Avisynth: AviSynth "color banding" - A SOLUTION!
 

:x I recently tried AviSynth version 2.0.7 on a Win98 system and was quite disappointed to see the output look like 16-bit graphics (that is, with obvious color banding).

:arrow: To make a long and frustrating story short, I read that Microsoft's DirectX version 8.1 was buggy, at least as far as colorspace conversion was concerned. After checking the system with DXDIAG.EXE (in the Windows "system" directory), I found that I had that infamous DirectX 8.1.

:!: Fortunately, the Microsoft DirectX website http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/, aside from having a patch for 8.x, also had the new DirectX version 9. After a quick download and installation ... no more color banding! :D

Thanks for that info easymenu :D

-kwag

For those who don't want to install DirectX9, here's a fix:

http://cultact-server.novi.dk/kpo/avisynth/avs_cvs.html

The file you'll need is at the bottom of the page.

Hi guys, please excuse my ignorance on this subject :oops: , but I'm running Avisynth 2.0.7 on my XP machine with DirectX 8.1 installed....to be honest, I'm not even sure what color-banding is exactly, but are you saying that my resulting encodes would look even better on my TV when I pop the disc in my player if I were to dowload the "fix" supplied in the link by Boulder, or by upgrading to DirectX 9? Or will it only look better on my monitor? And why might a person_NOT_want to upgrade from DirectX8.1 to 9? Is it because 9 is still new and still rather untested? Thanks in advance for your insight. :)
-d&c

If you have the banding problem, you'll definitely notice it. It looks like the video had something like 256 colors in it :wink: So, my conclusion is that you don't have this problem. I've not had it on my Win98SE and WinXP installations.

I've been running DX9 for a while without any problems. Just make sure your video card drivers support it, otherwise something may come up. Some people just don't want to upgrade since uninstalling DX9 can be a major pain in the butt in case there are any incompatibilities.

Many thanks for the explanation Boulder! I guess if it ain't broke, there's no sense in fixing it. :wink:
-d&c