Text color appears to give it blurry edges

[orsonk42396462]

I have to use a particular color of large text for some titles (client color), but I notice that in Preview mode it may look fine, but when I render the video, the character edges get blurry. I noticed that this seems to relate to the background color; that is, using a light gray background makes the text look fine. But a different color (client color) makes the text come out blurry, or have an apparent outline on the letters (without me selecting any stroke). 

Very strange, and I've tried a few things that do not help. 

I'd love to hear from someone who had similar issues and found a way to fix in Premiere. Again, it appears to relate to the video rendering, not just text against a certain color -- because graphics I import look good in themselves.... but not so good in a rendered video. 

[Sumeet Kumar Choubey]

Hi orsonk42396462,

Sorry to hear about this. We can get this checked. Which version of Premiere Pro are you using? Please share a screenshot of the preview that you are getting in the Program monitor & after exporting the media. Also, let us know the sequence settings & the export settings that you have used. 

Thanks,

Sumeet

[orsonk42396462]

Using latest release -- I always update when Creative Cloud prompts me.

I'll attach a screenshot of Preview vs. output at H.264 format. If you ask specific questions, I can give more info about my settings. Sequence is 1920x1080. Output is 1200x674.  

Note: A forum member mentioned that 264 has issues with red colors, and the color issue I have is definitely reddish. Can you recommend a widely used lossless codec? 

[Byron Cortez]

This is part of the compression process, our eye is more sensitive to luminance than to chrominance and is less sensitive to red than to blue and to green, that is why red and its tones are affected a little more in the compression process and that's why this happens.

[Byron Cortez]

If that color is inclined towards red tones and you are using a compression codec such as H.264, you should try a Lossless codec (lossless compression), red and its tones are the most affected when compressing.

[orsonk42396462]

Aha! Yes, it's a bright pink. But I have limited knowledge of lossless codecs, and have always just used H.264. Anything to recommend? (And I'll be googling about it, too.) 

[Byron Cortez]

There are several but to obtain the best possible quality and in the export you could use a QuickTime format (.mov) with an Apple ProRes 422 HQ codec, or a GoPro CineForm. A DNxHR/DNxHD could also be useful, try to export it like this and then transcode it to H.264 with the Adobe Media Encoder, you must do the test. If possible, set a high Bitrate for H.264 compression.

[orsonk42396462]

Thanks! 

[Byron Cortez]

You're Welcome!

[orsonk42396462]

I appreciate all the input. In the end, I chose to stick with producing MP4 output cuz it's so standard and I know all browsers support it, etc. But in one case I changed the background color from a deep blue (client color) to white. Instead of looking fuzzy, the pink text now has a slight outline, which is arguably better. 

O. 

[Byron Cortez]

Okay, but at least you learned something that will help you not to waste time in the future.

Regards!

[orsonk42396462]

Thanks, Byron... and everyone else who had suggestions. 

O.