yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] MartijnMM:
2 German threads:

http://translate.google.com/transla...s-der-farbtiefe-des-galaxy-note-displays.html

http://translate.google.com/transla...iche-displayverhalten-beim-galaxy-note-3.html

Especially this pic, much difference in rendering:

---------- Post added at 01:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:26 PM ----------

Is the LCD Test still available in the Note?

Try *#0*# on the dailpad.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] paulshields:
Thanks for those. I tried those and also created my own and they all show the crushed blacks. I've mentioned this in a similar thread that I'm pretty certain this is an issue with the video software/codecs and not the hardware.

We can see this by viewing the Dr Who trailer via the You Tube app (which is basically the same as the Videos app), and then viewing it on a web browser on the Note.

Go to the following URL on the Note web browser. Make sure to set the page up as "Desktop" and not "Mobile" (should be a "Desktop" link at bottom right of screen if you're currently on the Mobile site).

Double tap the screen to get the video to play in full screen mode. The default playback setting is 480p, but even at this lowish resolution it doesn't show much if any of the crushed blacks we see on the you tube or Videos app. At 720p it's good, and at 1080p it's even better.

I used a YouTube downloader to extract the videos at those bit rates and copied them to the Note. Now when I play them back using the Videos app we're back to horrible crushed blacks. You could probably try this test with other YouTube videos - on the Note watch them in Mobile browser or via the YouTube app, and then in the Desktop browser. I wouldn't be surprised if we got similar results. There is something up with how the Videos app plays back certain videos, and those artifacts aren't shown when using the Flash player in the browser. If that's the case then we should expect to see a fix...
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BerreZ:
Testing ,

Hello ,

Have tried the samples provided by Darkstone .

Couldn''t play the reencoded videos with the stock player , tried with dice player but have to use the software encoder , grey blocks were still present .

Had the same problem in other application ( the screen during the download for the game GT academy for instance ).

It's less noticable in full daylight , and when playing video with auto brightness of and brightness manualy set above the 50% it's less visible ,but not completely fixed.

Could someone try this samples on a device with an Amoled screen and lett us know ?

Hello paul schields ,

You're completely wright , mabye the beginning of a solution here.

Could you post a link to the other tread ?

Thanks
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] paulshields:
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1343717

But think this thread is the most useful so far in trying to get to the bottom of this issue.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] DMax99:
hi, can you please share those videos you have so we can try it on our Note?

thanks
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] DarkStone1337:
OK, in that case can someone try this sample video and compare it to the original video?

This time I muxed it to a MKV container.

Link: http://www.multiupload.com/I7N4IAU835

I've used the Levels(16, 1, 235, 0, 255, coring=false) command in Avisynth to convert the levels from 16-235 to 0-255 even though the source video is 0-255 anyway.

Info: http://avisynth.org/mediawiki/Levels

The purpose of this is to see if you still get crushed black/grey artifacts. If blacks appear correct and details are preserved, then the problem is in the software/video player displaying the wrong levels. Should be an easy fix for Samsung.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BerreZ:
MKV

Hello Darkstone ,

Just tried the MKV file , same same same.......
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] DarkStone1337:
:( Too bad then. Do black scenes look grey?
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BerreZ:
Yes

Yes , like said before less noticable when watching in full daylight but very noticable in a dark room.

I'm still asking myself why is this not noticable with the Samsung video ?
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] MartijnMM:
I think its because the browser uses 24-bit color, and my guess

is that the video players on gingerbread are all 16-bit.

Think we need a videoplayer that does 100% 24-bit video.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] seepage:
Not on mine. Dice player looks the same as the supplied player, as does mobo player.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BerreZ:
LCD test

I've tried the lcd test (*#0*# ) , it is stilll working and everything seems ok , vibration black and black is ok.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] MartijnMM:
Compare this one in videoplayer:

http://www.mediafire.com/?z1uyxdjcs500hfw

With this one in the browser (NOT youtube app):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViwlB_wt_mA&fmt=22

Then we know if its a 16 vs 24-bit problem.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BerreZ:
16 vs 24 bits

I've just done that .

The blacks are ok in the browser but not in the video player ( look at the hat of the clown )

So if you're wright , how we solve the problem ( with Dice Player the result are the same ) and also how do you explain the fact that the video " Lightness & Slimmes " does not present that problem even with a 16 bits video player ?
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] MartijnMM:
The only solution is a 24-bit video player that works under Gingerbread....but maybe ICS solves it.

The video " Lightness & Slimmes " might be optimized for 16bit displays, i have no encoder that can do that.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] paulshields:
I think it's more down to bit rate and/or codecs, and how well the Videos and YouTube apps handle them. A high bit rate video can look great via the Note player, so we know the screen is not the issue when fed good quality video. It has to be down to how the app handles those files. The Flash plugin in the browser when run in desktop mode is much much better at handling similar sources - which is ironic seeing as how Adobe has officially stopped developing Flash for Android devices... :rolleyes:.

btw - I've tried the Dr Who files on a 7" Galaxy Tab running Froyo (I prefer that to Gingerbread on the 7"), and also on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 running Honeycomb. On both devices the files don't show the issues with dark scenes.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] DarkStone1337:
Does anyone have a link to the lightness & slimmess MP4 file taken directly from the Galaxy Note? I want to inspect the MP4 for myself :)

Also, has anyone else tried the video I posted on the previous page? I'm trying to find out how the blacks are achieved on the demo video D:
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BerreZ:
Lightness & Slimmes

Here is the link :

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GQ8M2TV8

Hope it can help you.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GQ8M2TV8

http://www.megavideo.com/?d=GQ8M2TV8
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] DarkStone1337:
Thanks but it doesn't look like the megaupload links are working :confused:

The megavideo link has the video, but it has been re-encoded so I won't be able to find out any info about the original file :p

I appreciate this!
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BerreZ:
Other link

Try this one

https://rapidshare.com/files/2898099051/lightness___slimmess.mp4

https://rapidshare.com/files/3695145987/lightness___slimmess.mp4
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] DarkStone1337:
Thank you :)

OK, hopefully I may of have fixed it now, I am modifying the SPS in the H264 bitstream to define color ranges.

http://www.multiupload.com/G2KAIUHSGX

Try these and let me know how it looks now. You will need 7-Zip to extract the files.

---------- Post added at 09:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:11 PM ----------

Here is another sample, but this is a sample of the lightness and slimness demo: http://www.multiupload.com/TCGVSVL59I

Please tell me if any of these videos show poor blacks :)

Edit: Aaaaaand some final test videos from me until I get the Note myself, http://www.multiupload.com/8RT7X3ZO18
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] seepage:
You may have fixed the files Jock but not the phone I fear. Mine has gone back to where it came from
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BerreZ:
Not yet

There is no difference beteween the original and the two encoded files.

It feels in fact as a filter on the screen , so the grey haze is more visible in the blacks , but is not limited to blacks.

Looking at the video's in daylight you can leave auto brightness on , in dark condition auto brightness of and brightness at least 50%.

Anyway thanks
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Phytrax:
THIS IS A CLEARLY A GAMMA (VIDEO ENHANCEMENT) ISSUE

I can't tell you the exact cure but I watched an encoding I have of I Am Legend. Something in the software is increasing the gamma for the dark scenes. Anyone that edits photos knows that this will always reduce the quality the more you increase gamma. You are essentially making the brightened portions of the video into lower bit depths of color so that the compression defects are very obvious. Without enhancing the gamma you simply don't notice the defects. Pure blacks should show up just fine but when you get just one color bit above black it blows those pixels up much brighter than they should be.

Switching to Movie Mode for the display clearly improved things for me. But I can tell it's still trying to enhance the dark areas and they are more grey than they should be. Photo's display fine so this is clearly not a hardware problem with the screen. It's either a Samsung driver issue or just a codec issue.

Anyone who has played around with the screen filter apps very much will see that they basically crop the top end of the color bits and create a similar problem with the color and brightness gradients. Put your brightness on 100% and your screen filter on 80%. It will make images look like garbage.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BerreZ:
Yes

I think you're wright , looking at a test found on Wikipedia ( a cercle with two shades of grey embeded in a dark grey square ) . On my computer I could clearly see the lighter part of the circle and on my Note is was hardly noticible .

I fact it is a contrast problem , i'm gonna look if i can find video encoder where you caan adjust the contrast.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] sibere:
I 100% agree with this.

The gamma on the Note is really bad. Dunno if it's a software or hardware issue. Nevertheless , both can be improved by a software workaround and / or tweak. Just found this thread on SGS2 forum, talking about the same color calibration and banding issues on SAMSUNG Amoled screens.

EDIT:

I noticed that using a player in software mode (like the very good mx video player) reduces greatly the banding effect, especially in very dark scenes.

Obviously software mode should drain battery more than HardWare mode, but with MX video player, you can swap between SW and HW easily during playback.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Phytrax:
I can confirm that on MoboPlayer software mode works much better. Blockiness is greatly improved in dark areas on I Am Legend.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] DarkStone1337:
I just got my Note today from O2, picture quality is amazing! I don't get crushed blacks or any gamma issues, hmm...

What firmware is on your Note?

This is mine:
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] sibere:
Mine is stock KK9 from latest OTA on a german Note.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] indie:
I don't get it either on the films I have or it's not obvious. It seems only some films do. Download the links that are earlier in this thread and you will see them, I did.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BerreZ:
What ?

Hello , I didn't understand you completely ; Do you mean hardware default or softaware default ?

My Note is still on gingerbread 2.3.5 , like I sayd before lcd test OK and Samsung video ok , so I'm still convinced it's not a hardware default.

Do someone know when the update to 2.3.6 will be available in Belgium ? Can you force the update ?

Otherwise I will have to wait till then and report back later .
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] seepage:
I just received my replacement Note. My first one suffered from most of the display problems mentioned here with the black issue being the worst.

I have only had this one for about an hour but so far have been unable to find any fault with it.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jommy999:
depend on files or video somehow and if it happened then only at very short parts on the black scene .
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BerreZ:
After Update

Hello ,

Just received the update and same,same.

Nothing changed at least concerning this problem.

And once again the problem is almost not noticable in a bright environment ( like normal daylight ) , look at the video in the dark and auto-brightness on and you will see the grey clouds , change to brightness to 50% and rendering is improved but problem is stil there.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BerreZ:
New test

Hello ,

I've just uploaded a new test video where the problem is obvious . Look at the grey cloud at the beginning where John Cleese is presented .

Look at it in the dark with auto-brightness on.

If I'm the only one noticing it then my phonne is surely default.

https://rapidshare.com/files/2616667483/Test_Video.mp4
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] sibere:
Just played the VDO on my note.

Except the title at the very beginning of the video, all the "blacks" are not black. Even played on a computer or a TV. So you can't expect to see blacks where there is none. However, I see purple and violet blocks due to compression artefacts. They can be reduced by using an alternate player like MX video in software mode.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BerreZ:
ok

Did try what you said with dice player in software mode. Results were even worse.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BerreZ:
Images to

And now i am thinking it could be hardware.

It is visible in images to.

Grey gaze at the left of the face
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] brockyneo:
Hi guys I've just downloaded update over the air version skill and it might just be me but the black blotchy isn't as bad as it was so might be a software issue more then a hardware issue I might be wrong lol
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] sibere:
Too bad...

Try toher video players like mobo player or mx video player (all free) in

*software*

mode only. Hardware mode is a bad as the stock video player.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] qazzi76:
Err... looks like this problem is a bit more serious than first thought....

This is significant. Everyone needs to view the above image on their computer monitor, or a another phone and compare with the note...

Also try looking at the image in different browsers... Dolphin, Stock Opera etc on the note.

The Gamma settings for the screen are not correct..
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] DaveC1964:
Yeah but look at the images on the smaller phones. The detail is GONE on that guy's shirt etc. The shadow detail is completely crushed! That is terrible and VERY inaccurate. On those phones you are making something pure black that isn't supposed to be black!

I noticed this with photos on the Infuse, shadow detail is gone! This is probably what sammy did to hide compression artifacts, get rid of all detail below a threshold. The problem with that is you LOSE detail. I don't want detail in photos etc to not be displayed just to hide bad video compression artifacting.

The Note actually displays images more accurate than those phones. You are seeing what is actually there in the video on the Note.

The problem is when enough complain sammy will crush all shadow detail in the future firmwares to black like they did with those phones. This will RUIN any photographs/videos taken at night etc where you WANT that detail.

I also notice that any detail even on the Note past a certain black level is cut off too. This could be causing these blotches in video to show up worse. Where the black blotchy areas are showing now there should be a little bit of brightness still, not black. They clip shadow detail now a bit so it increases contrast of the blotches. The pure black areas now are artificial, the actual video probably still is a bit above black. It goes from maybe 4% to zero now on the Note rather than ramping it smoothly to zero. Getting rid of all of this clipping they are doing would reduce these blotches.

Also those exchanging units to try to correct this are wasting their time. It is not a screen or hardware "defect" it is a bad gamma curve set in the low level firmware. The only way to fix it is to correct the screen driver software gamma setting.

EDIT:

I can confirm that the reason for "blotchy blacks" is due to artificial contrast "enhancement" by Samsung. I tried the EXACT same video on my PC. On my PC areas that were "black" actually werent pure black, there was still video information there, just very dark (the compression tiling was still there too, just blends better). On the Note That video information was GONE and pulled to pure black. This causes big color changes from near black to black. There is a "step" if you will, making blotches that should blend stand out like a sore thumb instead. Sammy LOVES their DNIe artificial contrast enhancement crap. This is the culprit here to. It is software, but very low firmware level. The only way to fix it is to get rid of the clipping.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] fredreve:
Problem with video (black color)

I have got the same problem.

Galaxy Note buy in France.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] seepage:
I think you are giving us your opinion rather than confirming anything.

I sent my Phone back because of this, The new one does not do it at all.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] brockyneo:
Hi guys does anyone know if this a software problem or hardware please hop its not hardware
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Phytrax:
More information does not mean more accurate. Somethings are supposed to be very hard to see when it's dark, just like real life. In the pic on the bottom right the detail looks just right to me. When the decoder increases the gamma it's trying to show you things that the camera couldn't see so of course it's going to be inaccurate.

It's like if someone tells you to read a book at night, and you say, it's too dark, I can't make it out. But then you go ahead and "read" it anyway even though you can't see it.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] brockyneo:
please can anyone give a answer to this or dont we know yet i hope its just software and not a screen issue :eek:
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] LordManhattan:
Nobody knows, but i'm guessing software.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] brockyneo:
well i hope so i dont mind a software problem cause no dout it will be sorted but be gutted if its hardware:(
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] LordManhattan:
I wish ICS would get released now, so we could either confirm or debunk if it's the hardware, but i'm optimistic so i still believe it's software :p
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Phytrax:
Several people, including myself, have reported that software decoders work fine for video so I don't know why everyone is still asking this. Now it could possibly be a problem with the hardware decoder but software decoding works great so I for one would not let it affect my opinion of this great phone. It can't possibly be a screen problem if software decoding works.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] seepage:
Maybe its just that "people here are just trying to find something to complain about":rolleyes:
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] qazzi76:
Seriously - What are you talking about?? :(

This is not an opinion - the experiences detailed in this thread are fact - I personally have traveled to different phone shops to compare videos on different Notes and see the same blotchiness, banding etc on all!

Also multiple people here are reporting the same thing.

If you post pics of your 'new' phone displaying the vids in this thread compared to a gs2 or gs1 I think we would all agree that maybe the issue affects some handsets

Until then the consensus here indicates that your 'opinion' is incorrect.

---------- Post added at 01:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:16 AM ----------

Definitely Agreed there.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] LordManhattan:
You mean whine? Yes. Don't think Samsung will do something about it without knowing that there is a problem. Report it people!
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BerreZ:
I don't agree.

I've tried a lot of video players using software decoding like Dice Player , Mobo Player and MX Player Pro , and the problem still persist on my Note.

Can you confirm that you have the problem using the stock Player and that using an other program you don't have the problem , and if so can you tell us what version of Note you have and wich ROM.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] seepage:
So what you say is fact and what I say is opinion? jeez

The people here who are reporting problems with their phones should send them back.

When you buy someting it is supposed to do what you were told it would.

Or at least that is my opinion.

I did and my new one has no problem. So far.

---------- Post added at 10:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:21 PM ----------

No I did not mean whine. Check out the quotation marks.

Do you have a Note?
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] LordManhattan:
Not yet. It's in the mail. Come to papa!

But again, report it to Samsung. I've already done it, and i don't even have it yet. This way we might get an answer from them if it's software or hardware. They will say software either way, but hey... that's life
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] sibere:
You should have a look at this thread
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BerreZ:
Hello ,

Can you say us where you can report to Samsung ?
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] seepage:
Hey thats a great Idea. Ive just reported a green tinge in my samsung holographic phone. They havent invented it yet but what harm can it do;)
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] LordManhattan:
I tweeted them @SamsungMobile. They haven't replied (didn't really expect it either), but if enough people do it they can't keep on ignoring it (but they will)
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] EarlZ:
I tried Mobo Player and some other player that has software decoding, I still see blocky blacks on my video that had no issue on the Galaxy S1 and S2, even some of pictures show blocky blacks on the Note but not on the Galaxy S1 and S2.. using Quickpic with 24bit decoding doesnt seem to help.

I can also see that on mine, its pretty hard to spot but you know what taking a screenshot and it actually shows which proves that its a 100% software issue only.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BerreZ:
?

Is this blue shadow on top of the calculator also visible on your Notes?
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] EarlZ:
Thats part of the app.

Can anyone be so kind enough to test these different shades of greys on their galaxy note screen and see if you guys find any visible yet faint horizontal lines.. Just zoom the image and make sure you dont have any reflections or glare.