Dell XPS 15 R2 - L502x - Owners Lounge

[daver160]

What about youtube videos? Are they equally as grainy?

[ufo2012]

You might need to uninstall your current Dell drivers first and reboot into safe mode before installing this. Your issue sounds more like a rendering problem rather than a driver (are they your encoded videos?)

I'll take a look at this, still looking at other settings with existing Intel 3000 install and Nvidia.

No not my encoded videos, I am also trying a few others such as YouTube videos - considering checking a BluRay as well but then not sure if that is a true representation as I am guessing BluRay disc and x264 would be rendered using different codecs and/or software(s) ?

As a note, it is mostly darker scenes I can see the graininess most in - sometimes scenes with a lot of white also...

What about youtube videos? Are they equally as grainy?

I am trying a few but difficult to find any that are well encoded and are of the right type (e.g. movies) to check. There are a few 1080p test scenes etc of things like Planet Earth, the solar system but these are not easy to compare with (as not a good comparison of someone like movie scenes where a lot is going on)...

So as a test,

Avatar Movie Trailer
Avatar FULL 1080p trailer - YouTube

Had a quick flick through this in 1080p using full screen - I would say this is pretty well encoded and don't think I can see any grain in this?

Only problem though, as mentioned above - I really need a movie or trailer with a lot of dark scenes to check/make a comparison with as it shows up worst in these.

Or maybe you/someone else can suggest a video that you think looks perfect without grain so I can test it and also make a comparison?

[daver160]

That graininess might also by partly from the video itself. For example, my Firefly blurays (from the Bluray discs) have a bit of grain likely because of how it was upconverted from SD to HD. Likewise for my Dr Who blurays (second series), there is a bit of graininess in the videos because I don't think these were shot in "native" HD resolutions - they were converted to HD for the blurays.

But blurays such as Transformers and Star Trek aren't grainy at all, perhaps because they were shot in native HD.

I've ripped my BDs as well, and it follows the GIGO theory: grainy on BD, grainy in ripped mkv/mp4, not grainy on BD, not grainy in ripped mkv/mp4.

[ufo2012]

That graininess might also by partly from the video itself. For example, my Firefly blurays (from the Bluray discs) have a bit of grain likely because of how it was upconverted from SD to HD. Likewise for my Dr Who blurays (second series), there is a bit of graininess in the videos because I don't think these were shot in "native" HD resolutions - they were converted to HD for the blurays.

But blurays such as Transformers and Star Trek aren't grainy at all, perhaps because they were shot in native HD.

I've ripped my BDs as well, and it follows the GIGO theory: grainy on BD, grainy in ripped mkv/mp4, not grainy on BD, not grainy in ripped mkv/mp4.

Stuff like Transformers and Star Trek make for tricky comparisons...I get what you mean about GIGO, but because there is a lot of CGI in movies like that they will naturally gravitate towards looking good as they are often filled with a lot of often computer-generated HD graphics or scaled HD models or like you say shot specifically with HD cameras. Though I will still try and give them a go to see how they look.

If anyone else is watching any x264 on this laptop, what are you watching and how does it look? And what is your usual viewing distance from it?

[daver160]

Stuff like Transformers and Star Trek make for tricky comparisons...I get what you mean about GIGO, but because there is a lot of CGI in movies like that they will naturally gravitate towards looking good as they are often filled with a lot of often computer-generated HD graphics or scaled HD models or like you say shot specifically with HD cameras. Though I will still try and give them a go to see how they look.

If anyone else is watching any x264 on this laptop, what are you watching and how does it look? And what is your usual viewing distance from it?

What I meant by GIGO was that if you paused any scene, you will see graininess or you won't. Can you take a screenshot of something grainy and post it?

[ufo2012]

What I meant by GIGO was that if you paused any scene, you will see graininess or you won't. Can you take a screenshot of something grainy and post it?

I understood fully what you meant by GIGO.

Here is an screenshot taken of something that looks particularly bad:

From Cabin Fever (2002)
http://imgbucket.info/i-vHz9B/cabinfever.png
Look at the dark areas, although you don't need to look too hard to see the grain there


Another screenshot, this one from 50/50 (2011)
http://imgbucket.info/i-tASwG/5050.jpg
In this, look at the orange wall on the left, blue balloon and anything else in the background


And here's another one - this from Transformers Dark of the Moon
http://imgbucket.info/i-RtiXO/tr.jpg
In this, for me again it is the sunset type background where I see a lot of grain


For the 1st screenshot, I have also tried viewing this on a 1280x800 screen - I can still see the grain.

With the 2nd and 3rd screenshot however, viewing the second image on the same 1280x800 screen - the grain which was so clear and apparent on the 1920x1080 screen appears to have been somewhat "smoothed out" on the 1280x800.

Viewing same images on the original 1920x1080 though, I can still see the grain.

How does anyone else make these? Something wrong, or normal?

[Risco]

Has anyone had issues with "operating system not found" when booting from an external hdd? I cannot get it to boot at all!

[daver160]

I understood fully what you meant by GIGO.

Here is an screenshot taken of something that looks particularly bad:

...

Viewing same images on the original 1920x1080 though, I can still see the grain.

How does anyone else make these? Something wrong, or normal?

OK, if I am thinking correctly of what you're saying, then that "grain" isn't really bad grain. I'm seeing that too, and I believe that is normal.

I don't really know how to explain it, but it's not really grain as much as it is just artifacts from the video compression, etc. I'm sure there's a better term for it, but that's what pops into my head at this time. Even though a x264 encode might be at something like 5Mbit, it's still not the 25Mbit or higher that a bluray disc plays at, so solid colours kind of come out as not-so-solid. This is especially apparent in the 3rd screenshot in 50/50 against the red wall on the far left, and the blue balloon like you pointed out. Even the plant at the bottom left corner shows a kind of graininess overlaid on top of it. The gradient background in the Transformers screenshot is just as evident. (If you could send me the timestamp of that Transformers scene, I'll test it out on my BD's here and grab a screenshot, see if there's a difference).

I viewed your screenshots on 3 different screens: built-in L502x 1920x1080, Dell 22" 1920x1080 over miniDIsplayport -> DVI, LG 19" HDMI->DVI 1440x900

[ximinez]

Has anyone had issues with "operating system not found" when booting from an external hdd? I cannot get it to boot at all!

USB3 or USB2 port?

[Risco]

USB3 or USB2 port?

Both of them, driving me buts. I can boot off it if I plug it in, then make a boot option in Windows BCD. However if I try to directly boot of the drive, it does not work.