Need Help: Pixelation & Banding

Help
1

Hello, I am trying to edit a vertical video with the following specs (based on MediaInfo):

Screenshot 2026-02-10 at 7.50.01 PM
Screenshot 2026-02-10 at 7.50.01 PM752×1732 193 KB

I can preview the video just fine from Quicktime Player on my Mac, but whenever I upload the video to Kdenlive, the background noticeably pixelates and there is banding. At first I thought it was just an issue with how Kdenlive shows their preview window, but the issue persists even after I render it and view it on my computer and phone.

I tried seeing if it was an issue with the project settings, but even if I just upload the clip into an entirely new blank project where it automatically switches the settings to the clip, the issue stays the same.

I also tried seeing if I had proxies enabled, but proxies was not enabled so that shouldn’t be the issue here.

Can someone please help me figure out what the best project settings should be for this, and then the best render settings? My final goal with the video is to export a version to be used for social media such as Instagram, and then export a version to upload to YouTube. I have tried creating my own custom project profiles and custom render settings, but I definitely am not doing it correctly since the banding issue is still happening.

Any help is appreciated, as I am very new to Kdenlive and really need to edit this video! Thank you!

2

First guess on that then would be along the lines of truncating 10bit colour to 8bit without dithering.

You don’t say what version and build you are using.

3

Hi Ron, I’m using version 25.12.2, the latest version I believe. The 10bit to 8bit color change is my guess too, but I’m just not sure how to address it since I tried making a project based on 10bit color. I’m just having trouble with the project settings and clip imports, and then the render settings. Do you have advice on this? Thanks

4

Hi Ron, thanks so much for your response. I’m using version 25.12.2, the latest version I believe. The 10bit to 8bit color change is my guess too, but I’m just not sure how to address it since I tried making a project based on 10bit color. I’m just having trouble with the project settings and clip imports, and then the render settings. Do you have advice on this? Thanks

5

Not really, other than “10 bit colour is a work in process”. It’s not something I’ve poked around with much myself yet to be familiar with where and what it falls over on.

I would have thought you could reasonably import one though and be ok until you chose the ‘wrong’ effects to use, so this will need more investigation.