Color Banding - Nexus 7 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Anyone else have color banding on gradients?
Like the stock wallpaper for example. I don't think it's supposed to be like this.

coolxal said:
Anyone else have color banding on gradients?
Like the stock wallpaper for example. I don't think it's supposed to be like this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I noticed it on the wallpaper too. Its probably due to the high PPI of the display and the low res wallpaper The is also some banding on the settings menu.

Same here.

It's normal. Pretty much every display is affected by banding to some extent.
To make this less obvious Google should use a solid background in place of the gray gradient (mostly seen in the Settings menu) as well as not shipping the N7 with low resolution, macro blocked, highly compressed, gradiented wallpapers.

zinfinion said:
It's normal. Pretty much every display is affected by banding to some extent.
To make this less obvious Google should use a solid background in place of the gray gradient (mostly seen in the Settings menu) as well as not shipping the N7 with low resolution, macro blocked, highly compressed, gradiented wallpapers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess that's true. It's a bit obvious though.

You want to see banding? Look at the Galaxy Nexus. People were returning their devices because of it.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

Related

FRF91 ota & 16bit color problem

Hmm,
Anyone know anything about this?
My att n1 is completely stock and has received OTA updates. The previous FRF85B my colors for the gallery (and thus wallpaper were fine...) but after receiving FRF91 all my images display with 16bit color which leads to a lot of color banding.
um... yeah, how do you fix this?
The Nexus screen is only capable of displaying 16bit color. This is a hardware limitation of the AMOLED screen.
Edit: Never saw the follow up discovery to that it seems. problem is with the gallery app introduced in 2.1, and not the screen used in the nexus.
The only changes between FRF85B and FRF91 was a security update. You are wrong.
bofslime said:
The Nexus screen is only capable of displaying 16bit color. This is a hardware limitation of the AMOLED screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's weird because other Samsung AMOLED phones can display 24-bit colours. Unless Google/HTC specifically purchased AMOLED display panels that are only capable of displaying 16 bit colour?
NexusDro said:
That's weird because other Samsung AMOLED phones can display 24-bit colours. Unless Google/HTC specifically purchased AMOLED display panels that are only capable of displaying 16 bit colour?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, the Samsung uses their new "super amoled" screen which is 24bit.
http://www.displaymate.com/Nexus_One_ShootOut.htm
bofslime said:
The Nexus screen is only capable of displaying 16bit color. This is a hardware limitation of the AMOLED screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought that was only a limitation of the gallery app since it used opengl. I know that when I set my walpaper using "wallpaper set & save" it doesn't have any banding at all.
That original article comparing the iPhone screen to the Nexus One was completely wrong, since they were using the gallery app.
I haven't noticed anything from upgrading frf85b to frf91. I did notice however wallpapers aren't as fuzzy and more sharper after upgrading to frf85b from stock 2.1
bofslime said:
yeah, the Samsung uses their new "super amoled" screen which is 24bit.
http://www.displaymate.com/Nexus_One_ShootOut.htm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not just the Super AMOLED, the old AMOLED used in Samsung OMNIA II, OMNIA HD and some other phones all support 24-bit colous. (OMNIA II effective colour is 65k due to Windows Mobile). My old Nokia N85 uses an AMOLED screen and its display has 24-bit colours. So I don't believe it is the hardware limitation of an AMOLED display, but rather HTC used a 16-bit only screen (if the screen is in fact 16-bit).
Note that when I use another gallery app, I don't see the banding that is present in the native gallery app at different zoom levels.
Clarkster said:
I thought that was only a limitation of the gallery app since it used opengl. I know that when I set my walpaper using "wallpaper set & save" it doesn't have any banding at all.
That original article comparing the iPhone screen to the Nexus One was completely wrong, since they were using the gallery app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats true. the article i read a while back said that the gallery used to be 24 bit, i think after android 1.6 it changed. And I believe it changed when cooliris took over gallery development, that part may be wrong but i know that the older android firmwares were 24bit so its a software thing...seems like with android whenever we get cool updates they always come at a price...
hmm-- I am unaware of the specifics.
All I know is-- pre the update there was no banding in my wallpaper. After the update there is. I noticed it immediately after rebooting.
hmm
GldRush98 said:
The only changes between FRF85B and FRF91 was a security update. You are wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But if the number changed, everything changed!!!
Try setting your wallpaper again, or even better download 'wallpaper set and save' and use that to set your wallpaper.

SAMOLED Screen, Colors and you.

Been searching for a while trying to find some info on the color depth on the Super AMOLED screens on the Galaxy S line.
Reason being, I have to be very wary of what wallpapers I use on my phone, because many end up looking very bad. You see distinct lines in various gradients as if the color depth of the screen is just very low.
It's a little disconcerting, and confusing, given how great these screens are supposed to be.
For example, there is a new wallpaper Android Central (posted just the other day) featuring their new logo/mascot. The wallpapers looks fine on my LCD monitor on my computer, but when I put them on my phone, I see lines in the background gradient that shouldn't be there. It doesn't seem like the screen can render those 'in-between' colors.
Anyone have any insight on this? Is it in fact the screen? Are other phones like this too?
I did read something about the fact that Android 2.1 maxes at 16bit color but 2.2 remedies this limitation, but I'm not sure if this is accurate, applicable to the situation, or even true.
Thanks in advance.
Download the Acquarium free live wallpaper in the market. The colors look amazing on my phone. There's also the Avatar movie, in the bright scenes the colors really "pop".
Let's hope froyo adds that feature, I've noticed it too on some colors, but its a minor annoyance, I'm sure if android supported larger screen resolution like gingerbread will have, samsung would have put a 1280x720 screen in there. Maybe the S2
Sent from my SXY-T959
As a photographer I put several of my Hi Res works on my Phone. I did not even downsize them and just moved them to the phone so they would not be downsized automatically. I found the Gallery displays them perfectly, all be it with a slight over saturation. But the depth is great, really really good. I have used it as a mini portfolio, its that good.
However if I make any of them a wallpaper the phone dummies the shot way down and I loose sharpness, pixel depth, contrast, even that over saturation I spoke of. Its seems to me the shots are forced down to a "good" wallpaper size to not drain resources maybe? If a large hi res photo is not down sampled in small increments a little at a time it looses a ton of quality. But should not shots made for wallpaper from the market work well too? Maybe the Vibrant dummies all shots down for the wallpaper since all screen sizes are different?
Now if I could only get the Gallery to stop hanging on start up after the Ji6 update...ugh
It could be the stock gallery app that is ****ing up the wallpapers. I recommend using an app called "Wallpaper Set & Save" which allows you to set any size wallpaper without ****ing up the quality. Zedge is another great app with tons of dope wallpapers and doesn't destroy the resolutions of your wallpapers.
SeanFloyd said:
It could be the stock gallery app that is ****ing up the wallpapers. I recommend using an app called "Wallpaper Set & Save" which allows you to set any size wallpaper without ****ing up the quality. Zedge is another great app with tons of dope wallpapers and doesn't destroy the resolutions of your wallpapers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool! apps like that I was not even aware of. thanks.
I just tried Photoshop Express app for Android to set a Hi Res pic to wallpaper. Fail. It down graded it substantially, It must use the crappy internal phone method also. Gonna check out the recommended apps thanks.

Banding

Banding, otherwise known as contouring, is a digital artifact common to images, displays or apps of 16bit(thousands of colours) or less.
Gradient image
Viewing the 24bit image in the above link will not show banding on a 24bit display(3 x 8bit channels of R, G & B millions of colours) if viewed in a 24bit app.
If 32 distinct bands are seen, possibly with every 1/3 band being a green shade, then the screen or the image viewing application is not 24bit capable.
Viewing 16bit or lower resolution gradient images on your screen will also show banding.
The Android browser shows banding with this image while the Dolphin HD browser does not.
In short, the SGNote has a 24bit display, which will show banding if viewing 16bit or lower images or using a 16bit or lower viewing application.
More on screen bits
Im noticing lots of banding in lots of different apps :-/
Same here, also happens with Google apps like the Market. Not sure what we can do about it anybody has suggestions?
Bigmille said:
Same here, also happens with Google apps like the Market. Not sure what we can do about it anybody has suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At least it is not the Note's display hardware that is the issue.
ICS may upgrade some Android OS apps to 24bit.
Thank You for this
This proves that Apps that display banding simply aren't rendering at 24bit.
I was leaning towards there being an issue with the screen as this problem was not noticeable on my previous android devices.
This clarifies everything.
Thanks.
qazzi76 said:
This proves that Apps that display banding simply aren't rendering at 24bit.
I was leaning towards there being an issue with the screen as this problem was not noticeable on my previous android devices.
This clarifies everything.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are welcome.
It bugged me too, until I got to the bottom of it.
Trust your eyes, the screen is glorious.
I too don't believe the hardware to be the issue. I suspect it's more to do with having a device with a smallish screen and a large 1280x800 resolution. Higher res images and videos look amazing. If the image is quite compressed (i.e. lossy) then the higher resolution screen will show this more than a low resolution screen. Garbage in, garbage out comes to mind. We need all apps and videos and images to be high resolution 24bit minimum to make the most of our amazing screen .
paulshields said:
I too don't believe the hardware to be the issue. I suspect it's more to do with having a device with a smallish screen and a large 1280x800 resolution. Higher res images and videos look amazing. If the image is quite compressed (i.e. lossy) then the higher resolution screen will show this more than a low resolution screen. Garbage in, garbage out comes to mind. We need all apps and videos and images to be high resolution 24bit minimum to make the most of our amazing screen .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent. I will put it in a drawer for a year or so then. Hopefully by then there will be some video I can watch.
seepage said:
Excellent. I will put it in a drawer for a year or so then. Hopefully by then there will be some video I can watch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ha ha . Listen, think of it like this. You've probably got a high resolution monitor attached to your computer. Do you prefer watching videos at 420p and lower or 720p and higher? No doubt the answer is higher resolution to match your monitor.
What Samsung has done is squeeze in a screen with similar resolution to a 13" laptop, but in a 5.3" mobile device! So we're going to come across lots of images and videos aimed at 'normal' mobile devices, which won't look so great on our high-res screen. To make the most of the screen you can copy 720p or 1080p high profile videos to your sdcard, and they will look incredible on playback, but they will also be large and it's a slow process, and if the video is long then it'll also hit the limitation with FAT max file sizes. Those issues aren't the fault of the screen though. It's simple really. If you want to make the most of the screen density then you have to provide it with good quality source material suitable for a high resolution screen.
Do you think that its just software? No hardware? Do you think that ICS will fix this?
I came from dell streak and its realy hard to watch on note specialy on dark scene.
even opening xda app it has banding problems
rockysiccion said:
Do you think that its just software? No hardware? Do you think that ICS will fix this?
I came from dell streak and its realy hard to watch on note specialy on dark scene.
even opening xda app it has banding problems
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's definitely not a hardware issue because the screen is definitely 24bit colour. It displays well in the right app. You could swap apps for those that handle higher bit images. If you use Dolphin HD, possibly other browsers, webpages are seen in 24bit, if they are 24bit images. I don't know but there must be alternative picture viewing apps. Dice Player is a high res video viewer. As for system graphics, they don't look so bad to me. For games etc, it means living with banding until the maker upgrades? This is always the case on computers.
Be thankful Samsung have not rorted us.
Apple has ripped off it's customers many times selling lo-res screens as high res:
"Apple has received a new class action complaint alleging the MacBook
does not support millions of colors, but rather 16 bit color, which is
dithered to approximate millions of colors."
Date: Fri, 18 May 2007 16:37:17 -0500
I don't have a Note yet, but can somebody try with QuickPic, it has an option in it's settings to force decode in 32bit mode.
That could clarify if it is a software or hardware problem...
paulshields said:
ha ha . Listen, think of it like this. You've probably got a high resolution monitor attached to your computer. Do you prefer watching videos at 420p and lower or 720p and higher? No doubt the answer is higher resolution to match your monitor.
What Samsung has done is squeeze in a screen with similar resolution to a 13" laptop, but in a 5.3" mobile device! So we're going to come across lots of images and videos aimed at 'normal' mobile devices, which won't look so great on our high-res screen. To make the most of the screen you can copy 720p or 1080p high profile videos to your sdcard, and they will look incredible on playback, but they will also be large and it's a slow process, and if the video is long then it'll also hit the limitation with FAT max file sizes. Those issues aren't the fault of the screen though. It's simple really. If you want to make the most of the screen density then you have to provide it with good quality source material suitable for a high resolution screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The video and photographs shot with the phone's own camera have the same problems as other video and pictures. Surely they should display OK.
Some Android apps only render in 16bit
seepage said:
The video and photographs shot with the phone's own camera have the same problems as other video and pictures. Surely they should display OK.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone has a 24bit 16 million colour display.
Some apps, including the picture viewing gallery app do not display 24bit colour in the 24bit quality they were made. See here
Thanks, Xaddict, this all makes sense regarding 24- versus 16-bit rendering.
Still, shouldn't intelligent/adaptive codecs be able to bridge the chasm by re-rendering 16-bit source material into some sort of "interleaved" or "inferred" gradual gradation or gradient... a codec to "smooth" the blend, if you will.
It's a codec issue, isn't it?
I wonder if Samsung or ICS will solve this first, if ever...
It feels like the Note has the same display like the first Desire (Amoled) that I've owned.
Its been said that this is a software problem, I've never seen this fixed with a 3rd party custom ROM since the Galaxy S1 days. Even 'x' ROM still shows color banding.
Found a solution for the wallpaper. Install MultiPicture live wallpaper (free from market) Go into it's settings and select "Color depth", then select "True color (24-bit). If the image you selected and used is 24bit, there will be no banding in your wallpaper. Hope this helped, cheers
Depending on the wallpaper you'ed still see massive banding.
EarlZ said:
Depending on the wallpaper you'ed still see massive banding.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not a software problem.
If anything, it's a low quality image being viewed on a 24bit screen problem.

Screen gamma test image, how low can you go

I made a test image to test how close to black your screen displays before clipping/cutting off. Display in any image viewer just make sure any brightness settings etc are all off/default/flat. Do the test in a dark room.
The numbers correspond to actual RGB values ie: 10 is R 10, G 10, B 10.
This is really effected mostly by firmware gamma curve settings not hardware.
The Note goes to 4 before cutting off, my Infuse goes dark at around 9! What crap gamma settings!
Theoretically you should be able to see number 1 (I could just make it out on my PC if I looked at an angle to the LCD).
How low can you go?
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/690/gammatest.png/
2 on my LCD
Freaking 5 on my iphone 4!
The Note cuts out COMPLETELY at 4, I mean nothing at all displays lower than that. It should gradually ramp to zero, not just cut out.
This explains the blocky tiles while displaying dark video. If there are shades 3,2,1 to smoothly blend they are not shown giving a stark defined tile.
DaveC1964 said:
The Note cuts out COMPLETELY at 4, I mean nothing at all displays lower than that. It should gradually ramp to zero, not just cut out.
This explains the blocky tiles while displaying dark video. If there are shades 3,2,1 to smoothly blend they are not shown giving a stark defined tile.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The very dark shade should be explained by the encoding since Samsung uses a 24-bit display rather then a 16 or 32.
Spartan2x said:
2 on my LCD
Freaking 5 on my iphone 4!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you see the pic on the ImageShack site from your browser it goes to 1 if you DL the file and open then it stopes to 4 on the DL file it dissent scale as in the browser it prompt goes from light dark at 4 to black
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App
I can see the 2 and almost the 1 in my note at minimum brightness. If you raise the brightness lower numbers become less visible as the border around them gets brighter. This display is very bright, I find minimum brightness more than enough for interior (home/office/metro/train).
I can see it till one
vcespon said:
I can see the 2 and almost the 1 in my note at minimum brightness. If you raise the brightness lower numbers become less visible as the border around them gets brighter. This display is very bright, I find minimum brightness more than enough for interior (home/office/metro/train).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same.
But i got some problems with gradients. They look sometimes very choppy..
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App
2 on my samsung led monitor 2 on my samsung led tv 2 on my note maybe my eye is only capable of 2
Braxos said:
If you see the pic on the ImageShack site from your browser it goes to 1 if you DL the file and open then it stopes to 4 on the DL file it dissent scale as in the browser it prompt goes from light dark at 4 to black
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same behavior with my note also, as Braxos noticed.
Can someone explain why the differences?
1. why through browser we can see until 1 and if we open the downloaded .png file we can see only until 4?
2. why the differences between galaxy notes? (some people here mentioned that they can see until 1 or 2 and some others until 4).
Thank you
george66gr said:
Same behavior with my note also, as Braxos noticed.
Can someone explain why the differences?
1. why through browser we can see until 1 and if we open the downloaded .png file we can see only until 4?
2. why the differences between galaxy notes? (some people here mentioned that they can see until 1 or 2 and some others until 4).
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe the browser is changing the gamma slightly?
I would only trust the actual downloaded file viewed through an image viewer with no enhancements.
I am curious too as to why some can see down to 1 or 2. On mine there is a definate complete cut off below 4. Maybe different firmware versions are set different?
Mine is the Polish version.
use good image viewer this is the trick
kromosto said:
use good image viewer this is the trick
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock image bower isn't good ???? And browsers one Is better ??? Or.us it because browser has colors management on it?
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App
actually never compared default viewer vs browser but i know default viewer is crap so i am not suprised browser shows better
I can see 1 in browser, and 4 in gallery. Below 4 it simply cuts off.
Maybe it's the same thing, as you set a black lockscreen wallpaper and desktop wallpaper, and the desktop looks good, while the lockscreen bad?
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App
Cuts out at 4 in image viewer and 1 in the browser...
I'm guessing some people just saw it the browser and posted that they can see till 1...
The image gallery only displays 16-bit while the browser supports 24-bit. I believe that is why this happens.
I can see 1 in the stock browser but only 4 in opera. I didn't bother downloading and testing the stock image viewer but I suspect the results would be the same as everyone else (cut off below 4.)
ltrulsse said:
The image gallery only displays 16-bit while the browser supports 24-bit. I believe that is why this happens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly
Google: Android 2.1 Downgrades Image Quality
And clearly, Android 2.3.6 still has a 16bit gallery.
At least we know it is not due to the display.
Mine also shows upto 4 on the default gallery and upto 1 using the stock browser, but with the stock browser the greys seem to be reddish.
What I noticed though is that my screen does not have really deep blacks, I can see it as a lit black like and LCD.. not major deal breaker or anything but wish I got one of those screens with deeper blacks. Also I see some speckles of darker area's when displaying the all black screen test.

Issue with wallpaper quality

Anyone else have an issue where the lockscreen wallpapers aren't crisp and sharp looking? Seems like android compresses the wallpapers and they never look as good as the original image. I've tested out the new moto x and the stock wallpapers look tack sharp on the screen. This isn't just the lockscreen that's giving me this problem, it's the home screen wallpapers as well.
I've tested 1440p and 4k wallpapers as well with the same result. No, im not using low res photos.
Any ideas?
Pi_ said:
Anyone else have an issue where the lockscreen wallpapers aren't crisp and sharp looking? Seems like android compresses the wallpapers and they never look as good as the original image. I've tested out the new moto x and the stock wallpapers look tack sharp on the screen. This isn't just the lockscreen that's giving me this problem, it's the home screen wallpapers as well.
I've tested 1440p and 4k wallpapers as well with the same result. No, im not using low res photos.
Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are not alone. I have noticed the same thing. I believe its something with TouchWiz. I cropped my wallpapers to 1440x2560 in photoshop and they seem a lot better. Its funny how they still look a tad sharper in Gallery.
Anyone else with this issue / a solution?
Pi_ said:
Anyone else with this issue / a solution?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem here, maybe I have the same issue but I never noticed it. . I also crop all my wallpapers to 1440x2560 and set them as a wallpaper using Quick Pic.
Ahmadmob said:
No problem here, maybe I have the same issue but I never noticed it. . I also crop all my wallpapers to 1440x2560 and set them as a wallpaper using Quick Pic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried this, and still no luck. Wallpapers on the Nexus 5 are tack sharp, same as the moto x 2014.
The images in the gallery look amazing, but when they are applied as a wallpaper they look compressed and
blurry, even when they are cropped to match the 1440p resolution. This isnt a huge deal, but just wish it didn't look like this.
This is True
I am going to buy Galaxy Alpha .
and when I looked at wallpapers on home screen and Lock screen on my friend's Alpha it really looked pixalated
I thought its because of 720p and 316 ppi .
but when I checked Gallary app and other apps pics and resolution was looking really superb .
I can see pixels only if I really look Deeply .
2k screen is wastage of battery , Frame rates and performance , specially on S805
I hope they solve this Wallpaper problem
I can confirm this, I've compared a 1440p pic on gallery and when I set it as a wallpaper, as a wallpaper it definitely doesn't look as sharp as when I opened it in gallery. hmmm I hope they fix it with a firmware update or something. Don't know if it has anything to do with this issue but did any of you guys try a different launcher to see if the problem is solved?
Pictures look better in Gallery if you're using Adaptive display mode, because what this mode does is increase sharpness and saturation when viewing images and videos.
iR¡[email protected]!* from Galaxy Note 4 via Tapatalk
iridaki said:
Pictures look better in Gallery if you're using Adaptive display mode, because what this mode does is increase sharpness and saturation when viewing images and videos.
iR¡[email protected]!* from Galaxy Note 4 via Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I go back and forth between basic and adaptive display, same issue on either display mode.
On both my Moto X and Moto G, whenever I apply wallpaper through Zedge the wallpaper image looks sharp but when I downloaded the same image and apply from photo album the resulting wallpaper looks like their image quality has been reduced. The effects are really noticeable since it produces color banding.
I'm using both stock Moto and Google Now launcher, both have the same issue so I guess it's not Touchwiz related. If anyone can help in pointing to apps that will allow me to apply my photos in gallery without reducing quality I will be grateful.
MattMJB0188 said:
You are not alone. I have noticed the same thing. I believe its something with TouchWiz. I cropped my wallpapers to 1440x2560 in photoshop and they seem a lot better. Its funny how they still look a tad sharper in Gallery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gallery does automatic sharpening.
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app
darekz said:
Gallery does automatic sharpening.
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeap... That's it. Thanks a lot!
An easy way to have the same effect on the homescreen wallpaper, is to open the image with studio and apply the Sharpen effect (100%). Then save as 8MP> and set that image as wallpaper. That image will have noise in the stock gallery, but when applied as wallpaper should look almost identical to how the original one looks in the stock gallery.
Cheers
I have no problems with wallpapers.
I edit them to an ideal size, which on the note 4 is 2880x2560 for AOSP-based launchers(scrolling wallpaper) or 2560x2560 for touchwiz/lockscreen.
I then set them through FX File Explorer which doesn't edit the image unless it's really needed.

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