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MBP 2018 15 Inch - Horrible video quality on GPU

M

MBP18user

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 27, 2018
12
2
UPDATE: after a second SMC reset as a last resort before going in to replace it, the issue seems rto have disappeared...

UPDATE 2: The problem has returned after about 20 minutes of use...

I recently picked up a 15 inch mbp (2018 model. i7/16gb/512gb/560x) i noticed that whenever i disable automatic graphics switching and use the gpu, the quality of videos completely degrades. (pictures attached) Is this normal? Has anyone else experienced this? Should i take it into the apple store?

as a reference, this is the video i was testing on as it has dark scenes.


IMG_9418.jpg
IMG_9419.jpg
 
Last edited:
It certainly shouldn't be normal.. will do some checking of this later myself, but it's suggestive that something is not set up right in graphics drivers perhaps.
 
No, that's not normal! On my 2016 there is no difference in video quality no matter if it's the Radeon or the Intel. Blacks are crushed and you can see artifacts. I would contact Apple or get it swapped at an Apple store if the issue can't be resolved through software.
 
lec0rsaire said:
No, that's not normal! On my 2016 there is no difference in video quality no matter if it's the Radeon or the Intel. Blacks are crushed and you can see artifacts. I would contact Apple or get it swapped at an Apple store if the issue can't be resolved through software.
Click to expand...

yeah, the black level is being interpreted wrong somewhere in render path to screen, I very much doubt its hardware if its ok on one gpu but not other, probably similar issue to the display port rgb chroma issues that people were having till mojave
[doublepost=1538118700][/doublepost]whats being used to play video here?
 
Just curious, but why are you disabling automatic graphics switching? That prevents the system from doing what is "best" for the demands.
 
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jerryk said:
Why are you disabling automatic graphics switching? That prevents the system from doing what is "best" for the demands.
Click to expand...

My reasons for disabling shouldnt matter. I paid $4000+ for the system, if i want the dGPU used all the time i should be able to use it without having horrible video quality. Point is something is wrong.
 
MBP18user said:
My reasons for disabling shouldnt matter. I paid $4000+ for the system, if i want the dGPU used all the time i should be able to use it without having horrible video quality. Point is something is wrong.
Click to expand...

As someone who worked for several of the large SV companies, I can tell you when you go into corner cases they will not be tested as well as main scenarios. So I am not surprised when I hear stories like yours. I hope you find a solution.
 
jerryk said:
As someone who worked for several of the large SV companies, I can tell you when you go into corner cases they will not be tested as well as main scenarios. So I am not surprised when I hear stories like yours. I hope you find a solution.
Click to expand...

im still within my 14 days, so im going to do an exchange at the apple store today for a new one...
 
do you reload the page after making the change? I think that's the issue. Close out and reopen the program after the change, it should go away.
 
having had a chance to check, I can confirm the same behaviour, and I'm 99.9% sure this is software not hardware, changing laptop won't make any difference I'm sure.

Need to be reported, certainly, though.

further investigation: IINA does not show this issue, but safari/chrome/firefox do, so far.
[doublepost=1538157638][/doublepost]
Miltz said:
do you reload the page after making the change? I think that's the issue. Close out and reopen the program after the change, it should go away.
Click to expand...

Reloading does nothing.
 
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Miltz said:
do you reload the page after making the change? I think that's the issue. Close out and reopen the program after the change, it should go away.
Click to expand...

That didnt change anything.

iMacDragon said:
having had a chance to check, I can confirm the same behaviour, and I'm 99.9% sure this is software not hardware, changing laptop won't make any difference I'm sure.

Need to be reported, certainly, though.

further investigation: IINA does not show this issue, but safari/chrome/firefox do, so far.
[doublepost=1538157638][/doublepost]

Reloading does nothing.
Click to expand...

I did end up getting it replaced with a new one, just finished restoring from time machine, so far no problems, so it might have been hardware, still think its a driver issue from the symptoms it showed...
 
MBP18user said:
I did end up getting it replaced with a new one, just finished restoring from time machine, so far no problems, so it might have been hardware, still think its a driver issue from the symptoms it showed...
Click to expand...

Curious, that is after updating everything to latest version again? and yes, I can't see how this can be anything but a driver/rendering issue, I'd not noticed it before because I had to turn up brightness higher than I normally have it for it to be extremely clear ( and used the same video as test ), the other colours don't seem to change which is even odder.
 
MBP18user said:
That didnt change anything.



I did end up getting it replaced with a new one, just finished restoring from time machine, so far no problems, so it might have been hardware, still think its a driver issue from the symptoms it showed...
Click to expand...
high sierra or mojave? any news?
 
iMacDragon said:
Curious, that is after updating everything to latest version again? and yes, I can't see how this can be anything but a driver/rendering issue, I'd not noticed it before because I had to turn up brightness higher than I normally have it for it to be extremely clear ( and used the same video as test ), the other colours don't seem to change which is even odder.
Click to expand...


fokmik said:
high sierra or mojave? any news?
Click to expand...

i tested on high sierra when i opened up the new laptop. there was no issue. updated then and restored my mojave backup, still no issues.
 
SoyCapitanSoyCapitan said:
Looks like YouTube issue.

Doesn’t happen if you stream movie froms iTunes/Amazon/Netflix
Click to expand...


Not true. In my testing on the old laptop i tried multiple streaming site (Amazon Prime/Crave/HBO/Netflix/Itunes) as well as local video files that i had confirmed had no issues on 2 other macs. The problem was specific to the laptop.
 
do you have this issue still with your new machine, so was it a hardware problem? Tried this and I'm seeing similar behaviour.
 
I’m also having this issue. It’s happening for me in QuickTime playing back movies that I encoded myself in premiere. At first I thought it was an encode issue but realized it wasn’t present on playback any other machines. And sometimes it doesn’t happen at all.

My 2013 mbp ran like a champ for over 4 years without AppleCare, but I’m guessing i’ll have to get it on this machine if these issues are indicative of the reliability of these machines.
 
Same issue for me and I have the same spec you have with the 560X. I use my machine a lot in clam shell plugged into an external monitor which uses the 560X all the time. It is really annoying!!

I have also noticed the performance is worse watching videos especially if you scan through quickly with thumbnails. It is smooth on the integrated GPU.
 
yeah mine is back to doing this again. that the upgraded 560x actually gives a worse quality result is just unacceptable. I'm booking an apple appointment for this.
 
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