Visual Artifacts Found in SpongeBob

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Two-Headed Starfish
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Anyone notice some weird VHS-ey waving dots that are shown on episodes that were made before 2002. Not the flashing cue dots that appear in season 1, due to cel animation, I'm talking about weird wavy lines or dots on bright objects. These only appear on TV, not DVD, since the DVD episodes are remastered.


Look at the orange flower, and you'll know what I'm talking about. This isn't only in spongebob, this weird effect is seen in a lot of older shows that were made prior to 2002 or 2003.


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Depressed Luigi

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Yeah, I noticed this too. Some non-HD episodes (even up to at least Season 5) have a weird moving dot right near the talking shark thing in the intro. Noticed it in at least Procrastination and 20000 Patties Under the Sea. At first, I just assumed it was one of the many things messed up with the Procrastination airings, but then I noticed it in 20000 Patties Under the Sea
 

LARRY22

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I actually mentioned this in a recent topic I made. Is it possible for Nick to fix this? They fixed it on DVD, so why not TV? Speaking of which, SpongeBob is actually yellow on TV, and if Nick fixes that problem you're stating, it would be on par, if not better, than the DVD's! In my opinion at least. :)


EDIT: While I do find the wavy dots to be distracting, I still find the quality better than most other rips of these episodes, and plus, it adds nostalgia value :)
 

Pugs4Thugs

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They probably don't improve the quality like they do with the DVDs.
 

MrColeslaw

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It's a distortion based on the analog source of the episodes, if I recall correctly (has something to do with the deinterlacing method) - lots of older shows face the issue, as you said.
 

BenPaz: Act Zero

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Whaaaa older shows stored through older mediums rot what a shock

President Squidward said:
Nick should try to make the episodes in HD like CN does with a lot of their old programming (such as Teen Titans, old Scooby-Doo Movies, and that Billy and Mandy special they aired recently in October).
no thanks
 

ExtraAbsorbent

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Also, kind of weird. In some episodes like "Have You Seen This Snail?", some scenes look perfectly normal, but then it cuts to another and it looks like it was from a VHS or something.

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Original Raw and Uncut

Two-Headed Starfish
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ExtraAbsorbent said:
Also, kind of weird. In some episodes like "Have You Seen This Snail?", some scenes look perfectly normal, but then it cuts to another and it looks like it was from a VHS or something.

CkDB7DP.png

S7LbuUw.png
Yeah, like the scene where Spongebob was crying on the kitchen, it looked all VHS-ey, but then next thing you know, when Gary is with the old lady, it's back to normal.
EmployeeAMillion said:
I think it’s because Season 2-8 were drawn on 480p screens, yet some parts were digitally messed up to accomodate 480i TV screens. Either way, I find this to look nicer due to the more vivid colours and a slightly higher refresh rate, but I can see why it’d be distracting.
This issue never occured in seasons 6-8, all the studio equipment went digital by then. I think after season 5 or so, they stopped producing episodes on master tapes, and switched to having the episodes air on tv, by using digital computer files.

ExtraAbsorbent said:
Also, kind of weird. In some episodes like "Have You Seen This Snail?", some scenes look perfectly normal, but then it cuts to another and it looks like it was from a VHS or something.
Something similar happens in the digitally colored seasons of dexter's lab, one scene looks all new and clear, then next thing you know the lines get wavy and it looks all VHS-ey.
 

RomNick

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President Squidward said:
Nick should try to make the episodes in HD like CN does with a lot of their old programming (such as Teen Titans, old Scooby-Doo Movies, and that Billy and Mandy special they aired recently in October).
Yet Nickelodeon hates CN and wants nothing to do with them.
 

Depressed Luigi

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RomNick said:
Yet Nickelodeon hates CN and wants nothing to do with them.
If that's true than why would advertise TTG's 100th episode or whatever that was? I remember them advertising that a while back and I never understood why. I remember seeing Gumball and We Bare Bears advertisments too.

Can't hate them too much if they're willing to advertise their shows on occasion.
 

Klu

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Two episodes from season four on DVDs have VHS quality through and through - Best Frenemies and Bummer Vacation and I always wondered why, because on TV those episodes looked perfectly normal if not better.
 

LARRY22

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Two episodes from season four on DVDs have VHS quality through and through - Best Frenemies and Bummer Vacation and I always wondered why, because on TV those episodes looked perfectly normal if not better.
Was this wavy issue in the origanal airings of the episodes?
 

Original Raw and Uncut

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Was this wavy issue in the origanal airings of the episodes?

No it wasn't I remember seeing the episodes in their original airing. Then again when the episodes first aired I watched them on an older tube based tv.


Bummer Vacaction still has that VHS effect on certain airings on Nick
 
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