Loadingscreen in JPG shows really ugly color banding

[IT07 10]

Hey there,

Since I have been admin of a DayZ Server I like to make awesome looking loading screens for my players to enjoy :)

But I ran into several problems which I find very annoying.

First problem:

When using JPG, the image has very ugly color banding on it.

If the actual image is opened in a image viewing program, the color banding is not visible.

For now, JPG is the best option for me because paa outputs HUGE file sizes.

So my question is, can I avoid the color banding by saving it differently or is it just the game?

Thanks in advance.

Regards,

IT07.

[IT07 10]

Anyone? Please?

[xxanimusxx 2]

Well, for starters you could provide us with your image :)

Nobody can find a solution based on a description to an image, without the actual image :D

I don't know if the game engine is messing up the image, but it's normally strict with attributes your image has to have (square/n²), so I could think of something like the compression being unfavorable for the game engine or smth :S

[IT07 10]

This is the image. right now you don't see any banding, but when you see it as the actual loadingscreen ingame, it looks horrible.

http://img.dayzsquad.com/img/loading.jpg (1141 kB)

[xxanimusxx 2]

Okay, apparently I'm also hosting a DayZ-Server and put your image as the loading screen: I had no problems whatsoever. No colour banding or other uncomely effects.

Maybe your game settings mess up something? Did you get the feedback from one of your players? If they see it without any problems it will be clear that the source of this problem lies within your game :D

[IT07 10]

Players also say they see the color banding. it's only with jpg though. Paa does not show color banding, but the paa version of the loadingscreen I posted is 1355mb... little bit too big lol

[xxanimusxx 2]

Made my friend join and he's seeing it just fine :S Now im puzzled o_o

[IT07 10]

Thanks for testing this.

So, if you and your friend are not seeing the color banding, and my players on my server DO see it, then there has to be one cause which does this: The server.

I am hosting with DayZ.ST so I will contact them if you think it might be the server.

^^^^^^DISREGARD THIS^^^^^^

//===

EDIT:

Here is the solution:

The image I have included here and which you tested, is a full size, max quality jpg.

That means: NO color banding.

I was just checking if you might get the color banding while I did not with the image you tested.

Means: test successful.

Why it shows color banding: do NOT save your loadingscreen as "save for web" if using Photoshop.

Just save it regularly as a jpg and set the quality to 8.

That is the best value for quality versus file size.

If you think that setting 8 is still too large in terms of file size, try 7. It shows a tiny bit of banding which can only be noticeable by good eyes.

Thanks for testing this with me, I have found the solution now :)

Edited September 9, 2013 by IT07