Video has halos or blocks near objects
The video appears to have halos around the edges of objects and/or block-like noise around near objects. There does not seem to be a loss of resolution, just loss of sharpness and some changes to colors.
Result Original Image
Possible Causes:
Video bitrate too low – This type of effect is usually caused by setting the video bitrate too low. Increase the video bitrate to get a better result. If increasing the video bitrate produces too large a file, keep the video bitrate the same, but decrease the video frame size. When the choice is available, choosing Optimize for Quality instead of Optimize for Speed should also help.
Video appears to jitter
Movement in the video seems to jitter up and down. Moving objects may seem to take two steps forward then one step back.
Possible Causes:
Single-field detail in interlaced output – If the video appears to have vertical jitter or flashing horizontal edges, the source image may have single-field detail. This usually occurs with still images used for video. ProCoder 3 normally makes the appropriate adjustments to avoid this situation, but if you still have trouble, try applying an antiflicker or deinterlace filter to your source before bringing it to ProCoder 3.
Improper source interlacing field order – For interlaced sources, the interlacing mode may not be set correctly. Verify that the proper interlacing field order is set in the Advanced Source Configuration.
Improper target interlacing field order – For interlaced output, the target field order may be incorrect for the playback device. Check the requirements of the intended playback device to determine the proper interlacing setting.
Video movement appears jumpy
Movement in the video does not appear smooth – it seems to jump instead of move in a fluid fashion. Objects in motion seem to jump or “flash” to the next position like a strobe effect.
Result Original Image
Possible Causes:
Video frame rate too low – If the video frame rate is too low, motion in the video will not appear smooth. Increasing the frame rate will help to improve the fluidity of motion but will also make the file size larger. Generally speaking, a frame rate below 15fps will result in unsatisfactory playback.
Streaming connection speed too slow – Users viewing a streaming file that was made for a faster connection speed may see this type of “snapshots in time” effect. The user need a faster connection to the streaming server, a progressive download file should be used instead.
Playback machine too slow – Some formats play with different frame rates depending on the speed of the viewer’s machine. Try playback on a faster computer to see if it plays better.
Audio and video are out of sync
Audio and video do not play in synchronization with each other. For example, a person talking may show their lips moving, but their speech may not be audible until a second or two later.
Possible Causes:
Use of seek or trick-play in the player – If you were playing the file and playback was in-sync until you used the player’s fast-forward, rewind or scrubber to reposition the playback location, then it’s probably not a problem at all. Depending on the format and player, audio/video synchronization cannot be guaranteed after repositioning the playback point. Try letting the file play through from start to end without interrupting it to verify. If synchronization is maintained in a “straight-through” playback, then the problem is trick-play and not the output file.
Video and audio playing from different devices – If you are playing the video on one device and using a different device for audio, synchronization is not guaranteed. For example, DV files playing audio from the PC but using a connected DV camera or converter for video output will be unsynchronized. This is because there is a slight delay between the DV camera or converter between getting the DV data from the PC and outputting the decoded analog video. Thus, in this situation audio will appear to come slightly before the video.
Set-top DVD audio decoder problems – If you’re seeing the problem using a set-top DVD player for playback, it could be a problem with the player itself. Some set-top DVD players have problems with audio synchronization, especially when the audio is AC3 format. Try a commercially-produced DVD in the player and see if it has the same problem. Also try playing your DVD with a software-based DVD player.
DVD authoring error – If your problem exists with an authored DVD, it could be a problem with the DVD authoring. Substandard DVD authoring can also cause audio/video sync problems. Try reauthoring the DVD with a different DVD authoring application.
Video shows strange patterns or blocks
The video shows strange patterns or blocks of different data.
Result Original Image
Possible Cause:
Corrupt video file – The data of the video file is probably corrupt. Check to see that the source file does not show the same problem, as any problems in the source will be faithfully reproduced in the output. If the problem only occurs in the output, try writing the file to a different drive or directory, or try a different compression format.