Online video quality is really bad

[Robfozz]

Lets get right into the facts. I just bought my first laptop, an Acer Spin 3. The display is 1080p and the graphics card is an Intel HD Graphics 520. I have 12gb of DDR4 RAM if that matters. When in Chrome, or even any other web browser, videos look like crap plain and simple. Even videos that support resolutions like 1440p, they still don't look great. It seems like there is zero sharpness whatsoever so the picture looks super soft and a bit blurry, theres a lot of color pixel splotches and whatnot, visual noise, etc. This isnt just a youtube problem or a browser problem, videos look like this across the board on any browser or video website I have tried.

My graphics card driver is updated to the latest version, that was one of the first things I tried. I can't figure this out for the life of me. Games and applications look great on the display and run well, this problem is exclusive to videos. I know its not an issue of the videos Im watching either, I checked the same ones on other devices and they looked great on my TV. Hell, even watching them on my smartphone looks leagues better than what I am getting on here.

Any help whatsoever would be wholeheartedly appreciated because this is driving me to the brink of insanity. Not even sure if this is the proper subforum to post this in. Thank you!

 

[Herc08]

Well, it could be because of how you are conencted to the network. Do you have a local video you can try? Something that can be played with out the need of the Intenret?

 

[Robfozz]

Well, it could be because of how you are conencted to the network. Do you have a local video you can try? Something that can be played with out the need of the Intenret?

Just downloaded a 4K, yes 4K, video and opened it up in VLC, still looks like garbage.

 

[Herc08]

Ok, so I had this issue one time. It is something with your video card. How did you upgrade the drivers? Through Windows? Try to go directly to Intel and get those drivers. Also, do you mind pasting a screenshot of what you see? Maybe we can see if something your computer is producing, or just your display. Also what refresh rate are you at? Are you currently using 1920x1080?

 

[10tacle]

I had this issue once on an older PC I put together from parts laying around for a church donation. I had the latest drivers and whatnot, but when looking at Youtube videos specifically, they had the fuzzies or halo type effect. It wasn't the resolution setting in the videos. For whatever reason, my graphics display adapter setting was at 16-bit instead of 32-bit in color quality. Normally that should default to the highest setting based on your hardware (both monitor and GPU). Make sure your color quality is set to the highest.

 

[Robfozz]

Ok, so I had this issue one time. It is something with your video card. How did you upgrade the drivers? Through Windows? Try to go directly to Intel and get those drivers. Also, do you mind pasting a screenshot of what you see? Maybe we can see if something your computer is producing, or just your display. Also what refresh rate are you at? Are you currently using 1920x1080?

Yes my display settings are 1920x1080, 60Hz refresh rate. I did download the driver update directly from Intel.
You suggesting to post a screenshot gave me an idea.
I did a test and have figured out the problem is the picture settings, like the actual color settings not necessarily image quality, that are causing this issue. I took a screenshot of the same video on the same frame on my phone and on my laptop and sent them to each other. What do you know the 2 screenshots look identical on their respective devices. So when viewing the screenshot on my phone it looks fine, but it looks not good on the laptop.

So I guess the next step is, what are good values for the Intel Graphics Control panel? Ive been toying with it for a minute but its seemingly not doing anything.

 

[Herc08]

As 10tacle suggested, you want to change your settings to 32-bit. Here are my settings

 

[Robfozz]

As 10tacle suggested, you want to change your settings to 32-bit. Here are my settings

I dont have that setting, I looked in every single option and cant find it

 

[Herc08]

Hmm, that was my computer at work. I'm home now, but I use my GTX card for out. That is strange that you don't have it. You could try to restore settings to default.

 

[Robfozz]

Apparently Color Depth in Windows 10 is locked to 32bit? Cant say for certain but a google search as well as scavenging the settings in Windows leads me to believe you cant change it.

 

[Herc08]

Well if it's locked (which I don't see why you can't change it) then that's not it. Can try to see it in safe mode?

 

[Robfozz]

How would I do that?

 

[10tacle]

Actually you can "unlock" it to lower than 32-bit in Windows 10 [Properties -> Compatibility -> Settings -> Reduce color mode (check) then you can choose color bits]. But again, it sounds like that may not be his issue as by default Win10 uses 32-bit.

There was something else I did as well but for the life of me I can't remember what it was. I do remember it was in the display setting control panel (but I had the issue using Win7, not Win10 which I have not had a similar issue with so whatever it was may not even be an option). But knowing Microsoft, anything is possible across different hardware happening. I'll try and see if I can dig around and refresh my memory. It was a few years ago.

 

[Herc08]

How would I do that?

I meant try to watch the video in safe mode. It will let us know if it is indeed a hardware or driver issue. Safe Mode should use generic drivers. Also, do you have any yellow triangles in device manager?

 

[Robfozz]

How would I do that?

I meant try to watch the video in safe mode. It will let us know if it is indeed a hardware or driver issue. Safe Mode should use generic drivers. Also, do you have any yellow triangles in device manager?

I couldnt figure out how to get online in safe mode but I tried a downloaded video and it looked the same. Nothing appears to be wrong in device manager either.

 

[Robfozz]

Anyone have anything else I can try???