Banding Appearing on Acquire Player Content

Question:

Whilst playing some content in Acquire Player, which is mostly comprised from JPEG and PNG photo file formats we notice there is some banding.  This does not occur on a standard display but does on larger screens.

Resolution:

The effect that you are describing is known as Artefacts.  These are caused by something reducing the quality of the content and are often caused by one of the following:

1. saving a picture, such as a JPEG is a lossy method and depending upon the quality setting used.  These will be more or less visible in certain colours, such as blues and reds as the JPEG format makes assumptions about what the human eye can see.  Please note: PNGs are not lossy as long as the source material was not originally a JPEG and should not show the colour issues.
2. videos use a similar method to JPEG compression and are always lossy.  If this is a video, this is expected as the CODEC is designed to lose some of the visuals your eyes would not normally see.  However, depending upon the video CODEC used and the settings for this, especially the Bitrate, this becomes more or less noticeable.
3. any image processing systems in use may have an effect (which may multiply the effect of compression from one of the above reasons).  Especially when using LCD/ LED screens and also especially with image processors in videowall systems.  These often have an effect of creating blocks of colour based upon what the system thinks is optimal viewing, but can have an adverse effect.  In this case it is best to disable all settings and use the natural settings you have chosen when creating the content. Please note: that there are often some configuration Blu-Ray tools available to help with calibrating optimal screen settings.