YouTube compression issue on static ambient video (grid / moiré pulse every 5 seconds?)
Hi everyone,
I’m running a small sci-fi ambient/lounge YouTube channel and I noticed a strange compression issue on my latest upload.
The video is basically:
a mostly static AI-generated cinematic spaceship lounge image
very slow/minimal movement
2 hours long
uploaded in H.264 at 20 Mbps
The problem: every ~5 seconds I can see a subtle “grid / moiré / macroblock pulse” appearing mostly in dark smooth areas (floor reflections, shadows, space background). It almost looks like the image briefly refreshes in blocks.
What’s strange:
on my 27” 2K monitor it’s barely noticeable
on phone it’s almost invisible
on a Full HD TV it becomes more visible
it survives both local export and YouTube compression
I suspect this is related to:
YouTube VP9 recompression
static image encoding
macroblock refresh/keyframes
H.264 struggling with ultra-clean AI textures and gradients
Has anyone experienced this specifically with:
ambient videos
static wallpapers
AI-generated scenes
long-form lounge/sleep videos?
Would exporting in:
4K
H.265/HEVC
higher bitrate
slight film grain
tiny Ken Burns zoom
help reduce the issue?
Would love to hear workflow tips from other ambient creators.