GH2 GH2 horizontal yellow band - please help

M

Mike_Raddport

Well-known member
I've just noticed a horizontal faint yellow band in the lower third of the picture whn I'm in iso 800 and above. I'm sure it's there always, but just really noticable in higher Iso's. Has anyone experienced this before? Thanks you. New to the GH2.
 
It seems like something present in every early GH2 model. At least some of the newer ones are fine, maybe all of them, I don't know. If you keep the ISO under 1600 and don't underexpose you should be fine though. Sometimes you can raise the ISO even more provided you don't underexpose. The position of the band also changes with the shutter speed. Some knowledgeable people say that it's likely to be some sort of interference due to bad shielding of the processors or somet This has been done to death here and on another forums. More info:

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthrea...-horizontal-banding&highlight=horizontal+band

http://vimeo.com/17281822

http://personal-view.com/talks/discussion/comment/24879#Comment_24879
 
Thanks for the reply. Is this something that can be fixed or do I have to live with it? It's still under warranty.
 
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Before the high iso removal hack, you had to underexpose it at least about a stop and a half to see the pixel banding from 1250iso and up. With the high iso hack, set it to 6400iso or higher and even when exposed correctly, you will see the pixel banding. Before the hack, everyone had a different perception tolerance along with different settings and environments. I put my money on the fact that all GH2s have this "problem."

Maybe it will be addressed in the new firmware if it is software related. If not, then hopefully it will be ironed out with the GH3 in an "incremental upgrade."
 
shadowProd said:
Thanks for the reply. Is this something that can be fixed or do I have to live with it? It's still under warranty.
Click to expand...

You probably can fix this in post. I haven't tried it myself but sam_stickland at Personal View said that this After Effects trick worked for him:

- Create an adjustment layer over your footage, masking out the band
- Raise the gamma in the adjustment layer until the band is less visible (I used Colorista, and it's a very slight raise in the midtones 1 -> 1.0321)
- Duplicate the original footage, place it above the adjustment layer, then set the adjustment layers Track Matte to "Luma Inverted"

The final step is necessary because the band is more visible on dark areas than light areas. If you don't do this the raise in the gamma will brighten the lighter areas of the image too much.


 
Thanks for all the responses. It looks like sending it in isn't an option. I'll just have to live with it and make adjustments like above.
 
goodgoings said:
Before the high iso removal hack, you had to underexpose it at least about a stop and a half to see the pixel banding from 1250iso and up. With the high iso hack, set it to 6400iso or higher and even when exposed correctly, you will see the pixel banding. Before the hack, everyone had a different perception tolerance along with different settings and environments. I put my money on the fact that all GH2s have this "problem."

Maybe it will be addressed in the new firmware if it is software related. If not, then hopefully it will be ironed out with the GH3 in an "incremental upgrade."
Click to expand...


Some advice, please.

The GH2 banding issue has been a real kicker for me, and has so far stopped me upgrading from my GH1.

I had a GH2 on pre-order last year, but cancelled it when the first reports of banding emerged, assuming that later batches would be fixed.

This seems not to be the case - so, does Neat Video have any impact on it (actually, I'm assuming not, but it's worth asking)

I have two December 09 GH1's, and neither have any banding. I bought the first one and found it was from a 'good' btach, and then managed to get another one with a close serial number - which is also good.

Yes, there can be noise if shooting indoors with a slow lens - but I found that Neat Video works miracles with it.

I'd like to get a GH2 because of HDMI out, but I don't want to be faced with a consistent band (which, to me, would be more distracting than simple noise)

Hence my question about Neat Video - if it cleared things up the GH2 might still be viable.
 
Framerate said:
Some advice, please.

The GH2 banding issue has been a real kicker for me, and has so far stopped me upgrading from my GH1.

I had a GH2 on pre-order last year, but cancelled it when the first reports of banding emerged, assuming that later batches would be fixed.

This seems not to be the case - so, does Neat Video have any impact on it (actually, I'm assuming not, but it's worth asking)

I have two December 09 GH1's, and neither have any banding. I bought the first one and found it was from a 'good' btach, and then managed to get another one with a close serial number - which is also good.

Yes, there can be noise if shooting indoors with a slow lens - but I found that Neat Video works miracles with it.

I'd like to get a GH2 because of HDMI out, but I don't want to be faced with a consistent band (which, to me, would be more distracting than simple noise)

Hence my question about Neat Video - if it cleared things up the GH2 might still be viable.
Click to expand...

With correct exposure you can go up to ISO 3200 without getting the band. If the band shows neat video can't do nothing about it. There are other post-production approaches like the one I posted before though. In any case the hacked GH2 with Driftwood settings is pretty f-ing amazing. The HDMI out is still problematic but the GOP1 176 Mb patches give such an amazing, grading-frienly footage that you can probably live without the HDMI capture anyway (minus the recording media advantages). Band or no band the GH2 is so worth upgrading in my opinion.
 
AtticusD said:
With correct exposure you can go up to ISO 3200 without getting the band. If the band shows neat video can't do nothing about it. There are other post-production approaches like the one I posted before though. In any case the hacked GH2 with Driftwood settings is pretty f-ing amazing. The HDMI out is still problematic but the GOP1 176 Mb patches give such an amazing, grading-frienly footage that you can probably live without the HDMI capture anyway (minus the recording media advantages). Band or no band the GH2 is so worth upgrading in my opinion.
Click to expand...



Thanks

It's about what I thought - NV won't get rid of the band.

The other PP solutions sound like far too much trouble (for me) and, anyway, I'm not sure if Vegas supports such in-depth manipulation.

I have a Sony Nex 7 on order - delayed until.....who knows when?..... However, I think I'll keep the order live and carry on with my GH1's until Sony can deliver.

My experience with buying Panasonic is that it's rather like 'Bingo' - sometimes you'll be lucky and shout 'House' (as in the case of the December 09 GH1's) or, alternatively, you just have to tear up your losing ticket and buy another one...

Perhaps the GH3 will be better - who knows?, but (imo) Panasonic need to *seriously* address their quality control to ensure that all purchasers get the the same standard...

Thanks again
 
My GH2 has NO BANDING whatsoever at 12800 ISO. THere's noise, sure, but no banding at any ISO whatsoever, even in unexposed areas. Not showing off, just reporting as I find.
 
Lucas Adamson said:
My GH2 has NO BANDING whatsoever at 12800 ISO. THere's noise, sure, but no banding at any ISO whatsoever, even in unexposed areas. Not showing off, just reporting as I find.
Click to expand...

I'm surprised at this, but maybe you are one of the lucky few.

Okay, so you shot at 1/50 shutter speed in movie mode at 12800iso? Also, when you increase the shutter speed progressively, you don't see the pixel banding jumping up? Incredible. Do you mind shooting a sample while increasing the shutter speed as it records?
 
Try on very low light, 24p , 1/50 , and 12800
you will see a small horizontal stripe in lower third ... just shoot in a wall, or something flat and move slowly.
i always have this problem.
 
OK, so 12800 ISO isn't even something I would ever use, as it's loony to expect it to give a nice image, but when I try it, at 1/50 I see noise but no banding... but I can create a very thin band, visible only in deep shadows if I go upwards from 1/50 second shutter, not seen in either mid tones or highlights. I never do this anyway, as 1/50 is pretty much locked down for me.

At 3200 ISO, which is my self-imposed limit, there's absolutely nothing anywhere, whatever my exposure, even looking deep into a dark cupboard. I could upload a video to prove this, but it's a chore, and what would it prove? Take my word for it, even at 12800 (loony) ISO, it is not distracting, but at 3200, no banding whatsoever.
 
Lucas, you are lucky to have one. I would love to get one without the pixel banding so I could at least use 1600iso, but for now the limit is 800iso.

I did a little masking in After Effects and raised the brightness. It did a fairly good job so I just might have to clean it in post when necessary. I guess the good news from what I initially see is that it is a brightness issue and less of a color shift.

*update
The masking works well for B+W footage, but maybe color footage might be harder. Will have to test more when I have more time.
 
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OK, so I've been persuaded to upload some "tests" to see if I'm full of **** or not. It seems I am partly full of ****, (which is normal for most people I guess) on account for making my judgements on a tiny GH2 screen.

I am still reporting clean 1600 ISO, but can detect a horizontal band at 12, 800. I haven't done a 3200 ISO test, but can testify to it's bandlessness - much the same as 1600. I guess that's precisely why these ISOs were dis-allowed until hacked. Lumix aren't really the bastards they are sometimes made out to be, methinks.

See the videos here:

http://vimeo.com/user775377/videos
 
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