DeNoise Filter in Handbrake

[wdpcpa]

Over the holidays, I have continued ripping my DVD and BluRay collection and then compressing them. I watch them using XBMC. Everything is hooked up to a Yamaha V671 receiver and output to a 42 inch vizeo LCD. I use MakeMKV for the rip and Handbrake for the encode.

I have been using the Handbrake filters as Detelicine and Decomb set to "default"; and deinterlace and denoise set to "off". However, I have some DVDs of old movies that I think may benefit from using a Denoise filter. I experiment with Denoise set to "weak" with good results. I used "Billy Jack" (1971) for an experiment setting the Denoise to "medium". They look a bit plastic but overall not bad. The original it is pretty grainy and noise increases size. So I think it was OK. Not great though.

Anyone want to provide some guidance on when/how to use the Denoise filter. Maybe provide some examples of old movies they have cleaned up.

BTW - I used CQ 19 for a lot of these old moves and the encoding of "Very Slow" (VS). VS is supposed to increase the quality and decrease the size. I see that some are recommending 19.25. My slider bar does seem to do decimals. It seems to go from 19 to 20. What am I missing?

Thanks and happy new year.

[wdpcpa]

Update. Found a nice video on this topic. Here is the link. Look forward to other tips/suggestions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93GtdIkrrLA

[hello_hello]

According to Handbrake's help file it uses the HQDN3D noise filter. The link is for the AVIsynth version, but I assume Handbrake's different filter options use different HQDN3D settings to achieve different denoising strengths. The log file will probably tell you exactly what's happening.

As you mentioned it, if you know a video is interlaced (no telecine), de-interlacing to "full frame rate" usually looks much better than "half frame rate". For NTSC that'd be de-interlacing to 59.94fps rather than 29.97. For PAL it's 50fps rather than 25fps. Handbrake can do it by selecting "bob" as the de-interlacer and choosing the appropriate "constant frame rate" for the output.
For some full frame rate vs half frame rate de-interlacing comparisons, have a look at post #8 here. I'm pretty sure Handbrake uses Yadif for de-interlacing.

Any denoising is a compromise between removing noise and blurring the picture (which can produce a "cartoonish" effect). I don't use Handbrake so I can't help much there, but there's lots of different noise filters for Avisynth. If you're serious about experimenting with denoising then using an Avisynth based GUI such as MeGUI might be an idea, although there'll be more of a learning curve and it can be time consuming. For re-encoding progressive video (applying inverse telecine first if necessary) I often use QTGMC in progressive mode as a noise filter, (even though it's officially a de-interlacer). As an example of what QTGMC can do, there's a comparison of a few of the better Avisynth noise filters here (more in the first post) using a fair example of crappy quality video for the source. There's also an unfiltered version with the samples. Maybe give Handbrake's denoising a spin with it.

[redwudz]

If you wanted to set 19.25 for the CQ in Handbrake, just set the slider to 19 and L click on the blank area of the slider.
It will go up or down by .25 increments, depending on which side of the slider bar you click.

I don't use Handbrake directly, but use a front end, VidCoder. To me it's a lot easier to set up and use than Handbrake, especially for encoding several DVDs in a session.

I encode DVDs to MKV with AC3 audio. I set Detelecine and Decomb to Default. All others I leave alone. I'm using 19.3 at present for CQ, mainly to give me about 1.5 - 2.0 GB file sizes. I've tried adjusting other parameters, but decided I couldn't tell the difference, so I leave them alone now. I view the MKVs on a video projection screen.

[wdpcpa]

Many thanks Hello and Redwudz.

Redwudz, I must be doing something wrong. When I left click the CQ bar in Handbrake, it only increments by whole units. I wonder if this is a difference in versions. I did read up on VidCoder. Interesting. I might should have looked at that prior to delving into all the diffferent settings. I will look at more if I start encoding in bulk. Right now I do one at a time and using the "very slow" setting means a long time between encodes.

Hello, you are right that Handbrake options have different settings. It does. Each option effects 4 settings. The first two effects the single frame. The last two looks at multiple frames together. The first two are more blunt or less forgiving. If i use the canned options, I tend to the "weak" option; it does seem to help a bit with older film.

I fear the "medium" and "strong" options may be a little heavy handed. So if I want to do something stronger, I am using a custom setting of 1:1:7:7.

As an example, I might use 1:1:7:7 on a film like "Billy Jack" (1971) - it is a film where the DVD shows its age. I will use a higher RF because it is more of a throw away film.

However, for "Body of Evidence" I don't use a filter. This 1993 film has a ton of grain but that is part of the 1940s genre that it is projecting. I will use a lower RF because this is a quality film and it makes a difference.

Redwudz, I also leave Detelecine and Decomb as "default".

Thanks for the response and I will be checking back to see what others are doing.