diskopinne
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There’s more in this thread but it contained spoilers, so I didn’t want to post the rest.
Go check him out, give him a follow and retweet the thread since it was like ~20-ish retweets.
Link to the tweet:
https://twitter.com/ryanclassic/status/1122894901987823616?s=21
IndianStreamRepublic
Its ok to acknowledge what this guy is saying is true and still have enjoyed the episode. Butthurt fanboys are still gonna get defensive tho
GenghisThong
“briefly-ish”
Kitastrophe
I watched this episode today and, while I recognize it was dark, I'm not sure I see the problems other people are talking about?
Mentor397
Shrug. I'm going to buy the blu-rays anyway. Watching previous seasons on blu-ray and then going to cable is always disappointing.
donaldobama
TL;DR: GoT S8 E3 looked bad because of spatial compression from the streaming codecs and everyone noticed.
KingBeardy
It might be because it was the return of the long night...
HotPinkHobbitMess
4k Roku TV. Turned off every light in the house. Had no problems seeing everything.
Hammertulski
HBO’s delivery networks seemed to have been doing demand-based dynamic compression. Quality varied while I was watching Sun 9pm PST.
Hammertulski
Rewatching was a more uniform experience. Still very dark, of course.
ElbowDeepInASeahorse
+1 for lots of info without any spoilers
hajimedj
And that's why I buy Blu-rays. The quality us so much better
TurdCannon
Watched on a projector in a dark room from a 1080p torrent, equivalent to 100 inch screen and it looked great
peachiepie
I didn't notice splotches, and I liked that they actually filmed at night vs a blue filter. It added to the chaos.
ranglar
Watched it on iPad with brightness all the way up. Looked fine. Friend of mine watched it on a tv and couldn’t differentiate Arya & Lyanna
bumblebeetunaaa
We turned the lights off and it was fine. Guess it was enough for our setup ♀️
causality
I had no issue with the detail compression. I hated how the lack of dynamic range made everything that was supposed to be black look grey.
Justicar
It looked fine on my end across several devices. It was supposed to be dark anyway, they're fighting DEATH, the eternal winter, etc etc
rubicGemCat
Thx for the detailed infos
yukansuggit
I watched it on HBO Go. I stood in front of the tv to watch. I guessed it was a matter of the delivery.
SyntheticCK
It's the same as watching a stream on twitch. If there's heavy foliage, the bitrate and quality is out the window. Encoders can't keep up.
witcheepoo
Now explain why the plot was shite in technical terms
JDarcher
The writers are morons and didn't think to hire better writers to tell them their writing is shit.
AkLonewolf
jimmyspacehands
The night is dark and full of cliches.
zim57398
In simplest terms, the writers ditched intricate storytelling in lieu of the "rule of cool." All spectacle, little to no nuance.
BrumpoTungus
This episode is a good argument against the "story first" method of GMing.
fandsor
The Dothraki charge at the beginning is a prime example of that "rule of cool."
notkvothethebloodless
As seen with how [REDACTED] ended up being the one to [REDACTED] the [REDACTED] in the end.
AnimalGenetaliaAudioClues
Yeah well explain the battle of Helm’s Deep.
MyOwnPrivateOhio
Exactly! I loved that night battle and saw the whole damn thing.
Daeyelle
Well lotr battle had little to no immersion, GoT battle had me genuinely frightened and concerned, because of the atmosphere
n3ckr0mantic
I had no issue with the delivery quality; mostly an issue with the story being rushed and devoid if the usual GoT layering and complexity
ZombieZooZombieZoo
I mean, that's been going on for a season and a half
MaladaptedMedic
There are 3 episodes left, and they're neatly tying up all the storylines and loose ends... How complicated do you want it at this point?
fandsor
Not really. They just kind of forgot about the whole Prince Who Was Promised prophecy that was discussed in Season 7.
madnessreturnsss
The whole story is coming to an end. Most storylines have crossed over into one or two storylines. So no matter what, its not going to be 1/
madnessreturnsss
as complicated as before. I loved old school GOT, but I also love that they are wrapping things up, instead of dragging it out for more $$$
RancidRane
You can wrap up a show and still continue with a great storyline.
iHveNoCleverName
Agreed, many people want more but everyone is either already dead or there story arc is done
daummy
Did anyone else not have an issue with the darkness?
JustThePGTips
Ours was minimal, but only when we were eating dinner and had the lights on to see our food. After that, lights out... no problems.
jumpinginpuddles
iTs ToO DaRk I cAnT sEe mEl’s oLd NaKednEsS
madnessreturnsss
I didn’t! I was so confused when people started complaining about it
ToastyMozart
I cranked the fuck out of my OLED brightness and could mostly make out what was happening. Amongst the comical levels of banding, anyways.
Mavgurian
I streamed from Sky on my 1980p PC screen - dont know if that makes a difference.
thatprickleypear
Watched it with the lights turned off and thought it was perfect. A beautiful representation of the dark and chaos of the battle
Rasdwatrium
the silent majority, probably.
seedye
Saw it on an ancient large-screen TV, saw lots of artifacts. But I’m used to it, and the episode was too good for me to care.
FutNucker
Not a single one. I could see just fine. People are babies.
Xedi22
Great here too. But look at some if the dark screenshots... it feels like different streams had diff levels, aside from crap tv settings.
BallsLikeWatermelonsPeckerLikeAThimble
TLDR: they fucked it up and it looked like shit.
Flyswat
You completely missed the point, unless by "they" you man the guys involved in the distribution who over-compressed it.
Plyfiler
I mean the decisions they took in how they filmed the episode clearly wouldn't work well compressed. Sounds like director hubris/ignorance.
EvilKam
No, see, it's all like... ART, man, this is ART. That's why it's amazing, it's the artistic effect they wanted, so anyone complaining about
EvilKam
how it looked too dark is really complimenting the show, because it's supposed to be like that, and if you didn't like it, then either you
EvilKam
"don't get it, man" or you just don't like art. (I felt like a slimy corporate shill just typing that)
Totallyscrewedinaustin
EvilKam
EXACTLY MAN
SendMeNoots
The director of photography has stated it was intentional. So which? He made it overly dark on purpose or the technology did it?
AberXX
the darkness was intentional. but file compression on a video of a low light setting makes some stuff near unwatchable.
rollercostarican
for some users on certain devices*
RawSuger
2) million movies/series hve ever bothered to deal with the actual end product which i find a little hard if not impossible to believe
RawSuger
he could have shot it to look dark but not as dark as it did to the peasants streaming. if this guy is right and noone making these multi-
ToastyMozart
This is what's called a "false front," common among PRadvised entities where everything must be doubled down on, regardless of plausibility.
ChetTheRocketStedman
Watched it on cable when it aired and then on my calibrated gaming monitor the next day... very noticeable difference.
Cela84
It should be noted that all the social media GoT videos HBO has posted of the episode have had the exposure (brightness) increased.
BlueLanternBraxx
He's called the Night King, not the Mid-Afternoon King.
Dostronomus
It'S gAmE oF tHrOnEs NoT gAmE oF zOmBiEs
Doumdidoum
It's a plot device, it's a design choice. You can make battle scenes at night were you see something: battlle of Helm, LOTR comes to mind.
ReginaKasteen
Does Westeros not have a moon? (Just watch, it'll turn out that canonically they don't.)
whosittothelimit
And there's the rub.
LookingForWorkInColorado
Yea well I'm the goddamn Lunch King
Davidnfilms
Holy shit, comment of the fuckin year!
Unkvothe
People still need to see what is going on. I'm all for realism, but if we can't really enjoy what we are seeing, what's the point?
rollercostarican
did you have power saver mode on your TV and the lights on by any chance? Just a question. I turn the lights out when i watch every GOT ep
rollercostarican
it looked just fine, i had no idea ppl had trouble seeing anything until i came to imgur
Unkvothe
We kept the settings the same as we always do.
rollercostarican
Sure, but check to see if you have on power saver mode or something. Sometimes display settings like that will dim your panel overall and
rollercostarican
Even maybe extra more at times. It's possible they shot it to the lowest range of visibility under "50% brightness" or something like that
samsneed
Varimothras
I do love that shot.
SchrodingerMil
Look man. I watched it in a room with all the lights off, on my 4K laptop screen with the brightness all the way up on HBO Now. Looked fine.
philosoraptor1000
My wife and I watched it in a dark room on what I presume is a regular desktop screen. It looked fine to me as well.
pepperthepupper
Me too, not even in a fully dark room actually and had no issue seeing anything.
NormacLaDow
The banding and compression from comcast on HBO go made it really hard to watch
Threewisemen
Same, on one of my TV's it was terrible, buy on my main one it was fine.
ReneeZellWitcher
Agreed
thewierdandwonderful
I did the same thing.
krombopulousmichelle
Same
StepRightUp
Watched it on my iPad pro (11) via HBO Go app in my dark bedroom & it was fine. Just a touch dim, but every scene was legible.
EverybodyLiesAndItsNeverLupus
HBO Now app on a curved 4K Samsung UHD TV through a Roku premiere, no issues at all.
darkcloud2266111
Watched it on my Galaxy S9+with brightness maxed. Looked fine to me.
mgintx
Literally had no issues. Not sure if I’ve already adjusted setting due to gaming or whatever but nothing to complain about.
angelghoul
HBO now app on my ps4 looked great. I did have the lights off and have a 4k tv.
theFinks
Started on my cables on demand and looked like crap (high end 4k tv). Switched to HBO Now app and it looked WAY better.
blarglebrle
They use extreme compression on old codecs because of cost and licensing so yeah streaming will look better using newer codecs.
squirrelwithabushytail
Watched it first with normal tv then a second time with settings adjusted. Looked better, now all other shows will look odd for 3 weeks.
PullTheLeverCronk
Watched mine on a projector lol I adjusted my settings the week before
TooFunkToDrunction
My projector did not make the episode look good. As soon as I turned it on I thought about adjusting the settings but lazy. ->
TooFunkToDrunction
Out of curiosity, what did you change? I thought about toggling dynamic black on to see if that would help
PullTheLeverCronk
Idk just played with modes and brightness till I could see in the crypt scenes
TheLastSideshow
I watched it in a field in the middle of the day, on my tamagotchi with brightness turned all the way down on VHS. Looked fine
dancinginthecar
I laughed so hard at tomagotchi I wanted to tell you about it
TheLastSideshow
BadC0mpany31
Adapt and overcome
TooFunkToDrunction
I watched it in my home theatre and it looked pretty shitty tbh. It’s a problem you run into a lot with a projector (much summer than tv) ->
TooFunkToDrunction
But this was extra bad. In most shows a few scenes bother me, in this it was half the episode. It got brighter when they were inside castle.
TooFunkToDrunction
Dimmer* not summer
WristDeepInaPussy
I watched it in a dark room on a large TV screen. I didn't think it was too dark.
Genini
I didn't even notice until people complained. Not sure what an undead war in the middle of a blizzard in the middle of the night should
Tamaril
Only problem I had was beginning of the fight where you see blackness of the undead army approaching
CapableTrash
Yeah, i wasn't sure if there was supposed to be a visible shadow of them approaching, i was squinting really hard for that part
grandpasonlylivingheir
By this explanation, all night shots with EFX are going to be crap.
LinoC
maybe not if it is able to sacrifice quality elsewhere in the file but yh if the whole thing is a night shot then maybe
WilliamRayne
They are. Most "night shots" are either shot in the day, then color-corrected, or shot on a set with blue light.
redoman309036
On television, and they are without alot of care
Exowe
I'm a VFX artist and litteraly worked on the show, he's wrong on everything expect the compression at the end for streaming. Here's why (1)
Exowe
1. We don't compress files the more we add effect and render them, that's stupid, we use .exr and don't lose quality at all. (2)
Exowe
2. Producers don't only see the product on a perfectly calibrated screen, they also see multiple shitty QuickTimes on shitty screens. (3)
Exowe
3. That being say, CGI is really easier to do in dark and rainy environment (that's why Jurassic park CGI looked so good for it's time.) (4)
Exowe
4. He's right about the compression but we do work on the raw files, the show uses movies studios for the VFX and give us the time (5)
ReginaKasteen
I thought that sounded fishy. It's like old-school movie editing, you don't make the master from the cut-up crap working copy, you go (1)
SephWalker
I understand where he's coming from. I used to do some video editing and often would use proxies because the demand on the computer is far
SephWalker
less with smaller files. Then the software swaps in the raw files to produce the final edit. That said, I doubt VFX people do this. They
ReginaKasteen
back to the pristine master copy once you know exactly what your final cut is going to look like. (2)
MyOwnPrivateOhio
Fact that SO MANY people are complaining (if not complaining, then quietly annoyed) is a sign that it wasn’t a “my tv is the problem” issue.
TheBeardlyOne
I had just bought a 55" curved screen Sony two days earlier, I was freaking out lol
oblimo
Not when most people have POS huge-ass LCD TVs they got for a steal at Walmart. But, this factor should have been considered by production.
Shaggymom
I'm so grateful it looked amazing on my TV. Like super awesome! It had dark parts but when a main character was on screen..I saw them easy
FilthyRedApe
It looked perfect on my $400 4k Roku TV.
onikame
It's a data compressions/tech issue. Not your settings. There are settings you can adjust that'll help, but it's not the issue.
Cuckoldcameraman
Yeah I saw it as “the confusion of battle” I get that it was actually a mistake kinda but in the moment I was thinking “oh it’s a battle at
Cuckoldcameraman
Night, shits supposed to be hard to see and confusing”
iamnotcontent
I don't know about your tv but mine has visual settings. Took 1 minute to find a good one and it looked great.
TheRindEater
"Problem" is bar is set so high. "It was too dark" boo hoo. I'm 48. Looked great on my screen. Watched it again last night. I never do that.
tomojeimie
Actually most people never change anything on their TV so yea, it's a TV problem. HBO should have taken that into account though.
squishyem
I just adjusted my tv settings and am re-watching.... It is such a huge difference
magicrhombus
I found the darkness annoying, but not as annoying as the episode's writing, so still a fairly minor complaint.
ContinuallySenseless
Yeah, doesn't matter if it's light or dark if there's nothing worth to see.. ;P
fnurglbhurg
HBO Nordic's compression is bad in normal cases when streaming. Much of the darkness was very visible blocks of various black.
Binsto
Low quality pirated copies account for ALOT of the complaints
iwearlittlesocks
It was fine on my tv. It wasn't their tv, but a combination of their tv settings and their inability to understand that it's the NIGHT king
UpvoteFairyCakes
I mean honestly I thought it was fine on my average to small cheapish TV - but in the UK. Maybe Sky streamed a diff file to HBO?
Panzersmash
My tv had no problems. Episode looked fine. I do have a kind of pricey tv though (Q8 Samsung 65" QLED)
MexicanHandOff
Yeah I've got an OLED and the episode looked just fine to me.
grisheem
It’s not too hard to assume ‘so many’ people had 720p/poor internet connections/old tv’s to view it on.
VizenFatale
Do you not have phones?!
skhenry1101
The common factor is anyone who streamed it had major issues. I watched it via sky Atlantic and it was great which matches OP point
itxtalone
mine was really bad, but i didnt complain, because i pirated it 6 hours later so i knew it would be bad looking
MachoManRandySavagesBrotherAndy
I thought it looked great, but I also work in film, am a nerd and have gone to extensive lengths to properly calibrate all my monitors/tvs
halfbloodchef
Care to elaborate on proper calibration?
MachoManRandySavagesBrotherAndy
So the standard range of colors displayed on most monitors or tvs is off, some are better than others but it's very rare that you get a
MachoManRandySavagesBrotherAndy
"Correct" color range. I put it in quotations because part of it is subjective, but there is some pretty expensive hardware out there that
MachoManRandySavagesBrotherAndy
Editors use to properly calibrate their monitors, it scans an image of a screen and helps in correcting the screen's color range. With most
ChubbyNipple
How many?
japh
SO MANY
MyOwnPrivateOhio
The Verge, CNET, TechSpot, FoxNews, Vanity Fair, GamesRadar, Motherboard, E!News, TheAVClub, Newsweek, & even New York Times... quite a few.
ChubbyNipple
So 12 reporters?
MyOwnPrivateOhio
Also Newsweek & People. When that many different outlets cover a single issue, it has affected & is of interest to many people. U know that.
ThePizzaGuyOfJustice
Well that comment alone has 250 upvotes at this point
waltjrimmer
gracefalls
Three.
astronomygeek7
I was gonna say at least two, but didn’t hear about this third person.
Grandolddrummer
Dozens!
Fairdinkums
Every cunt seems to have a problem with the last episode, no one can seem to enjoy it for what it was.
VagisilToothpaste
I loved it. Plain and simple.
IMayNotKnowWhatIAmTalkingAbout
I don't know about others, but I enjoyed the shit out of what I could see. was just frustrating to not know if the dark was real or fucky
MyOwnPrivateOhio
If I was to enjoy it for being dark, you’re right, I’m a cunt. If I was to enjoy it for being a great battle, I missed the whole thing!
NoOneKnowsImLying
If every cunt seemed to have a problem with it then maybe, just maybe, the episode had some glaring problems.
jessicamm87
Yes!!!!!!!!
Irishda
It's a "much of the internet pirated it and the shoddy stream made a dark episode look worse" problem.
MyOwnPrivateOhio
Not a Pirate. I (over)paid for my darkness.
josieexplosion
Steamed it on HBO. Could barely see anything.
WeAreAllStoriesInTheEnd
There's your problem. Should've boiled it.
josieexplosion
Lol got me
dblemaster
I've heard better results from pirates. They got the higher quality version. Millions streaming from HBO go had the worst problems.
Irishda
I streamed from HBO Now on a six year old LCD
JBGibson
I watched on HBO and didn't it seem to have near the issues some had.
feeltheice
It was horrid on my 70” 4k tv. Streamed from hbo go on google fiber. It’s almost unwatchable.
YharnamsFinest
HBO quality apparently is only half that you get from Amazon, purely due to the extra compression on their stream.
wakichunu
I just learned that this was an issue, I watched it the minute it was released and didn't see any problems. I was using 1080p 144hz monitor.
Elroydb
I don't think you can turn V-Sync off TV or movies
TheUnsolicitedDuckPic
Watched on a projector. 1080p, vivid, dynamic black, and turned the brightness up 10. Looked good but still dark. It was a night scene . . .
Userlivewire
Which browser?
baronnapalm
I had no issues either and it was on a plex server after it aired on a 6 year old t.v. looked fine to me
onikame
144hz refresh rate wont matter for a show filmed at 24fps. If it tries to make new frames, it'll look worse.
MaladaptedMedic
Watched on my 2560x1440 monitor and it wasn't amazing, but certainly more than watchable
Genini
I mean it was dark, but it was winter, in the middle of the night, in a blizzard. It should be dark.
Kbantar
It was told from the perspective of a blind person. Of course it should be impossible to see shit in. ;)
SqueezitTheClown
It was appropriately dark, but the compression artifacts and banding in dark scenes was extremely noticeable.
kapta3nklutch
Yeah, it's the resolution that was hard to see, not the brightness. The episode was most definitely appropriately lit.
Yuri087
Obviously. Helms deep was aslo in the middle of the night, in a fucking rainstorm, and I sa every detail perfectly. Night =/= good excuse
dasklaus
It should be dark, but viewers should still be able to tell what the scene wants them to know. I had lots of trouble.
veryhairyarea
It wasn't just dark it was blurry and trail-y for me at least
AnonymityIsDead
How many times did they say the night is dark and full of terrors. I was fine with it.
Yuri087
Thats great that your personal opinion is it was 'fine'. Your opinion doesnt make the thousands who have complained wrong either
RiVenoX
Yeah? Well if your writing can't be shot without looking like shit then you rewrite the fucker. The battle is at sunset. BAM! Episode saved.
NotMyUsualOnlineName
Sunrise would be better, that way you can get that "light defeats darkness" trope in there too.
MybolognahasafirstnameitsBAMBI
And when it's heralded as such a long dramatic fight...that you didn't see
Prinzka
It should be dark. But if you're making a TV show you shouldn't have entire scenes that are just a black screen and then go "well, it's
probablylisteningtokpop
There were scenes that were just black screen? I watched the episode and had zero issues.
Prinzka
Realistic"
Steven054
I'm going to make a movie from the perspective of a blind person. It's gonna be eye opening.
Prinzka
Stevie Wonder in Middle Earth.
gecko08
Its not so much that it was dark. Its what was described in the post. The splotchiness. Honestly the only time I could tell that the dead
gecko08
were the dead was in the inside scenes and the rare illuminated closeup.
Imthinkinaboutthosebeans
Yea that’s why it didn’t bother me like there’s 0 ambient light in they universe it’s not like the next city over would give off light
Anonawesome
I really don't understand the downvotes (or complaints). I understood it was supposed to be dark and I had no issues with it.
SnowLumi
now apply this logic to every film in a low light night setting, just not being able to see anything cus "realism".There's compromises in TV
Anonawesome
Are you saying you couldn't see "anything"? Because that's ridiculous and you must have been viewing on a gamecube.