dv cassette deblocking

[noiz]

Hi,

I'd like some basic information/advice on which programs (and filters) to use to remove artifacts (pixel blocks) produced by a 6 year old DV camera.
The source came out rather pixelated, and I've seen a guideline (LINK) containing a filter.

Are there better alternatives to the mentioned filter/algorhythm? A few names would be of much help.

Thanks in advance.

[edDV]

Hi,

I'd like some basic information/advice on which programs (and filters) to use to remove artifacts (pixel blocks) produced by a 6 year old DV camera.
The source came out rather pixelated, and I've seen a guideline (LINK) containing a filter.

Are there better alternatives to the mentioned filter/algorhythm? A few names would be of much help.

Thanks in advance.

Maybe you could post a few DV-AVI frames (30MB max here) that shows the problem.

[themaster1]

I'd like some basic information/advice

>>>>> Neat Video

[jagabo]

I've seen a guideline (LINK) containing a filter.

I don't think that's going to help you. That is for removing blocky artifacts caused by over compression. Those types of blocks are not common in DV video. You probably have errors in the DV stream which result in a very different kind of problem (typically multi-colored blocks).

This image contains both DV stream error blocks (bright green/blue/red blocks) and overcompression block artifacts (4x nearest neighbor enlargement for clarity):



This is what MSU Smart Deblocking does with that video:



Notice that the overcompression blocks have mostly smoothed out. But there is little change in the DV error blocks.

Fixing the DV error blocks will require something like the RemoveDirtMC filter in AviSynth.

[noiz]

Hi, sorry for the late response guys.
_______________________________

Here's the deal:

I was asking this in my friend's place, because he's really busy.

@edDV: sorry, but he doesn't know which program to use to cut out a sample video, nor does he have enough time to do so.
He will be sending me a screenshot soon though, to confirm the symptoms.

He confirmed that the problem is overcompression blocks indeed, not DV error blocks.
He's got an old laptop so he didn't have an appropriate jack to plug the camera in. Hence, he took it to a photo studio. I'm suspecting they've been a bit lazy and chose low quality /or connected it via usb.

During this week he should be taking his cam to a friend's place to connect it properly and see if the problem repeats itself.
If it does, I will recommend him Smart Deblocking, it seems to be very adequate at deblocking.

Thanks for the tip about Neat Video, it looks like a mighty little piece of software as well

I'll get back to you folks, thanks for the hasty responses!

[jagabo]

DV is very high bitrate. It very rarely has noticeable macroblocking. If he has a DV AVI file that has a lot of macroblocking something is wrong with the transfer he got. Maybe they recorded the camera output on a DVD recorder and then converted the MPG data to DV. Or maybe the source (satellite broadcast?) that was recorded on the DV camcorder already had a lot of macroblocks.

MSU Smart Deblocking requires that the blocks be on 8 pixel boundaries.

Neat Video is a great noise filter but it won't help at all with macroblocking.

[noiz]

He filmed a ceremony, so satellite is no-go. Like I've said, I'm blaming the studio guys. (no pun intended to anyone working at a photo/video studio)

Thanks for the explanation on the conditions of using Smart Deblock.

[lordsmurf]

Those are data glitches, for whatever reason.