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).

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!

Thanks for that info easymenu

-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 , 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 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.
-d&c