad I did not see your other thread pertaining to this issue.

Sounds like if you used the exact same methods and video/s and played them on those said devices and it was flawless....well it seems to me that the GN screen tech would be at fault.

At least you're investigating it like a champ . You'll know soon enough if the GN is for you and your uses or not.


I didn't necessarily mean in-store, but more to the tune of if you knew anyone who had a phone you could meet with and try the same video out on their device to see. Of course it would have to be somewhere very dark as well. gl jkc hope you get something that makes ya happy!

 

[cosmosan]

I could only see it on the close up shots on the side of the guys head. I am pretty convinced it is a video codec issue and not a result of the display itself.

I agree. It's either straight in the source material or a codec issue.

And with these type of issues that affect the blacks, it may seem like it only affects AMOLED displays, simply because of the amount of black detail these displays are able to preserve. With most LCD displays, the black levels and shadow detail just isn't that great, so you end up getting black crush (ie. instead of gradations (shades) of black in dark areas of films, all you see is a solid black mess). This essentially hides this particular issue, but is hardly something that you would want in a display. Loss of detail is never good.

Next time you compare this display to an LCD display, compare the amount of black/shadow detail between the two (for example the lapels of someone wearing a black suit in a dark scene). You'll be pleasantly surprised.

 

[rexdog1888]

Thanks for the example of banding.

What I am seeing (other than the blue blocky crap) is situations where there is ghosting in the image and it's a weird lighter color than the area it should be. It almost looks like a horizontal bar graph (when viewing a video in landscape). Best I can do with ascii art (heh) is this:

==================
=============================
==========
=============
=====================

Where those parts are a slightly lighter shade of red/green or something compared to the surrounding areas.

SO hard to describe in text on a forum. Maybe I can take a screen shot during video playback and try to capture it, dunno.

If you have a camera(I think u mentioned having a dinc, u could use it) why don't you put the video on the nexus and then record yourself watching the video and point at the artifacting on the screen and say what you are seeing.

 

[jkc120]

I'm going to rent the newest Pirates of the Caribbean HD movie on my phone and report back on whether I noticed the same issue in this movie.

Cool, I really appreciate you guy and gals looking into this. Please do report back what you find.

I think I'll just give it some more time to see if I can produce some more concrete examples for people to check out and report back. I will be very explicit with instructions to reproduce (e.g., watch in X amount of light, seek to Y in the movie, observe Z location of the screen for the following artifacts, etc).

FWIW, I tried a few netflix videos and observed the same kind of artifacts (after the initial period in which it took to adjust the video quality). What I was seeing in those matched what I saw in the sample video.

Just to be clear, the folks that are NOT seeing this are watching the video in ZERO or almost-zero ambient light, yes? We're talking a bedroom at night here or a room with no windows/lights? And specifically I'm talking about ~6 seconds in when the guys' head is in the upper left part of the screen. Thanks again for people's reports/observations.

Mods - can we change the title of the thread? I feel bad for such an absolute title, given what I'm seeing COULD be a defect in the two phones I have tried or something. Can we change to something less inflammatory like "Possibly issue with video playback quality on Nexus in dark/low-light conditions?"

Thanks in advance to the mod(s) if the title can be adjusted. Off to bed now, so I'll stop ranting 3:15 am EST, but feels like 12:15 for me, and that's nothing compared to the weeks I stayed up hoping for a Nexus pre-order hahaha

Night folks.

 

[XFistsClenched]

Technically, couldn't an issue with that just be the codec or the stream quality?

Probably. I'm just curious. Plus, it seems like a good way to kill some time.