Inconsistent brightness encoding for streaming - anyone else?

	Inconsistent brightness encoding for streaming - anyone else? by Alan Lloyd on Jul 30, 2009 at 1:21:06 pm My client and I are seeing inconsistent brightness results when encoding recorded files to streaming archives. We're encoding to .wmv and .flv, the Flash out of either Adobe Flash encoder or Adobe Media Encoder (they are on CS4) and the .wmv out of Windows Media Encoder or Adobe Media Encoder. Sometimes a segment that is perfectly TV-normal will show up fine, sometimes it's dark. Suggestions? Hey, I'll even take commiseration for an inconsistent problem... Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Inconsistent brightness encoding for streaming - anyone else? by Daniel Low on Jul 31, 2009 at 4:06:03 pm Are you comparing WMV to Flash or Flash to Flash/WMV to WMV? __________________________________________________________________ There are no significant bugs in our released software that any significant number of users want fixed. … I'm saying we don't do a new version to fix bugs. We don't. Not enough people would buy it. You can take a hundred people using Microsoft Word. Call them up and say "Would you buy a new version because of bugs?" You won't get a single person to say they'd buy a new version because of bugs. We'd never be able to sell a release on that basis. Bill Gates. Focus Magazine No. 43 (23 October 1995) Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Inconsistent brightness encoding for streaming - anyone else? by Alan Lloyd on Jul 31, 2009 at 6:07:10 pm No, not comparing, the luminance differences/inconsistencies are primarily in .wmv encodes. Sometimes out of Adobe Media Encoder, sometimes out of Windows Media Encoder. The Flash usually is pretty well-behaved, though most of the delivery (to a corporate/enterprise customer base) is .wmv archives. Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Inconsistent brightness encoding for streaming - anyone else? by Daniel Low on Jul 31, 2009 at 6:44:24 pm Again, are you comparing wmv encodes between WME and AME or are you seeing variance in files coming from the same encoder using identical settings? Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Inconsistent brightness encoding for streaming - anyone else? by Alan Lloyd on Jul 31, 2009 at 7:40:50 pm We (and I am only one of several people involved in this ongoing mess) are seeing inconsistent results with WME primarily. AME seems to do a somewhat more consistent job, though there is one person there - in a critical position - that strongly dislikes using it, and refuses to do so. His WME encodes are also often the ones that come out dark. So let's leave AME out of the equation for the moment. The video we are encoding begins by being captured direct to drive with miniDV as a backup, and the normal capture (non-highlight) luminance levels for Caucasian facial skin tones are falling in the 40-65 IRE range. Highlights are running 70-80 or so, depending on the person. This was determined by masking everything other than the subject's face in PPro and opening the reference monitor window ganged to the timeline, and setting the display to WFM. Sometimes it looks fine. Other times, it comes out dark. I am not generally using WME for encodes, I favor AME. All this is separate from the reality that flat panels are far more inconsistent than CRT monitors, and that even a CRT that is poorly adjusted will not show things accurately. We've even dragged a WMP window from a laptop display to an outboard flat panel and seen a huge disparity between the two screens on the same machine's output. I have even reimported some of the .wmv files and puting them into PPro's WFM, and they read either near the same luma levels or anywhere from 5-10 IRE darker. That's the part that makes me wonder. The inconsistency. We are using two or three different WME profiles, (which I do not have in front of me for reference at the moment, unfortunately) with the max bitrate being about 400K, usually sizing to 320 x 240 or slightly larger. I am a contractor working there, these are staff. It's a difficult position for me to be in, and while they are raising clip brightness and contrast in PPro to do their encodes - and pushing some highlights into clipping on occasion - I would prefer a real, consistent, method-based QC solution rather than "tinkering" by people who are more computer-based and have less practical video experience. I'm definitely interested in any suggestions. Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index

	Re: Inconsistent brightness encoding for streaming - anyone else? by Daniel Low on Aug 1, 2009 at 6:51:36 pm A few things here: 1. It is very rare indeed (I've never seen it) for an encoder such as WME to create transcodes with varying luminance levels when using the same codec and settings. 2. It's very rare to find anybody using a properly calibrated monitor. 3. It's quite common for LCD monitors with the same model number and from the same vendor to give quite different pictures even after calibration. Sorry I can't solve your issue directly. __________________________________________________________________ There are no significant bugs in our released software that any significant number of users want fixed. … I'm saying we don't do a new version to fix bugs. We don't. Not enough people would buy it. You can take a hundred people using Microsoft Word. Call them up and say "Would you buy a new version because of bugs?" You won't get a single person to say they'd buy a new version because of bugs. We'd never be able to sell a release on that basis. Bill Gates. Focus Magazine No. 43 (23 October 1995) Respond to this post   •   Return to posts index