Vimeo changing output range of video (16-235 to 0-255)

[alfas]

Hello guys,

I am having a problem with the output range of my videos in vimeo. I am uploading to vimeo a timelapse video made out of Canon 5D mkII raw pictures. I have Imported raw .CR2 to After Effects and output uncompressed 10bit v210 avi file. Then I used avisynth to make it 8bit uncompressed and dithered avi (to avoid banding) and then used handbrake to export H264 with x264. It plays fine on Media Player Classic with output set to 0-255. If I play the video on Media Player Classic with output range of 16-235, the video lacks contrast. But when I play the video uploaded on vimeo, it looks exactly like it was being played as 16-235 output on Media Player Classic.

Is there anything I can do try to fix this problem?

I don't know if here is the right place to ask. I have read extensively this topic with lots of good information I have seen your discussion on this topic http://liftgammagain.com/forum/index.php?threads/vimeo-black-levels-are-not-true-black.2206/page-2 but I don't know if I understood everything correctly.

Thanks!

[Asmodian]

It looks like you simply need to convert your video to limited range before uploading it to Vimeo.

In Avisynth try:
ColorYUV(levels="PC->TV")

[alfas]

Hi Asmodian, thanks a lot, I'll give it a try.

The strange thing is that in one computer, the video lacks contrast, with the Firefox hardware acceleration on or off. On my home pc, the levels are ok (same OS and browser, even with hardware acceleration on). On both computers the video card is configured to do absolute nothing with the videos displayed. I don't know how what can be different on both, but the most important thing is that I don't know what other user will see at their homes now...

[osgZach]

Hi Asmodian, thanks a lot, I'll give it a try.

The strange thing is that in one computer, the video lacks contrast, with the Firefox hardware acceleration on or off. On my home pc, the levels are ok (same OS and browser, even with hardware acceleration on). On both computers the video card is configured to do absolute nothing with the videos displayed. I don't know how what can be different on both, but the most important thing is that I don't know what other user will see at their homes now...

Welcome to the Internet. You will never have guaranteed playback control on the client-side.

However if Vimeo is fudging with your clips Range like that, I'd be asking them for a reason. I thought their whole deal was they don't touch your clips so you can upload any resolution, FPS, etc.

Barring that, maybe it is just their player is crappy and doesn't recognize information properly, or is doing a dumb conversion based on resolution or something.

[Asmodian]

I would not be surprised if most web video players assume limited range YUV and ignore any flags (if such flag exist) telling them otherwise.

[alfas]

Hi guys, looks like there was a problem with the Nvidia settings, vimeo is not touching levels, thankfully. You can have a look at the output if you wish here:
http://vimeo.com/95499273

[Asmodian]

Nice job on the video, the levels look correct on my computer (nvidia gpu too but all video processing options set to off).

However there is terrible aliasing in a lot of the scenes, is that present in the source? You might want to try a better resize if not. I strongly recommend doing the resize in Avisynth with dither tools (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1386559). This should probably be at the end of the script to preserve the dithering.

Something like this, assuming downscaling a progressive full range 8 bit video to 720p:
Dither_convert_8_to_16 ()
Dither_y_gamma_to_linear (tv_range_in="false",tv_range_out="false")
Dither_resize16 (1280, 720)
Dither_y_linear_to_gamma (tv_range_in="false",tv_range_out="false")
DitherPost ()


This would also help with the shimmer during pans.

[alfas]

Nice job on the video, the levels look correct on my computer (nvidia gpu too but all video processing options set to off).

However there is terrible aliasing in a lot of the scenes, is that present in the source? You might want to try a better resize if not. I strongly recommend doing the resize in Avisynth with dither tools (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1386559). This should probably be at the end of the script to preserve the dithering.

Something like this, assuming downscaling a progressive full range 8 bit video to 720p:
Dither_convert_8_to_16 ()
Dither_y_gamma_to_linear (tv_range_in="false",tv_range_out="false")
Dither_resize16 (1280, 720)
Dither_y_linear_to_gamma (tv_range_in="false",tv_range_out="false")
DitherPost ()


This would also help with the shimmer during pans.

Hi Asmodian, thanks a lot for taking a look at the video. I had problems with temporal aliasing in the previous exports of my video, but at the last one I tought I had eliminated at least the temporal ones. The only file I had uploaded is 1080p and vimeo displays it at 1080p also when viewed in HD and full screen. I have watched in some monitors and did not realize that problem also. What is the resolution of your monitor? Is there away to post any printscreen showing the problem?

Thanks!