x200 Video Playback Issues - Blacks and dark colors break up and show very bad digital artifacts

Hi everyone,



I've had my x200 for about two weeks and would be interested in hearing whether any other x200 owners are having this problem. I'm running XP (installed by Lenovo).



Regardless of the software used (MS media player, etc), whenever video is played, especially in full screen mode, the screen has a lot of difficulty displaying black and other dark colors. Those portions of the picture break up and shimmer as if it were a very low resolution video, and sometimes looks like a "negative image" of that part of the picture. This occurs even when playing dvd-quality video. Bright colors look ok. This only happens during video playback.



I called Lenovo support and they told me that updated video drivers, to be released sometime in the near future, would resolve this issue. They seemed to be aware of this issue and said that it had been resolved on on older thinkpad models. (I own other thinkpad models that don't have this problem. I typed in ctl+alt+f12 and got this driver information, which appears to be the current version:



Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator Driver for Mobile Report


Report Date: 09/13/2008
Report Time[hr:mm:ss]: 14:00:18
Driver Version: 6.14.10.4957
Operating System: Windows XP* Professional, Service Pack 3 (5.1.2600)
Default Language: English
DirectX* Version: 9.0
Physical Memory: 3015 MB
Minimum Graphics Memory: 32 MB
Maximum Graphics Memory: 1024 MB
Graphics Memory in Use: 8 MB
Processor: x86 family 6 Model 23 Stepping 6
Processor Speed: 2394 MHZ
Vendor ID: 8086
Device ID: 2A42
Device Revision: 07



I would very much be interested in knowing whether other x200 owners are currently experiencing this issue, so that I can determine whether it's a hardware or driver issue. Thanks very much in advance.

 

Mine runs Windows Vista Ultimate and does not have such problem.

Sean

 

Thanks, Sean. Can you please check your video driver to see if its different than:

Driver Version: 6.14.10.4957.

Maybe the xp installation is using a different video driver than vista/

Thanks in advance

 

My Driver Version: 7.15.10.1573 dated 07/29/2008 by Intel

Sean

 

This does sound like an XP driver issue. Anyone else with this problem?

 

I have no known video issues with Vista Basic using Media Player Classic with Koepi's beta xvid...coreavc, etc (or ffdshow filters). Laptop isn't on right now but I can check drivers. Please try different players though. What does "etc" mean? Try MPC, VLC, Zoom. Though you are probably correct regarding drivers, it could still be your playback setup or filter settings.

 

I tried MS media player, vlc, and various video players on the web, all of which looked exactly the same (bad).

There seems to be no question but that vista and xp are using different video drivers.

If anybody out there is running xp on their x200, I would very much appreciate confirmation of this issue, so that I can confirm it's not a hrdware issue (which seems unlikely, since I only see this issue in video playback, as opposed to dark colors in game graphics, etc.)

(If I have to upgrade my x200 to vista to solve this problem, which I otherwise have no reason to do, how much of a hassle is it? Can I just run the vista cds that Lenovo shipped or do I need to do a fresh install?)

Thanks for all your help, everyone. I'm amazed that video playback is an issue in a 2008 high end laptop!

 

Look what I found on an intel website!

page 13 of this August 2008 doc:

http://downloadmirror.intel.com/16751/eng/IEGD_9_0_2_SU.pdf


"14. Not all video formats are supported with hardware acceleration in
Windows XP, XPe.
Reference #: N/A
Driver: Graphics
Version: 9.0.2
Package: Windows
Resolution: MPEG2 hardware acceleration is supported through DXVA; MPEG4, h.264, and VC1 will
be hardware accelerated in a future release. Use software video decode at this time.
Status: Plan Fix."


I tried playing an actual dvd, which I think is MPEG2 and the problem doesn't seem to be there. (Blacks shimmer a little, but don't break up into pixels.) Do you think this is it?

 

Hmmm.. If you can, I would install Vista as soon as possible or do a dual OS install. If this issue is an XP driver issue from Intel, it might be a very long time before you see an update that fixes the problem since most people have moved on to Vista and that is Intel's driver team's focus.

 

I am experiencing a similar problem on my system. I have only noticed it with a few xVid files (624x352 @350MB for 42 minutes) that I have played so far (h264 files seem okay). The problem occurs mostly in blacks and dark greys and exists in VLC and media player classic. I thought it was a macroblocking issue do to a bad encode on the file (set to cheat too much in dark areas). However, it sounds like it may be a driver issue now that you talk about it.

I seem to have the issue both in the Vista Business 64 that Lenovo installed, as well as the XPSP3 that I put on myself. If I try and play back an xVid under Ubuntu my system freezes up (this is definitely a driver issue). The problem is the same at all 15 levels of brightness, and doesn't even go away if I adjust the contrast w/ the Intel tool (although it does get a little milder).

I will test the problem with a few other files with various encoders to try and figure this out more. The problem is extremely annoying and undermines my ability to watch videos (especially in fullscreen) on the x200. My best guess is that the x4500 is attempting to accelerate the decoding of a file that it is incapable of doing, and this creates artifacts.

 

There are some new drivers on Intel's site. The XP version dates September 16th. Maybe some of the issues have been resolved?

hxxp://downloadcenter.intel.com/Product_Filter.aspx?ProductID=2991&lang=eng

 

I tried installing the new driver for Vista, and it wouldn't take (told me to get a driver that was from my manufacturer). The XP driver did not help.

I have done some more checking and think that it may actually be an issue with the LCD that I have (I don't know the LCD manufacturer; machine type 7454-CTO). I hooked my x200 up to an external Viewsonic 20" LCD, and also had my desktop hooked up to another identical LCD. I played back the same files (I used a 624x352 xVid [Heroes], and a 1080P AVC file [Elephant's Dream]) on the laptop and desktop simultaneously. When I was using the external monitors on both, they looked identical and quite good with minimum blockiness and good color definition. When I used the x200 screen, either individually or as a dual display with an external monitor, it looked far worse than the external monitor (lots of blocks, really bad definition near blacks and dark greys, halos between blacks and whites in the 1080P file, and just generally unpleasant all around).

I am not sure if this issue only affects a few of us with LCDs from a particular manufacturer. If so, is this an issue covered by warranty (I have a 3 year depot), can I get a screen from a different manufacturer? The screen looks just fine for productivity work and I love my x200 for all other things. However, I intend to watch a fair amount of video on my x200 during the time that I own it, and this current problem is bad enough that I really don't like watching videos on it right now.

 

I entered my machine type and serial into the Lenovo page and this is what I got back for my screen.

Mfg part # FRU part # Description Serviceable?
42T0509 42T0510 12.1 INCH LCD DISPLAY FRU YES

Does anyone know which panel manufacturer this is? A google for the mfg part number returned no results, and for the FRU returned a page where I could buy a screen but no manufacturer was listed. Further, is there a different brand of LCD available that I can have Lenovo swap out for me as a warranty request, or does someone with the same FRU screen experience okay playback (i.e. defective part, not bad model).

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

Here's my part summary. Do you have the problem when playing actual dvds (mpeg-2)? The problem didn't seem to exist for dvds as opposed to mp4 etc, which would almost certainly have to mean a driver problem (i think). It's really annoying and I appreciate your efforts to resolve it.

Type: 7454 [change]
Serial #: LV000LT [change]



Mfg part # FRU part # Description Serviceable?



41R0601 0000000 MEMORY I/C;DDRIII;SODIMM;CMOS;1000;M-BYT NO



41R0602 0000000 MEMORY I/C;DDRIII;SODIMM;CMOS;2000;M-BYT NO



42T0509 42T0510 12.1 INCH LCD DISPLAY FRU YES



42T0968 42T0969 HELIKE BLUETOOTH 2.1 ADAPTER FRU YES



42T1090 ... ... YES



42T3704 ... ... YES



42T4543 42T4650 PANASONIC 9 CELL BATTERY FRU NO



42W8088 0000000 PLANAR P8600 NV/2.40GHZ/1066MHZ/PENRYN W NO



43Y6458 ... ... YES



43Y6478 0000000 ERICSSON AT&T WIRELESS WAN ADAPTER:WIREL NO



45R6131 0000000 COA LABEL:LABELS NO



45R6131 0000000 COA LABEL:LABELS NO



46T0349 0000000 MANUAL UBLICATIONS MISC NO



46V1162 0000000 RECOVERY DVD KIT UBLICATIONS MISC NO



6047Q00 ... ... YES



92P1213 92P1214 FRU-ASTEC LENOVO LOGO 65W 2PRONG MODEL-R YES

 

Your config seems to be very similar to mine, right down to the FRU number on the LCD. I will hook up an external DVD drive and test some actual DVDs tonight (the videos I have used so far were all digital files that I could load on my hard drive or an SDHC card). As I said, the problem of blocking was less pronounced with a very high res (1080P) AVC file, but there was still a significant problem with a 3-5 pixel haloing effect between bright and dark colors (basically a silhouette between bodies and backgrounds).

All of these problems disappeared when I hooked it up to an external LCD. If you can, please hook up your x200 to an external display (any will do) and see if the problem goes away. If so, that implies that it is more likely a display problem, than a driver problem. This is more problematic because it means that a warranty action would actually be required, rather than just waiting a few weeks for a decent driver.

 

Ok, Jon. I dug out an old lcd external monitor with an 800x600 resolution (all I had around without resorting to the plasma tv). I played a high resolution xvid file simultaneously on both screens. The problem wasn't quite as bad as on the laptop screen, but the digital break up for the black/dark colors was plainly noticeable.

There is no question that the problem diminishes when resolution increases or the playback window shrinks. That fact, combined with the ok dvd playback, leads me to believe that the problem is that the display driver is only hardware accelerating mpeg-2, as per the tech document i excerpted earlier in this thread. (did you see it?) If it was a hardware issue, why would the problem not exist in high resolution dark games (i.e., the racing demo I downloaded from steam)?

This is all still guesswork. I am hoping that that the updated intel display drivers, which we cannot install until Lenovo clones them, will address the issue. I'm as pissed off as you are, since I rely on this machine for entertainment when I travel.

 

I tried it with a DVD (Moulin Rouge - Widescreen [2.35:1], anamorphic, dual layer). The problem was only marginally less awful. The slightly higher resolution and bitrate cut down on the blockiness a little bit. However, the problem was still quite clear to my eye. Blocks and bad gradients were subtle, but apparent everywhere. Black suits were flat and riddled with specs, Nicole Kidman's hair lacked definition and looked more painted than photorealistic, and the picture had very distinct grain all over the place.

I think the issue is with the panel. My best guess is the contrast setting and/or gamma on video is defaulting to a level that accentuates all of the bad characteristics of lossy digital video (MPeg 1/2/4, AVC, etc.). You are correct in that the problem is less apparent when there is less scaling involved, however I could play back very low resolution files (320x240) on my T40 without this kind of incident (blocks to be sure, but nothing like this).

I am also quite confident that the x4500HD can and does accelerate h264 content. When I played back a 1080P file fullscreen on my external monitor, a second item appeared in my taskbar labeled VLC Direct3D output or similar. This means that the graphics chip is definitely taking over a lot of the load (I could play back a 1080P file with the processor at slow setting [800 MHz]).

I will try some more things and post any/all new findings.

 

Have you contacted Lenovo about this? They just said "future driver update" and gave a trouble report number.

 

fyi: my dvd playback was not very good. It just wasn't anywhere near as bad. I saw the same type of artifacts you described. My old x40 definitely does a much better job.

 

I haven't contacted Lenovo yet, but I will. Perhaps if enough of us complain it may light a fire under their rears and actually force them to figure out the cause of this problem (driver, panel, or whatever). On the same subject, it might be a good idea to complain to Intel as well. If this really is a driver issue, I would think Intel would have to be involved to get anything done.

 

I called Lenovo. The CSR was agreeable that it might be a hardware problem and they are overnighting me a box to ship them my x200. I am somewhat remiss to send my x200 in for service, because I really do like it overall, but this problem is bad enough that I just can't live with it. I will post back any results and/or conclusions from my service experience.

 

I received my X-200 today and I have the same video (movie) playback problems as everyone else. If I find a solution or determine the case of the problem I will post it. Hopefully others will do the same.

 

So I take it all of you experiencing this problem have formated the hard drive and re-installed a fresh copy of windows? How many of you have this problem on XP, Vista, or Ubuntu??

 

I have not formated the hard drive, I'm running Vista Business and I have not re-installed a fresh copy of it. I don't think your suggestions would fix the problem however, if I can not find the cause, I may give it a try.

 

What codecs did you install, perhaps that is part of the problem? CoreAVC and Bsplayer along with AC3 plays 1080p Blu-ray perfectly. Xvid's have no issues after I installed FFdshow. You should give that combination a try as an older codec would cause unexpected issues with playback.

 

I think I found the problem. The default refresh rate of the Intel graphics media accelerator is 50 Hertz. Change that to 60 Hertz. Problem solved, smooth even playback.

 

That explains why I didn't experience any issues because I set my notebook to maximum power which disbales the battery stretch software which lowers the refresh rate by default.. You figured it out..

 

I have recent codecs on my machine. I am not using CoreAVC on this laptop because it is powerful enough to decode 1080P h264 without it (I used it on my T40). I use FFdshow in XP and Vista, the most recent release of XviD in XPSP3, and a 64-bit XviD in Vista 64. I also have AC3Filter installed for AC3 decoding/encoding, and Lame for MP3 decoding/encoding.

The same problems exist in both XP and Vista, and are player independent. I have tried: Windows Media Player, VLC, and media player classic in both XP and Vista, and Bsplayer 1.37 (the last freeware version) in XP [I only get black with BSplayer in Vista]. Ubuntu crashes when I play a file, but this will most likely be fixed by better drivers in the 8.10 release.

Adjusting brightness down to -15 or lower with the Intel utility AND using a very low screen brightness <=3/15, minimizes this problem, however it accomplishes this by obfuscating all detail to a tremendous degree.

I have already called Lenovo, they are overnighting me a shipping box with a label, and I will send my x200 in to be diagnosed and hopefully fixed. I will report back with the results of my warranty claim.

 

I am not sure that the problem applies to EVERYONE else. Only you, myself, and mgruenglas seem to be experiencing it. Either we have a bad batch of units (I hope this is the case, because it means the problem can be fixed). Or we are the only 3 guys on this forum that have high video standards, and no one else is bothered by the problem (I doubt this is the case because this is an enthusiasts forum, and we all seem to be perfectionists).

The weirdest thing for me, is that office applications (MSOffice, Firefox, GIMP, etc.) look great, and it is only video that seems to cause a problem. Further, all problems disappear, at least for me, when an external display is used (I used a 20" Viewsonic LCD).

 

Change your refresh rate to 60HZ or set the notebook to maximum power and disable battery stretch...

 

Already were done, but thanks for the suggestion. That did not fix the problems I am experiencing. It should be noted that I get the same results on battery or AC, in Vista and XP.

 

I guess I'm straying a little off topic here, but my new gateway M-6862 is having the same problem. The video is overall very very dark, and the blacks separate. Kinda of like oil puddles you see in parking lots.

Vista 64, ffdshow, MPC, VLC, WMP all the same (they should be, they are all using ffdshow)

 

I sent my x200 into Lenovo (Memphis) this morning. I will report back if the problem is improved (my screen bad), or remains unchanged (all screens bad) after service. I am hoping, that it is just my screen, and that the other x200s have a decent LCD, because I really like the laptops build quality, speed, battery life, keyboard, weight, and everything else about it far more than any other machine on the market.

 

fyi: setting the refresh rate to 60 and power management to max performance makes no difference on my machine. video playback is still awful.

 

I am right there with you, I will report if my performance is better when I get it back from Lenovo. If it is, then I would advise you send it in for repair. If not, then I guess we are just screwed.

 

I just checked my x200 status on the EasyServ website.

It includes a comment "Bad Vedio (sp) card_*_See TIB"

I am pretty sure this means that they saw the problem, diagnosed it as an error with the GMA4500HD, and replaced it. It says "Awaiting carrier assignment" on repaired product to consumer, so I think it will probably ship out Monday 06 October, and I should get it on Tuesday (Memphis, TN to Dayton, OH). I will post whether the problems were resolved by this fix as soon as I get it back. Below is a screenshot from the EasyServ website.

 

Nice, congrats.

 

It appears that I spoke to soon. I just got off the phone with the technician at the EZServe repair depot in Memphis. He examined my laptop and saw the error I was referring to. He said he took the same files and tried it both on my x200 as well as a few other x200 that he had lying around (including several machine types). He saw the same problem (blocky video, washed out color, exacerbated by fullscreen) on ALL the laptops he tried it on.

His conclusion was that it is a hardware problem, but is in fact inherent to the design of the x200. He said that the GMA4500HD chip is not designed to process video and that is the reason I am having an issue. He offered to generate a CMT complaint so that I could resolve this with Lenovo directly (refund, exchange, etc.).

I personally find this explanation to be somewhat unlikely. The GMA4500HD is actively marketed for its video processing ability. Hence the HD suffix. It is able to decode in hardware several codecs including h264, and is certified for Blu-Ray playback (this was actually one of the design goals because it was previously impossible to play back Blu-Ray on a laptop without a Discrete GPU). Further, I have never had problems like this on any other machine. Video would even play without issue on my old T40 with a lowly 16MB Radeon 7500, or my ancient Pentium II desktop with a RIVA TNT GPU, although it would stutter if the resolution and/or bitrate got too high.

I am a little unsure what to do here. Is nobody else (mgruenglas excepted) experiencing this problem to this degree (bad blockiness, washed out color, excessive brightness (gamma correction) on their x200. I notice the problem with Xvid, DivX, h264, Mpeg2 (DVD), and other file formats (the blockiness is less bad on 1080P h264 content, but the washed out color and gamma is just as bad). Adjusting settings in software does not fix this problem. I can make it slightly less painful by turning brightness way down (through the Intel config utility, the monitor brightness has no effect on this problem) but that completely destroys detail.

If I am able to convince Lenovo to allow me to change to a different model (assuming my x200 actually cannot be fixed), would this problem be fixed (I would probably try and get an x200s or T400, both with LED screens), or would it remain because they use the same GMA4500 chipset? Any assistance on this issue would be much appreciated.

 

Did you have the tech try to playback the files on an external display, as you've stated that the problem went away (or became less pronounced) when you played them externally.

 

I did not ask him to check on an external display, but I'm not sure what difference that would make to the technician. If all of the x200 laptops he had available produced the same error, then he would assume that a simple board/GPU/LCD replacement would not cause the problem to go away. Showing that it works on an external display may prove that it is not an inherent defect of the GMA4500, and is instead a defect either in the LCD panel, connection, or similar.

The one thing that might help, if the problem is how he described, is to swap the LCD panel out with a different kind. Are there multiple brands of LCDs on the x200. He was able to look up the part number (same as me) but he couldn't figure out the manufacturer of the panel. Further would it be possible to put the LED LCD from the x200s on my x200? The bases of the laptops are of the same dimensions and have the same video card so it should be possible. They might need to swap out the entire lid because the LED uses the carbon fiber/rollcage assembly, and I would probably lose the camera and maybe the WWAN upgradeability (I can always use an express card modem), but this is a tradeoff I can accept if it would fix my problem. Would they be willing to try this? Or do they refuse to create Frankenstein style Thinkpads with one part from x200 regular and one part from x200s?

 

This sounds really bad jonlumpkin! I am actually getting my X200 tomorrow (Tuesday Oct 7th) and I will post my results as soon as I can.

Do you have any publicly available video files I can use so we can all refer to the same results?

 

The problem was present on a handful of differnet files, but tended to decrease with higher resolutions/bitrates (less blockiness, but still bad color).

Files I used

xVid - TV shows - Star Trek Enterprise season 4, Heroes 301, and others.
DVD and h264 encode of same with Handbrake - Moulin Rouge
1080P AVC (very high bitrate) - Elephant's Dream - use the 815MB 1920x1080P file.

The problem was very, very bad on Enterprise, Heroes and Moulin Rouge. I used VLC, media player classic, bsplayer, and windows media player on XPSP3 and Vista Business 64 for the xVid and AVC files. I used the included (must install from swshare directory) Intervideo WinDVD to play back my Moulin Rouge DVD. It should be noted if I tried to play back a media file in Ubuntu 8.04, my system crashed (Linux BSOD equivalent), although this is almost certainly because the GMA4500 was released after Ubuntu 8.04, and I have a very bad driver for it in Linux (this should be better with the 8.10 release later this month [GMA4500HD and Intel Wifi 5100/5300 supported properly]).

These were the primary files I tested on my machine before sending it in. I also checked with a 720p Revision 3 show (Tekzilla or Systm) but it wasn't quite as bad (the problem is most apparent in blacks and dark shades, and Revision 3 uses bright sets). You should play back video fullscreen to fully understand this problem. I am unable to check any other files on my machine at the moment because it is at the depot in Memphis. Please do check this out on your machine and tell me what you see, if possible try and hook up an external display (I used a 20" Viewsonic VA2026 via VGA, at 1680x1050 extended, and 1280x800 clone) as well to check color accuracy and gamma.

 

Sounds good jonlumping, I'll do that as soon as I can tomorrow. I am keeping my fingers crossed both for my unit as well as the successful repair of yours.

I am also receiving an ultrabase so I will drive my 24in 1920x1200 monitor using: VGA from X200, VGA from ultrabase and lastly Displayport-to-DVI from ultrabase (using Lenovo 45J7915 cable).

I also own a Spyder colorimeter, do you suggest I should check white balance etc? When you say bad color, what do you mean? Are you sure it's not because Lenovo is using an inferior LCD panel?

 

It would be good if you can check it in all those methods. I am aware that they are using a relatively low quality TN panel, as opposed to an IPS panel so color accuracy will be less than great. On the desktop colors were a little too cold (too blue to be accurate), but not bad. When I played back video though it just went real bad.

The white-balance and/or gamma was way off and caused colors to be no where near the right area. My concern is not color range (I don't expect the >100% range that the W700 claims) but that it is simply reasonably accurate and on par with my 5 year old NEC 1760NX, <$200 Viewsonic 2026, and old XGA Thinkpad T40 panel. All of which were TN displays with color range that would make a graphic designer cringe, but were perfectly acceptable to me. The x200 however is not acceptable (at least not during video playback).

 

You must have a bad unit because I've tested all those files on the X200 and none exhibit any different playback than when I have it plugged in directly to my DLP projector. I succesfully played back Iron Man 1080p Blu-ray ripped onto the hard drive for even better playback without a Blu-ray drive and it played perfectly all the way thru on the laptop once and on the projector without any tearing since the onboard GPU and very fast core 2 duo are very powerful for the task. Xvid's are always of lower quality however I have not seen anything unusual during playback but then again I usually like to watch High Def. My guess is you have a codec installed that isn't working correctly with the hardware. I would install Core AVC pro for HD playback and BSplayer pro for everything else. Install the latest AC3 and you're set.. Do not install any multi-codec packs as they tend to cause problems with newer machines and fudge up the registry..

 

Just curious, but did/do you have under the Intel Graphic Properties -> Display Settings -> Power Settings set to "disable power savings"

I've messed around with the a bunch of settings and I can kinda recreate "blockiness" when I enable the graphic power settings to sub-optimal conditions (better/best power savings mode).

But with disabled power savings, I see no apparent video issues. Maybe I'll try some other video files.

 

Hmmm . . . I can't speak for blu-ray level resolution, but xvid files that play back perfectly well on multiple machines 4 years and older look absolutely awful on my x200. Higher resolution files do look better, but the problem is still dramatic. And camera video and web video also look much worse than they should, especially in dark areas. Did a Lenovo csr actually say that a 2008 high end notebook can't play video properly?!

I received a box to ship my machine in for repair but am waiting a day or two to hear what happens to Jon's machine.

Thanks to everyone for their input.

 

It wasn't a Lenovo CSR, but rather an engineer at EasyServ (Lenovo's choice for depot repair, the same one IBM used as well). And yes he did say a 2008 high end notebook can't play video properly, which I though was absolutely insane. I am going to call back and talk to a person at EasyServ, as well as a CSR at Lenovo, and try and get a second opinion and examine my options. I agree that waiting a day to send yours in is wise.

 

Yes, I disabed the power saving features since I want the best possible playback. With those features enabled it could stutter the video or create framerate problems if it lowers the refresh rate to 50hz from 60hz without telling you and lowers the quality of the video as well. Lowering the slider to maximum battery as well will affect playback of high definition as it needs to be at the very least in the middle..

 

This is by no means a definite answer but so far I haven't experienced any video playback problems with my X200 either on the laptop's screen or the external display.

As a side note I am pretty unhappy with the viewing angles of the screen, I must say.

I will write back after I playback some more content.