yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S II General] prinzhernan:
Haven't resolved everything yet actually. Why is it that using the img file to restore doesn't work. It just gets stuck. Though the .tar backup works.
[Galaxy S II General] screamworks:
My bad, I was under the impression you did.

So you say that your .tar backup works, yeah? What exactly do you mean by that? Or are you saying that you've managed to restore your IMEI (using the .tar), but still want to know why it happened?

If so, there honestly could be a plethora of reasons, including rouge apps, a ROM dev. who didn't check their work, etc. etc.

If you still need to fix it / want someone to share some of the more technical information, try contacting Odia, I know he is able to restore IMEI's without backups, so he'd probably be your best bet.
[Galaxy S II General] prinzhernan:
Thanks for pointing me to the right direction.

Let me set the facts straight. I was able to restore it using a tar backup. Initially I used an img to try to restore but that failed. Good thing that during the time I backed up my efs I was amused with the app and made both img and tar backups just for kicks.
[Galaxy S II General] jamesa9911:
Could I ask which app precisely? Just wanting to know!
[Galaxy S II General] prinzhernan:
It's called EFS Pro 1.2.6. Can be found in xda.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BerreZ:
Hello all ,

I've got a Note for a week now and altough it's an amoled screen , i've tried every kind of video from avi to mkv ( 720 p quality ) and even reencoded files to mp4 or h264. But black aren't deep black and more dark grey , sometimes even pixelated ( blocks ). I even got the impression that this was also sometimes the case with some games ( for instance the opening sequence in Asphalt 6 HD ).

Is this normal with Samsung devices and is there a way to improve this.

Thanks
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Pruikki:
SEE?

Gnote has same specs as the galaxy s2!

just 200 more hz on CPU.

Should play all those files man!

if no worky on note byt works on SGS2 then u have somekinda fail version manufacture thing!

try getting it replaced if it does not play avi or any files!!

it really should work! try some file on sgs2 if its ok there then u phone deff a bad batch!

get it replaced! u have good Reasons to get it fixed?

helped?
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Viamonte:
He didn't say anything about the files not running, he mentioned a complaint about graphics performance due to non-AMOLED-style deep blacks.

Ffs...
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BerreZ:
Thanks

Hello ,

I probably didn't express myself completly correctly.

The Note can play al those video file and even mkv without any lag , the problem consist in the fact that the blacks in the video are not realy black but more greish , like if the contrast was not calibrated right.I even got blocks in the black part of the video.I don't have that problem with photos.

It's also like there is oversaturation , i have tried the stock video player , act video and mx player , all give me the same result.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Niuseek:
It looks to me like its video quality issue. If you run video provided by samsung "lightness & slimmess", you can check whether black colour is properly displayed (skip to 0:55 for the best result).
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BerreZ:
Thanks

I have done what you said and the black of this video are completely black.

This is a 1080p hd video.Does that mean that only hd videos work propely, I hope not.

The video with the problems could be played flawless on my Htc Sensation or on my Asus Eee pad transformer both with a slower processor.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] NZtechfreak:
Sounds like the OP's video bitrates are too low, since he is describing black crush. Higher bitrate videos do not exhibit those problems.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] BerreZ:
Thanks

This is propably the reason , but what do you mean by "OP's" .

Thanks
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Prozac69:
OP = Original Poster.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Xaddict:
Here endeth the lesson!
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] seepage:
Mine does this too. the samsung video plays fine but most other blacks are purplish and blocky. This happened in the green lantern film downloaded from the market, the first part of it is very dark and was unwatchable. It happens to a lesser extent in 1080p trailers downloaded from the net. When I use a black screen for my lockscreen it is the same. Even the starry background during the orbiting planet part in quadrant benchmark is a blocky purple mess. It is not even constant. Occasionally it seems OK. I am going to send mine back.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Xaddict:
If the Samsung video plays fine, and other videos play fine, like MKV's in Diceplayer then it must be the videos you are looking at.

Good luck finding a device that plays back crap videos in perfect quality.

If you do find a device that makes these videos look good, I would question the bit depth of that device.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] GodfatherSadri:
What is the point in getting a device with a HD screen and watching videos in sd or HD with low bitrate? It's like trying to watch VHS videos on a LED.. yes it will be pixelated. I suggest watching higher quality videos. Either MKV or xH264 mp4 with larger file size and bitrates of at least over 3mbps. ;)
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] daxmedflax:
I think this whole issue can be explained by the technology in place here.

Super AMOLED does not light up black pixels at all, so when slightly gray/dark gray colors appear in the black, they tend to stand out much more than they do on different screen technologies.

Solution: higher bitrate videos, and/or deal with it :-)
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ballfire:
i have been doing some testing and i know exactly what the op is talking about as I'm suffering the same issue. i have a galaxy s2 and the note side by side, with the same video and the s2 renders correctly but the note is blocky and not rendered right.

I'll post a side by side photo when i get home tonight, but there is definitely a problem.even using high bitrate videos. i tried to even the playing field eg set brightness to max, adjusting the colour to normal, warm or even cool but it does NOT render correctly. it almost looks like the old days of 16 bit vs 32 bit colour on a pc. side by side with my s2 and s1 it is very obvious.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] qazzi76:
YUP. Am observing this too.

The initial Galaxy S (first) had a pentile matrix screen too so it would be useful to compare a video exhibiting the blockiness on a Galaxy S side by side with the Note.

It definitely does seem like it is rendering at 16bit, sometimes even 8bit.

Also I have observed this in the general OS too i.e Icons, pictures etc...

Am note sure what to think...

I am wondering whether Sammy reduced the bit depth throughout the OS to keep the frame rate as high as possible due to the higher resolution of the screen...?

---------- Post added at 12:27 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:26 AM ----------

Oh wait - you tested the Galaxy s1 as well which has a pentile matrix AMOLED and your test video rendered correctly???
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ballfire:
yeah the s1 renders correctly. i tried do a screen capture of the video on my phone but it didn't seem that you can't do a screen capture of video running :( i tried the default video player, mobo player and mx player. none render correctly nor can do screen capture of the video still
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] NZtechfreak:
I'm curious to know what he means by 'rendered correctly' on the S1. I think its more likely that the S1 resolution just isn't good enough to expose the weaknesses in the video encoding - the Note has nearly three times as many pixels as the S1 and the screen size is considerably larger so the 'faults' being described here are IMO the screen being good enough to expose weak video. Like someone mentioned earlier, it like watching an SD video in a lossy format on an SDTV and then an HDTV...
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] DaveC1964:
You are describing video with "bad" gamma. It is not the screen or the device it is your source material.

The "blocks" you see are compression artifacts. Most video you will get that is compressed will have this effect. If the demo video doesn't show these artifacts then it can't be the device. That of course doesn't rule out a dodgy video player app included with the device. Maybe that is sub par and has crappy coding of the codecs and makes bad video worse?

The reason you see them better on the note is because OLED screens will show shadow detail very well. A few stages above pure black will show up. Videos these days are calibrated, made and tweaked to look good on an LCD as it is the dominant tech and that is what the video makers are looking at while they adjust their settings. This means that colors and black levels adjusted to look good on an LCD may look like crap on an OLED.

On LCDs the backlight haze will often wash out these shadow details and crush the blacks so you won't see these artifacts as much.

You problem is that your screen is TOO good!

There lies a fault with the video player. There should be a gamma adjustment to be able to pull these "grays" closer to black.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] ballfire:
what i mean is, i have the note, s2 and a s1.

lined up side by side playing the same video, the note's video in some parts is grainy, blocky, pixelated, the colors not correct compared to the s1, s2.

and this is with screen brightness set on max on all phones, display all set to standard, using the default samsung video player. but it makes not difference if you use moboplayer, mx player it is still bad.

like i said i'll post a picture when i get home later. i'm hoping it is a fixable with a software upgrade as i watch a lot of shows on my phone and so far i'm not impressed with what i'm seeing. even using 4gig 720p videos.

i've checked the video on my monitor and the video is perfect so it is just not getting rendered correctly on screen.

i hooked up the note using my s2 samsung mhl cable and in the lounge the video on the 55in 1080p tv is obviously inferior to the s2
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] EarlZ:
Its probably one of those perfect screens since he says when viewing a black image or his lock screen that he cant tell where the screen part ends and where the bezel part starts. Just take his word for it and have yours replaced.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] LordManhattan:
What do i gain on lying to you? I have no problems with the screen apart from some banding issues on grey backgrounds which disappears when i adjust the screen brightness to max.

How many Notes has been sold now? A million? Do you think that 100% of those has faulty displays?
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] EarlZ:
Is that reply directed towards me?

If so then I dont think that you are lying, I never implied that you did.

I dont think the sold notes is close to a million but I dont have any documents to prove it, probably less than 0.5% of the notes have faulty displays its actually pretty rare to find a G-Note with defective screens but it just so happens that both samsung stores in my place have defective screens :confused:
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] LordManhattan:
Hmm, strange. I've asked several times in a norwegian Note thread if the people there have problems with their screens, and nobody seems to have it.

Before i bought the Note i called Samsung and asked them when the Note would hit the stores, and i got told that they usually make deals with the stores and carriers about numbers of devices and stuff like that. Could it be that Tele2 (and other big carriers/stores) got devices from a "good" batch? Tele2 is a huge company which operates in many countries, and most of the guys in the norwegian thread bought it from them, including me.

It seems that the people here with the biggest problems got their devices from smaller web shops/stores? (which isn't prioritied by Samsung?) Or am i completely wrong? It's just a thought!
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] EarlZ:
Could also be a batch issue since people are getting the same faulty thing over and over again if the issues are minimal then it should be next to impossible to get 2 faulty devices in a row let alone 3.

I got mine directly from a samsung store.

It could also be that they have a different level of expectation on the screen or a difference in perception/visual acuity.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] LordManhattan:
Yeah, that could be. When did your Note get built?

edit: Can't remember the "hidden" menu "code". Do you have it? :p
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] EarlZ:
November 30

I dont know of any service menu code to check for the build date I used to check the box during the Galaxy S1/S2 days but my note has nothing on the box when it was built.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] LordManhattan:
Hmm, can't find that damn code, but i found the ServiceMode.

*#*#197328640#*#*

HW Version:

- Read HW Version: MP 0.700

- Read FTA HW Version: REV1.1

- Read Cal Date: 2011.11.22.

SW Compile date: Nov 7 20.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] EarlZ:
Same info aside from the Cal date mine is at 2011.11.16
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] qmaula:
Mine is cal 2011.10.20, and no issues on the screen

Sent from my Galaxy Note
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] EarlZ:
Since this thread is about the video's mind posting proof that it has no issue at all ?
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] indie:
Mine is same but cal date is 11-10-24 and I am very happy with my note. Only real issue is the black colour on some videos like eveyone else.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Ace_Rimmer:
I have a similar problem with the Blacks being gray and blocky, I also have a problem playing videos at anything over 1024 x ???? the screen is supposed to be 1280x800 but I cant play anything at a higher res than 1024 am I reading it right, I've tried Moboplayer which i was advised would play anything, anything i might have backed up at a resolution over 1024 won't play.

Is there a reason for this or am I getting the wrong idea about the screen being 1280 x 800.

Thanks
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] qmaula:
Sorry, no issues apart from black pixelation on videos...

Sent from my Galaxy Note
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Ace_Rimmer:
Never mind, I just downloaded MX Video player and using that, Videos up to 1920X1080 play perfectly, no distortion or poor blacks, same with lower res vids, all play perfectly now.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] EarlZ:
MX video player offers no difference even at forced SW rendering.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jkc120:
Galaxy Nexus has the SAME problem

I reported this issue over on android forums with the Galaxy Nexus:

androidforums.com/verizon-galaxy-nexus/465326-horrible-blue-aliasing-artifacts-black-areas-during-video-playback.html

The test video I posted in there:

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

REALLY demonstrates just how crappy things can look when there is any compression effects in a dark area (the guy's head).

I see a few people here with Notes that are unaffected. Is this legit or are these people just not seeing it or not viewing in a fully dark room?

Is this a hardware problem or software? I need to know whether I should return the Nexus or not (this is a deal breaker for me, I watch way too much video to just ignore such crappy playback).

For those reporting to Samsung, where/how do you do this? I want to report the same issue to Samsung on the Nexus.

If this is what Samsung is going to release on their phones for the foreseeable future, they've got another thing coming. It's absurd that a high end device like this cannot properly render videos. It's especially silly that it is especially noticeable in blacks which are supposed to be a selling point of AMOLED screens. :rolleyes:
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] EarlZ:
There hasnt been anyone with a note on this forum that had flawless blacks on videos, everyone is getting blocky results.\

Also the main reason why Im into SAMOLED devices is that i use it to watch movies, the Galaxy S1 really placed that expectation sky high only to be crushed by the S2 and a little by the note till the black levels get fixed.

Never thought that the G-Nexus also had this issue so I guess this explains a lot to me.

Im with you on this but the general public doesnt see it like this and resort to saying " you have to do X to see Y so your nitpicking "
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jkc120:
Well Samsung can keep this pos as far as I'm concerned. It sounds like a hardware thing and given it's been know for over a month on the note and Samsung is doing jack about it, I really don't think they will fix it on the nexus. Shame because this is a great phone otherwise.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jkc120:
SAMOLED+ vs. HD SAMOLED

There was a post earlier in the thread where someone played a video on an SGSII side-by-side with a Note and the SGSII played it fine.

Is this just a (imho major) drawback to the screen technology used on the Note and Nexus? I really don't understand how it could get this far and into production devices without one person going "um, guys, look at this video". Maybe all their testing used videos that were TOO perfect. But that's a classic failure in testing methodology to not test corner cases or non-idea input. So while I can see how it could slip through, I'm honestly very surprised something like this could.

Anyway, at some point (well, by 1/14) I need to figure out if this is a hardware issue with the Nexus and I should just return it for something else or if there will be a fix in the future. Based on this thread, I'm not optimistic about it getting "fixed" and I'm starting to wonder if it's just a trade off of the technology for a high definition/high-ppi SAMOLED screen. :(
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] EarlZ:
Color banding is one of the issues Samsung never fixed, so I guess this wont get fixed either or as you said its a trade-off its also been confirmed by supercurio that the black levels also have more light leakage. Although Im wondering why SAMOLED cant produce off blacks but lit blacks.

EDIT:

One more thing that I noticed, my simpsons DVD collection seems to play with audio sync issues unless i switch to SW mode rendering.. more battery used.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Ngambek2003:
I've had two Notes and both of them have the same deep black issues when watching videos using the stock video player. One of them is a Polish version and another a UK version.

What's strange though I don't see the issue when watching videos using the browser. I used the stock browser. Video was streamed using flash plugin.

If it's a hardware issue it would seem like we'd have the problem either way?
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jingy:
Hi there a newbie here,

I also think i got the screwed black issue's on my phone here and i'm from the Netherlands. I know for sure that the samsung slim vid is ok and i also tried the windows 7 video sample Wildlife in HD is working flawless on my note.

Maybe i helped you a little now you got 2 file's to look at.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Ziplomatic:
So we have'nt found any solution to the "deep black" problem on the G Note! :(

Come'on! There are geniuses / great minds around the corner!!

:)
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] EarlZ:
Dont keep your hopes up, if theres a solution it would have been found or at least fixed with ICS. The G-Nexus also suffers the same issue and with the sheer volume of users and devs on it they should have fixed it or at least gotten a word from samsung. Think of it as a screen limitation for now which might never be addressed.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] manojgs2002:
Use the app to calibrate

Dark areas of videos show blocking and color banding. To remove that use the following app from the android market . Screen adjustor app. While using the app set contrast level in the app to about 55. Now start a video and see the differance. No blocking or clod banding can now be seen. After watching the movie you can toggle back to the original gamma level . Try this app.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] sibere:
-55?!

That's way too much! Actually the value depends on the mode used (dynamic, normal or video)

To get completely rid of the issue, move the cursor to the right one by one unit until the black notification bar turns grey. Play the video. It will look like seen on a LCD (backlit) screen.

To minimise the effect without getting rid of it, juts set the contrast value one unit before the notification bar turns grey instead of black.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] manojgs2002:
Try the screen adjustor app. Set contrast in the app to 55. All your black blotches will dissapear
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] EarlZ:
Any adjustment made with that app only makes the blacks more luminus like LCD backlight bleeding. It also applies a washed out tint on the screen.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] manojgs2002:
Try the android app screen adjustor and in the app keep the contrast level to -45. Now you can see that there is no pixelation in dark scenes while watching video
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] brockyneo:
Hi bro seems to have work somewhat lol its a ok fix for now but black seem more gray but it works thanks
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] EarlZ:
Yes there is, infact theres no change at all. Go watch the Diablo 3 trailer you wont see any changes. Still the blocky blacks and it even makes it more lit.
[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] sibere:
Set screen to video mode, then contrast to -7 and you should be sorted. but your blacks won't be black. -6 will not cure the issue but will reduce it. Obviously you *must* play videos in software mode with a player like mx video player. playing in hardware mode will make no difference whatever the contrast setting is.