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Scenes that exhibit macroblocking?

post #1 of 16
5/3/07 at 8:01pm
Thread Starter 
I've got a Faroudja-based player on the way and I need some scenes that are known to exhibit macroblocking. Would like to have them at the ready to test and see if this player needs to go back or if I'm good.. rather than find out on one of my discs later down the road.

Thanks in advance.
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post #2 of 16
5/4/07 at 4:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jephdood View Post

I've got a Faroudja-based player on the way and I need some scenes that are known to exhibit macroblocking. Would like to have them at the ready to test and see if this player needs to go back or if I'm good.. rather than find out on one of my discs later down the road.

Thanks in advance.

The last macroblocking I saw with my Oppo 981 was for a few seconds in LADY IN THE WATER, the background walls and door in the stairwell scene just after the wolf first attacks.

What sort of display are you using? Macroblocking is most often reported by DLP and plasma owners. It's rare on LCDs.

-Bill
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post #3 of 16
5/4/07 at 7:01am
Attack of the Clones, the scene where the Jedis meet in Palpatine's office to discuss the failed assassination attempt on Padme is a good one. The red walls in the background will usually reveal any MBE.

Bug's life is another one. I'm not sure of the exact scene, but I believe it's the one where the ants are having the council just before Flick goes off to recruit the hero warrior bugs.

AOTC is the one I always used to test. It was pretty evident one way or another in that scene.
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post #4 of 16
5/4/07 at 9:05am
Play underworld evolution, or Master and Commaner opening fog scene. If you have lots your display is not calibrated properly.
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post #5 of 16
5/4/07 at 9:47am
"Zathura" - any background dark scenes in the house

"Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" & "King Kong" - fog.

Phil
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post #6 of 16
5/4/07 at 10:09am
any picture or link to pictures is greatly appreciated.

thanks.
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post #7 of 16
5/4/07 at 11:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by michaelv View Post

any picture or link to pictures is greatly appreciated.

thanks.

I have seen it on large blank background surfaces like walls and doors. It looks like low-rez boiling clouds or insect swarms.

It is a compression artifact encoded in the disc, but some combinations of gear enhance the effect.

-Bill
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post #8 of 16
5/4/07 at 1:00pm
Thread Starter 
I thought that was called "mosquito effect"?

My display is a Panny AE900U PJ.. LCD. Maybe I'll be okay here.

Thanks for the examples so far..
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post #9 of 16
5/4/07 at 1:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jephdood View Post

I thought that was called "mosquito effect"?

My display is a Panny AE900U PJ.. LCD. Maybe I'll be okay here.

Thanks for the examples so far..

Here's a photo, HOTEL RWANDA (?): http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attac...chmentid=49528

In motion the back wall would be "boiling". I don't know about mosquito effect.

-Bill
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post #10 of 16
5/4/07 at 2:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wmcclain View Post

Here's a photo, HOTEL RWANDA (?): http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attac...chmentid=49528

In motion the back wall would be "boiling". I don't know about mosquito effect.

-Bill

The final scene of Good Night and Good Luck, the one in the office with the two shot from either side of the desk... the wall behind looks like the wall in this link. Even worse though, it blinks lighter and darker on my Oppo 971.
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post #11 of 16
5/4/07 at 3:09pm
Thread Starter 
From Hometheaterhifi:

"The first artifact is called Macroblocking. Areas with slight differences in color cause nearby block and macroblocks to be tinted differently. Background areas (e.g., images of blue sky or green fields) and dark areas in the image are usually affected the most when the bandwidth is too low. The artifact makes the image appear digitized and unnatural."

"The second artifact is called Mosquito Noise. This artifact appears as specs around edges of objects. With a bit of imagination, one could imagine a swarm of mosquitoes around people's faces, channel logos, or even subtitles. The more compressed the image, the more noticeable mosquito noise becomes."

Ref: http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...er-3-2005.html
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post #12 of 16
5/4/07 at 7:33pm
A lot of animated DVDs I have seen have hideous mosquito noise...
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post #13 of 16
5/4/07 at 8:28pm
Thread Starter 
Yup. I get lots on Family Guy with my cheapy Denon player in the family room.
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post #14 of 16
5/8/07 at 2:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jephdood View Post

I've got a Faroudja-based player on the way and I need some scenes that are known to exhibit macroblocking. Would like to have them at the ready to test and see if this player needs to go back or if I'm good.. rather than find out on one of my discs later down the road.

Thanks in advance.

Why you buy a player that you know has issues? Look into the Toshiba XA2. It has a great scaler and no MB issues and plays HD DVD for free! It can be had for under
$ 600.00 now. A great deal.
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post #15 of 16
5/8/07 at 2:55pm
Thread Starter 
Well..

1. I don't know that is has issues yet
2. I can easily sell it again for what I paid if it does
3. I don't care about HD DVD. Upsampled SD looks great to me. And hey, no format wars!
4. I wanted a player with a really good audio section for 2-channel audio
5. I'm crazy like dat

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post #16 of 16
1/5/09 at 7:51pm
Part 5 of the John Adams HBO miniseries on DVD seems to have an interesting variation on macroblocking. I've seen the artifact described in a number of posts on background walls - usually in dimly lit scenes.

This scene in John Adams episode "Unite or Die" on disk 2 is quite different. The main action in focus is masked by window frames and/or curtains in the foreground - out of focus. The blurred edges and camera movement cause some weird and presumably unintended effects. Look from 00:32:16 to 00:35:05.
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