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

[kishin14]

OP, the video that you posted is of pretty poor quality. It looks bad on my computer monitor and while it isn't horrible on my phone, I can definitely tell the quality of the video is subpar. Perhaps what you are seeing is a result of the poor video quality. I streamed an hd trailer of men in black and it looks PERFECT, including in a completely dark room. Maybe you should try a better quality video than the one you posted.

Poor quality or not, the artifacting he's talking about is not present during playback on the rezound. That means that it's not just a poor quality issue. If it was, it would be present on any screen type. But it plays perfectly and looks as good as the show would on TV.

I believe this has to do with the pentile screen and is not a codec issue. I had it on my Droid 3 which was also pentile. While it was not super amoled, it displayed the exact same issue the OP is talking about. There is nothing you can do about it. It's simply a limitation of the screen tech. It doesn't seem like it bothers most of the people here so its probably not nearly as bad as it was on my D3. But it obviously bothers the OP and it would probably bother me as well.

 

[jkc120]

Thanks for all the responses. If this is just a codec/crappy video, I've been unlucky in what I've been trying. For the folks who HAVE tried this in a VERY dark room, can you do me a favor and post a link to or instructions to find the video? I do have a netflix account. Unfortunately, the wifi signal in my parents' house is crappy and they are in BFE so I barely have 3G haha. But once I can reproduce this in a dark room, I'd like to try a video that people have watched that does NOT demonstrate it.

If you can post the exact time in the video where there is a similar scene to the test video I posted, that'd help so I don't have to watch an entire movie or something

I think I saw a couple of mentions of HD video trailers, but was that on youtube or somewhere else? And where (time wise) in the videos should I check out?

Thanks in advance!

 

[jkc120]

Poor quality or not, the artifacting he's talking about is not present during playback on the rezound. That means that it's not just a poor quality issue. If it was, it would be present on any screen type. But it plays perfectly and looks as good as the show would on TV.

I believe this has to do with the pentile screen and is not a codec issue. I had it on my Droid 3 which was also pentile. While it was not super amoled, it displayed the exact same issue the OP is talking about. There is nothing you can do about it. It's simply a limitation of the screen tech. It doesn't seem like it bothers most of the people here so its probably not nearly as bad as it was on my D3. But it obviously bothers the OP and it would probably bother me as well.

I wonder why some people can't see it then, even with my test video. The blocky artifacts I can sort of fix by boosting the contrast, but there are other cases where I see the "slicing" artifact. The best way I can describe it is that it looks like I'm seeing a partially transparent pinkish (or greenish, depending the background) horizontal bar graph overlaid on the video.

 

[eyc]

If you can post the exact time in the video where there is a similar scene to the test video I posted, that'd help so I don't have to watch an entire movie or something

There is a HUGE library of very good high definition video trailers that are playable on the Nexus here:

Movie Download Index (0 - 9, A - H) | Movies - Digital Digest

I downloaded the Tron trailer recently, which has a lot of dark images to test. I haven't tested it yet in low light conditions.

 

[Foolish Mortal]

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.

I watched the clip you provided all the way through once, and to 20 seconds in a few more times, and I'm not seeing any problem. I'm in my office with the door closed and the lights off, but I went into the bathroom with no windows- pitch black, and no problem there either.

I wish that I could help you.

 

[jkc120]

Get over it OP you're becoming obsessed, do you really need more than 1 thread on the subject. I've watched loads of video, had the phone for over a month and your video is the first time I've noticed it.

I think video plackback is excellent, in fact when I show my phone off, it's one of the first things I'll demo. Perhaps I'm not watching enough childish vampire stuff for it to bother me.

First of all, if you'd read the threads, I said this was just a sample clip I found that definitively demonstrates the issue. Maybe I should watch it though, since you have so much disdain for it.

As for obsessing, yes I admit I am. Wouldn't you if one of the top 3 things you do on your phone was a MAJOR step backwards from your 2 year old phone you used previously? No phone is perfect, but there are certain things people are unwilling to "live with". For many, it's a poor signal relative to other phones, but that's not a deal breaker for me. Poor video quality playback IS for me and may be for others, which is why I started the other thread.

Also, if you'd read the other thread you would know that this blockiness is sort of correctable but the other issue (I'll call it "semi-transparent bar graph overlay) is much more annoying to me. I still don't know what to make of that, and I have to find an example of it to post in the other thread.

But, you are right, two topics on almost the same subject (well, the other is more of a superset of this) doesn't make sense. So I'll ask the mods to close/lock this one and track the issue in the other thread.

 

[jkc120]

I watched the clip you provided all the way through once, and to 20 seconds in a few more times, and I'm not seeing any problem. I'm in my office with the door closed and the lights off, but I went into the bathroom with no windows- pitch black, and no problem there either.

I wish that I could help you.

I just don't get it. I really don't think it's that subtle in a dark room. Perhaps it's something to do with the brightness of the screen automatically going high or low or something? I'll try fooling with the brightness inside mx player, but I've tried mx player, the built in video player and one other one from the market I can't remember the name of.

*edit* Viewing in mx player and manually dropping the brightness does mask the effect a bit. I grabbed the MIB 3 HD trailer from youtube (via youtube-dl) and I could see the effect every so slightly on Will Smith around 24-28 seconds into the trailer. Definitely less pronounced, and also the video is 1080p so the size of the blocking was smaller.

I'll try some other video sources and see if I can find 720p dark content that doesn't have the issue.

 

[jkc120]

I watched the clip you provided all the way through once, and to 20 seconds in a few more times, and I'm not seeing any problem. I'm in my office with the door closed and the lights off, but I went into the bathroom with no windows- pitch black, and no problem there either.

I wish that I could help you.

By the way, which video player are you using and what brightness is your screen set to? Does your video app adjust the brightness when it starts? I'd like to try to watch it under IDENTICAL conditions as you did and see how much less noticeable the effect is. Thanks in advance!

 

[nj02vette]

I haven't directly seen the issue you are referring to, but also haven't truely investigated it thoroughly either. I'll try later.

I will say that not everyone's eyes are the same. Some people were extremely sensitive to color banding problems on DLP technology, while others couldn't see it. Some people are sensitive to refresh rates, and others have an easy time with 3D art while some can't see it no matter how many times they cross their eyes. Point is, not everyone sees the exact same way. So keep future posts with that thought in mind.

 

[jkc120]

I haven't directly seen the issue you are referring to, but also haven't truely investigated it thoroughly either. I'll try later.

I will say that not everyone's eyes are the same. Some people were extremely sensitive to color banding problems on DLP technology, while others couldn't see it. Some people are sensitive to refresh rates, and others have an easy time with 3D art while some can't see it no matter how many times they cross their eyes. Point is, not everyone sees the exact same way. So keep future posts with that thought in mind.

Good point, and you're absolutely right. What *I* see doesn't mean others see the same thing. Even if we were in the same room watching my phone in the same conditions. I'm just trying to compare apples and apples so I can determine if indeed I received a bad couple of phones.

I'm going to go watch the video again with full brightness and take a screen shot when the guys' head is exhibiting the artifacts to see if it still looks that way on the screen shot (which would indicate a codec/video quality issue I guess).

 

[rexdog1888]

Good point, and you're absolutely right. What *I* see doesn't mean others see the same thing. Even if we were in the same room watching my phone in the same conditions. I'm just trying to compare apples and apples so I can determine if indeed I received a bad couple of phones.

I'm going to go watch the video again with full brightness and take a screen shot when the guys' head is exhibiting the artifacts to see if it still looks that way on the screen shot (which would indicate a codec/video quality issue I guess).

Just tried and it is still there in the screen shot. I think its a codec issue.

 

[kishin14]

I wonder why some people can't see it then, even with my test video. The blocky artifacts I can sort of fix by boosting the contrast, but there are other cases where I see the "slicing" artifact. The best way I can describe it is that it looks like I'm seeing a partially transparent pinkish (or greenish, depending the background) horizontal bar graph overlaid on the video.

I honestly don't know why others can't see it. Perhaps they just aren't looking hard enough or maybe it's a condition that common to super amoled (in the sense that it affects most) but there are a few that it doesn't occur on). I honestly don;t think you got a bum screen. Like I said, I'm pretty sure it's a super amoled thing. Check out this post, which is about a similar problem with the super amoled screen on the razr that also only seems apparent in a dark room:

black screen blotchy (bootup / wallpaper) - Android Forums at AndroidCentral.com

 

[jkc120]

I took a screenshot during the problematic part after pausing it. While paused I could absolutely see the blue blocks. The screenshot does not depict the issue, but then again I'm viewing it on a laptop that has an LCD heh.

Here's the screen shot I took.

http://i.imgur.com/w44DC.png

 

[jkc120]

Just tried and it is still there in the screen shot. I think its a codec issue.

Really?? I took a screen shot and I don't see it in there. Weird.

Maybe I will try to find this episode online in avi format which I think usually contains "regular" mpeg 4 part 2 video not H.264 and see if it still has the issue. Worth a shot I guess.

 

[EarlyMon]

It looks very much like we had two threads on the same issue, really - so they're now merged.

Hope this helps!

 

[rexdog1888]

Really?? I took a screen shot and I don't see it in there. Weird.

Maybe I will try to find this episode online in avi format which I think usually contains "regular" mpeg 4 part 2 video not H.264 and see if it still has the issue. Worth a shot I guess.

I just opened your screen shot on my phone. Its not as obvious but when I zoomed in I could completely still see it(blue squares in his hair).


EDIT: Nevermind I just opened the pic on my old thunderbolt and couldn't see the effect. Its definitely a GNex issue.

 

[jkc120]

I just opened your screen shot on my phone. Its not as obvious but when I zoomed in I could completely still see it(blue squares in his hair).


EDIT: Nevermind I just opened the pic on my old thunderbolt and couldn't see the effect. Its definitely a GNex issue.

I think it's an s/amoled issue, not a GNex issue. Someone posted a link to a Razr thread of a ton of people complaining about the same thing. So I guess at this point I have to decide if I want to keep it or get a Rezound or wait for another device that has a non-amoled screen. :/

 

[jkc120]

Found the avi of this same video and it's still there on that and even worse. I think the lower the resolution, the worse it'll appear since there are less pixels and they bleed together due to the lack of quality and pixels in the area.

 

[Appleanche]

Poor quality or not, the artifacting he's talking about is not present during playback on the rezound. That means that it's not just a poor quality issue. If it was, it would be present on any screen type. But it plays perfectly and looks as good as the show would on TV.

I believe this has to do with the pentile screen and is not a codec issue. I had it on my Droid 3 which was also pentile. While it was not super amoled, it displayed the exact same issue the OP is talking about. There is nothing you can do about it. It's simply a limitation of the screen tech. It doesn't seem like it bothers most of the people here so its probably not nearly as bad as it was on my D3. But it obviously bothers the OP and it would probably bother me as well.

You're not understanding that the black levels on an AMOLED, and I'm pretty damn sure a Plasma TV (I'll be testing tonight at dark) will not hide the crappy quality like LCDs that just turn blacks into a blob.

The artifacts exist in the video.

I watched the Godfather opening scene in shitty quality on Youtube and a couple of other videos that are very dark scenes (End of the Aviator) there isn't a similar effect but I can see compression artifacts that the blacks hide in an LCD.

 

[jkc120]

I took these in a completely dark room at various brightness levels in mx player (full brightness, level 2-3, and then level 1). Level 1 is one step above NO brightness, so about as low as you can go and still see the darn video lol.

Anyway, here are the pictures:

Full brightness:
http://i.imgur.com/6AXpY.jpg

low brightness:
http://i.imgur.com/C9k8b.jpg

lowest brightness (1 step above):
http://i.imgur.com/TABAo.jpg

It's not just my eyes.

 

[jkc120]

You're not understanding that the black levels on an AMOLED, and I'm pretty damn sure a Plasma TV (I'll be testing tonight at dark) will not hide the crappy quality like LCDs that just turn blacks into a blob.

The artifacts exist in the video.

I watched the Godfather opening scene in shitty quality on Youtube and a couple of other videos that are very dark scenes (End of the Aviator) there isn't a similar effect but I can see compression artifacts that the blacks hide in an LCD.

Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather see a uniform area or blob than blue splotches jumping in and out. The blob looks WAY more real/less distracting. So people out there would rather view these artifacts instead of a uniform area? I guess at least for me I'm glad LCD hides this kind of stuff. And I guess it's pretty obvious my dinc was an SLCD screen, or I would have noticed this on there, right?

 

[nj02vette]

Crap. I just posted a thesis level post on this. And it must have dissappeared with the thread merge.

Quick take is this is 100% codec and AMOLED related. The reason you don't see this on traditional LCD displays is because the noise gets washed out by the lower contrast. When the contrast is so high, you can see artifacts caused by lossy codecs. On good transfers, artifacts are minimized.

 

[jkc120]

Crap. I just posted a thesis level post on this. And it must have dissappeared with the thread merge.

Quick take is this is 100% codec and AMOLED related. The reason you don't see this on traditional LCD displays is because the noise gets washed out by the lower contrast. When the contrast is so high, you can see artifacts caused by lossy codecs. On good transfers, artifacts are minimized.

Unfortunately, this really sucks then. Because the quality level of netflix shows this in almost every dark tv show/video I have tried.

 

[Deleted User]

Crap. I just posted a thesis level post on this. And it must have dissappeared with the thread merge.

Quick take is this is 100% codec and AMOLED related. The reason you don't see this on traditional LCD displays is because the noise gets washed out by the lower contrast. When the contrast is so high, you can see artifacts caused by lossy codecs. On good transfers, artifacts are minimized.

Yessir.

Posterization is not caused by the display, nor is it typically caused by the playback mechanism... it's almost always a codec issue. The codec is actually creating these artifacts because of the compression.

Jack up the contrast on any compressed medium - highly compressed JPGs are a good example of this - and you'll see artifacts.

 

[jkc120]

Yessir.

Posterization is not caused by the display, nor is it typically caused by the playback mechanism... it's almost always a codec issue. The codec is actually creating these artifacts because of the compression.

Jack up the contrast on any compressed medium - highly compressed JPGs are a good example of this - and you'll see artifacts.

Well, I guess I just prefer a screen that hides these artifacts then. I realize this may be the norm for this screen technology and the encoding in use, but I prefer the look of an LCD screen where there may be some loss of clarity to seeing a bunch of bleeding/hosting artifacts. I just have to decide if this is enough to make me return it or not I guess.