Heavily pixelated sign

[Hmmokthen]

Tried viewing in both lightroom classic and lightroom 5, both times the yellow + green sign appears heavily pixelated despite being right next to another sign which appears fine. Any help appreciated

 

[Michael J. Hoffman]

Can you give more details about the image? What kind of file, what resolution, what camera took it? This looks like a compressed JPG, and JPG compression might not create artifacts as noticeable in the smooth color area of the larger sign.

[Hmmokthen]

Standard resolution RAW file for canon 5d mk2, about 5k+ pixels long

[Ian Lyons]

Can you upload a copy of the otiginal raw file to Dropbox or similar and post the link to the forum? This will allow us to check the file.

[Hmmokthen]

Have uploaded full size jpg with no processing

[Conrad_C]

Is this straight out of camera, or edited?

The yellow/green sign kind of looks like it was painted with a masked adjustment brush with a high amount of Sharpness or maybe Texture.

[dj_paige]

Are we looking at a 1:1 view? If not, then show us the 1:1 view.

[Hmmokthen]

Have uploaded full size jpg with no processing

[dj_paige]

I said show us 1:1 view, not full size.

[Hmmokthen]

[Hmmokthen]

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/dg9cs1ytn7i5b6qhsl9xk/_MG_9723-2-3.dng?rlkey=du4oqsb9vdguz3v7saft0zig...

[dj_paige]

In the original, the green sign seems pixelated as well. Do you not see this in the original?

[Hmmokthen]

Yeah, its the green sign thats causing problwms no matter what version lightroom i view it in. I have played around with the h/s/l settings (yellow colour obviously) which looks better (pixelated-looking wise) though Im not too sure if its made the photo look a little bit fake due to the colours looking a little bit different.

[Ian Lyons]

I downloaded your file and viewed at 100%. The sign is still way too small to see an issue. However, zooming to 200% then 300% I can see pattern rather than what you describe as pixelated.  The fact that there are no silmilar patterns anywhere else on the image would suggest that niether the file or LrC are the cause. My guess is that the sign has a textured or patterned coating the to make it more visble when car/truck headlights shine on it.

[Hmmokthen]

thanks, Ill let you know if I enounter this problem elsewhere (I have for instance noticed branches against the sky tend to be a bit pixellated too)

[Per Berntsen]

I have for instance noticed branches against the sky tend to be a bit pixellated too

By @Hmmokthen

Yes, this is definitely caused by the sign itself, it's how it looks.

I notice that you shot this image at f/16. Although a small aperture will increase depth of field, general sharpness will be reduced because of diffraction. You will get sharper images at f/11, and even sharper at f/8.

If you want everything sharp in your images from close up to infinity, consider using a tripod and focus stacking at f/8. It will produce superior results.

[Ian Lyons]

I've attached a section of your image at 200%. Notice that the size of the squares pattern on the green sign doesn't match  the pixel size on the brown sign.