NX5U grainy picture possibly resolved with Plugin

Mike Butir · August 14th, 2011, 11:15 PM

UPDATE:

Sorry for the noob question here.. but i am currently messing around with the features on my camera and i noticed that i had "minus AGC" set to on.. would that be the cause for the noisy image?

Michael Bray · August 15th, 2011, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Butir

another question i have is why does the gain info not show up in play back when i have a picture profile on? but when i record something with picture profile off the gain is displayed? any thoughts? i also have AGC set to off

Per the NX5 Operating Guide, page 30..."When you record high definition image quality (HD) movies with the gain set to [-6db] and play them back with the data code, the gain value is displayed as [---]".

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Butir

UPDATE:

Sorry for the noob question here.. but i am currently messing around with the features on my camera and i noticed that i had "minus AGC" set to on.. would that be the cause for the noisy image?

No, the "minus AGC" set to on will not cause your noisy image. I still believe that your noisy image stems from some combination of in-camera settings IMHO.

Mike Butir · August 15th, 2011, 11:35 AM

when you mean in camera settings do you mean by my picture profiles? or main menu?

Michael Bray · August 15th, 2011, 08:28 PM

Possibly a combination of both. I'm only speculating though as I can't physically see your camera or it's settings.

Are you seeing the grain or noise in the entire image or just the dark or black scenes?

Mike Butir · August 16th, 2011, 07:02 PM

what i will do later this evening is post all off the settings that i have on so that you have a better feel on how my camera is operating. but in the mean time, yes i am seeing the noise in the entire shot not just certain areas. even on a perfectly lit scene outside with -6db i am still looking at a noisy image. a question i should ask, when you play it back on full screen on your computer do u see a noisy image? but yet again when i plug it into my HDTV via HDMI a can still see some noise with even 0db of gain (that i can understand will show a little though)

Michael Bray · August 16th, 2011, 11:11 PM

When I play the raw files from the camera on a PC or HDTV from a properly lit scene with -6db or -3db I have absolutely no noise or grain...same goes for live preview when connected via HDMI. You are correct however, that 0db will show a very slight amount of noise...so slight that most, if not all of your clients will probably never notice.

I would definitely be interested in taking a peek into your camera settings to see if we can get this grain thing figured out.

Mike Butir · August 17th, 2011, 12:17 AM

this is what i was able to come up with, i hope its enough info. i didnt include an PP because i get this problem without pp too.

Michael Bray · August 17th, 2011, 09:55 PM

Hey Mike,

Thanks for posting the screen shots. Honestly, I'm at a loss for your noise issue. Perhaps someone with more knowledge might chime in. Your camera is setup very similar to mine and the slight differences between our setups aren't going to cause the grain you're seeing. I'm really scratching my head right now for ideas. As mentioned in my previous post, both of my NX5's (with virtually identical settings to yours) do indeed record a grain or noise free image with or without picture profiles and thats even before it's imported into an NLE. I wish I could provide more help but I am truely out of ideas. Keep us posted if you find a fix. Perhaps Sony might have something to say about it.

Mike Butir · August 17th, 2011, 10:01 PM

I went to sony this evening with my camera and compared it side by side with the ax2000 (basically same camera). and also played back the footage on there best tv in the store. both of te cameras footage looked identical! i came to the conclusion along with the store manager that i am viewing my footage to closely and the further back o go from my monitor is the proper way to view my footage. basically what i see is the pixels that are making up the image that i see. when standing at the proper distance away from the tv you will get a very nice image like i did. for some reason i thought that the noise i see was coming from the camera which was not the case at all! coming to this realization is a huge relief for me! Thanks for your help throughout this whole process!

Michael Bray · August 17th, 2011, 10:16 PM

Glad to hear you got it sorted out. I'm sure you will sleep better knowing that your beloved NX5 is working as it should.

August 14th, 2011, 11:15 PM	#16
Mike Butir Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Chicago Illinois Posts: 102	Re: NX5U grainy picture possibly resolved with Plugin UPDATE: Sorry for the noob question here.. but i am currently messing around with the features on my camera and i noticed that i had "minus AGC" set to on.. would that be the cause for the noisy image?

August 15th, 2011, 11:35 AM	#18
Mike Butir Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Chicago Illinois Posts: 102	Re: NX5U grainy picture possibly resolved with Plugin when you mean in camera settings do you mean by my picture profiles? or main menu?

August 15th, 2011, 08:28 PM	#19
Michael Bray Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Byron Center, MI Posts: 128	Re: NX5U grainy picture possibly resolved with Plugin Possibly a combination of both. I'm only speculating though as I can't physically see your camera or it's settings. Are you seeing the grain or noise in the entire image or just the dark or black scenes?

August 16th, 2011, 07:02 PM	#20
Mike Butir Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Chicago Illinois Posts: 102	Re: NX5U grainy picture possibly resolved with Plugin what i will do later this evening is post all off the settings that i have on so that you have a better feel on how my camera is operating. but in the mean time, yes i am seeing the noise in the entire shot not just certain areas. even on a perfectly lit scene outside with -6db i am still looking at a noisy image. a question i should ask, when you play it back on full screen on your computer do u see a noisy image? but yet again when i plug it into my HDTV via HDMI a can still see some noise with even 0db of gain (that i can understand will show a little though)

August 16th, 2011, 11:11 PM	#21
Michael Bray Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Byron Center, MI Posts: 128	Re: NX5U grainy picture possibly resolved with Plugin When I play the raw files from the camera on a PC or HDTV from a properly lit scene with -6db or -3db I have absolutely no noise or grain...same goes for live preview when connected via HDMI. You are correct however, that 0db will show a very slight amount of noise...so slight that most, if not all of your clients will probably never notice. I would definitely be interested in taking a peek into your camera settings to see if we can get this grain thing figured out.

August 17th, 2011, 12:17 AM	#22
Mike Butir Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Chicago Illinois Posts: 102	Re: NX5U grainy picture possibly resolved with Plugin this is what i was able to come up with, i hope its enough info. i didnt include an PP because i get this problem without pp too. Attached Thumbnails

August 17th, 2011, 09:55 PM	#23
Michael Bray Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Byron Center, MI Posts: 128	Re: NX5U grainy picture possibly resolved with Plugin Hey Mike, Thanks for posting the screen shots. Honestly, I'm at a loss for your noise issue. Perhaps someone with more knowledge might chime in. Your camera is setup very similar to mine and the slight differences between our setups aren't going to cause the grain you're seeing. I'm really scratching my head right now for ideas. As mentioned in my previous post, both of my NX5's (with virtually identical settings to yours) do indeed record a grain or noise free image with or without picture profiles and thats even before it's imported into an NLE. I wish I could provide more help but I am truely out of ideas. Keep us posted if you find a fix. Perhaps Sony might have something to say about it.

August 17th, 2011, 10:01 PM	#24
Mike Butir Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Chicago Illinois Posts: 102	Re: NX5U grainy picture possibly resolved with Plugin I went to sony this evening with my camera and compared it side by side with the ax2000 (basically same camera). and also played back the footage on there best tv in the store. both of te cameras footage looked identical! i came to the conclusion along with the store manager that i am viewing my footage to closely and the further back o go from my monitor is the proper way to view my footage. basically what i see is the pixels that are making up the image that i see. when standing at the proper distance away from the tv you will get a very nice image like i did. for some reason i thought that the noise i see was coming from the camera which was not the case at all! coming to this realization is a huge relief for me! Thanks for your help throughout this whole process!

August 17th, 2011, 10:16 PM	#25
Michael Bray Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Byron Center, MI Posts: 128	Re: NX5U grainy picture possibly resolved with Plugin Glad to hear you got it sorted out. I'm sure you will sleep better knowing that your beloved NX5 is working as it should.