Ghosting in VHS to DVD 5.0 Deluxe Converted File

[DaleB]

Hi:

I am using Honestech's VHS to DVD 5.0 Deluxe software.

I have been trying to capture and convert a 50 minute recording on VCR tape to an HD,
convert it to digital, and then write it out to a DVD-R disc,

It "think" that the video is being captured okay.
The problem that I see is that the program displayed on my HDTV
from the DVD-R disc is of lesser quality than that shown from the VCR tape.
The DVD-R file is slightly grainy and choppy, of lesser color quality, and has ghosting.
By ghosting, I mean that you see a trail of the image as it moves across the screen.
e.g., a moving hand may look like a trail of hands...the trail being lighter.
This ghosting does not occur for all parts of the video, but the lesser quality is.

I do not see this ghosting when watching DVDs, VCR tapes, or over-the-air broadcasts.

Any idea what is causing the ghosting and how to fix/eliminate it ?

Thanx

DaleB

[jagabo]

Probably poor deinterlacing.
http://www.100fps.com/

[themaster1]

if we could see the video, uplaod a sample

ghosting effect:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghosting_%28television%29

[DaleB]

Hi:

Thanks to all of you for your replies.

Please clarify:
1) Are you looking for me to upload "snapshots" of the video, or a section of the actual video ?
2) If you want a subsection of the actual video, my email/web provider (COX) has a limitation
on email attachments, so does "uploading to your website" bypass this attachment restriction ?
3) In both cases, can you enlighten me on how to upload these to this webpage
I am not familiar with the process ? I do see the buttons below this box, showing
"Upload files / Manage attachments" or "My files".

Thank you
DaleB

[jagabo]

You should upload a video sample that shows the problem. Your email restrictions don't apply here. The site has a 100 MB files size limit but you don't need to upload that much. Just a 10 second sample will be enough. Press the "upload files/ manage attachments" button. select the file, upload (wait til it's done), finish the post.

[DaleB]

Thanx:

I will try to select a good section of the video, then get it sent to you.

DaleB

[DaleB]

Hi:

This information is from "Honestech's VHS to DVD 5.0 Deluxe" software.

It converts VHS to DVD then saves it to file(s) to burn to disc.

According to their program:
Extracted Standard Definition (SD) Videos/Snippets are ( 720 x 480 )
I do not know why they call this Standard TV Definition.
The above yields an aspect ratio of 3:2.
I thought that SD had an aspect ratio of 4:3.

Extracted High Definition (HD) Videos/Snippets are ( 1920 x 1080 )

My SD DVD file snippets are:

DVD_0-2.mpg
DVD_0-2_1.mpg
DVD_0-2_2.mpg
DVD_0-2_3.mpg


My HD DVD file snippets are:

MPEG_0-2.mpg
MPEG_0-2_1.mpg
MPEG_0-2_2.mpg
MPEG_0-2_3.mpg

The corresponding SD and HD files are the same source file snippet coverted/saved in the corresponding file format.
e.g., DVD_0-2_1.mpg and MPEG_0-2_1.mpg are both taken from the same source .mpg file.

They are the same snippet, but one is saved in SD, the other in HD.

SD filenames begin with DVD_
HD filenames begin with MPEG_

I see the "ghosting" and diluted/reduced color definition in both resolution.

Related Issues:
You have two buttons to click on to be able to upload files. "Upload files/Manage attachemnts" and "My Files"
If I click on "Upload files/Manage attachemnts" I get a screen from which I can select the path from which to upload the file(s).
When I click to upload the file, I see the "progress thermometer" progress to 100%, but nothing happens.
The lower-left corner of the screen keeps stating "waiting for http://forum.vidxeohelp.com/..." or similar.
This can go on easily for several minutes showing its activity via the "orbiting circle", but it never connects and finsishes.
I tried your other method: clicking on "My Files" and uploading to that area. It worked, but not for zip files.
I had a zip file of approx. 210 MB in size. The progress thermometer would start, then quickly quit, with nothing uploaded.
(This zip file had other zip files within it.)
I could separately upload the individual files that I had initially zipped, without any problem, but then I would be presented
with a list of my files, with the statement "(Use the Link to share the file)".
I do not know what this means. If I clicked on the filename or its "Link" button, I would get the dialog box asking my if I want
to Open or Save the file whose link I had clicked on. I already have the files, so why would I want to Open or Save them to my computer ?


I currently uploaded 8 files (those listed above) for folks to analyze my mentioned problems.

How do I know that these files have been saved ?
Where are these files saved to ?
How do I access that area ?
How do you...or others...access these files ? ... etc.

It is not clear to the user (me).

Thank you

DaleB

[themaster1]

upload on depositfiles.com, it's free, large files accepted but please upload a small sample 10-30 sec max

[manono]

Geez, what a lot of incoherent and uninformed rambling when all that was asked was for a short sample showing the problem.

According to their program:
Extracted Standard Definition (SD) Videos/Snippets are ( 720 x 480 )
I do not know why they call this Standard TV Definition.
The above yields an aspect ratio of 3:2.
I thought that SD had an aspect ratio of 4:3.

They call it standard definition because that's what it is. It's stored as 720x480 but played back depending on whether the DAR (display aspect ratio) is 4:3 or 16:9. So, 720x480 can have a DAR of either one. Because your sources are VHS, they'll all be 4:3. The DAR tells the player how it's to be resized during playback.

As themaster1 says, we don't need a large file. 10 well chosen seconds will be plenty. We can't see them so they weren't uploaded (or weren't uploaded correctly) here. To upload here hit the 'Upload Files' button. In the new screen 'Browse' to the file (not zipped, VOB, MPG or M2V are fine) and hit the 'Upload' button. When the file is finished uploading it'll show in that same screen by its name. At that point 'Close This Screen'. Back in the main posting screen you can hit 'Preview Post' to check if it'll be there when you hit the 'Submit Reply' button.

[sanlyn]

You're wasting time ZIPing MPEG's; they're already compressed. You can make a cut of 10 to 20 seconds using the free DGIndex utility in the DGMPDec package (https://www.videohelp.com/tools/DGMPGDec). DGIndex is a simple editor that produces an m2v video file. If you want more details for using it, just ask here. Cutting a few seconds of MPEG with DGIndex takes less time to perform than to describe it, but members will be glad to answer questions. The m2v is the video portion, you won't need the audio. Take your cut from the unprocessed SD original.

[manono]

I had a zip file of approx. 210 MB in size.

As it states quite clearly in the 'Upload Files' screen, 100 MB is the max upload size allowed here. And as I mentioned last time, we don't need nearly that much. 30 MB or so will be plenty, I think, 10-15 seconds.

[DaleB]

Patience manomo .... I'm sure that you weren't an expert overnight !

Thanx to all for your continued help !

After experimenting , I figured out the following:

If I am in the "Regular Mode", I can upload the file and see that it had been uploaded in THAT window.
After I click "Close this window" and return to where I can type my message, I do not see the file that
I had uploaded. The buttons still say "Post Quick Reply" and "Go Advanced".

If I repeat the above process, but in the "Advanced Mode", I see the name of the file that I had uploaded,
as an attachment ( beneath the "Upload files/Manage attachments" and "My Files" buttons ).
To the right, I see the buttons "Submit Reply" and "Preview Post".

Attached is my file: DVD_0-2_1.mpg (Approximately 15 seconds in length and 19.5 MB in size.)

P.S. The video is "washed-out" relative to the VHS recording. Ghosting is apparent in the "hand motion".

Thank you

DaleB

[manono]

The source is a VHS tape, you say? It's been made progressive in a very odd way. It looks to me like it was deinterlaced using some crappy blend deinterlacer. I have no idea if it was done when capping or later on with your conversion-to-DVD software. And for some reason there are a ton of dupe frames. Maybe it was originally taken with a 8 or 16mm camera.

If this isn't the original capture, please upload a sample of that.

[jagabo]

I agree with manono, it's been blend deinterlaced, there are many duplicate and dropped frames, and probably interlaced chroma channels were inappropriately handled as progressive. I doubt the tape is like that because the noise in duplicate frames is too similar. If that's the captured video you'll need to redo the capture. If it's not the captured video (but rather the conversion to DVD) you should provide a non-reencoded sample of the cap.

[DaleB]

Hi:

Thanks for your replies.

Here's how I extracted the video clip that I uploaded.
The "original" source is a VHS tape video that I recorded on my VCR from an over-the-air (OTA) PBS transmission.
On my HDTV, the recording looks great (for a VCR recording).
The original broadcast from PBS was in HD (16:9) format, and that's what I recorded.

That recording was then read-in to my laptop and converted, using Honestech's VHS to DVD 5.0 Deluxe software.
The recording was saved to my laptop's HD in the DVD ( 720 x 480 ) .mpg file format.
From that, I could then burn it to DVD-R disc and with additional features if I like.
What I uploaded was a snippet from the .mpg file saved to my laptop's HD (not a snippet of what was burned to disc).

Honestech's VHS to DVD 5.0 Deluxe software is written to be fairly easy for the user.
There ar two modes: one for the beginner, and one for the advanced user.
The Beginner's Mode is fairly simple with no real setting adjustments.
I had used the Advanced Mode that allows me access to a few additional settings: e.g., saving in DVD or HD format.
The snippet that I uploaded was from an .mpg file saved in the DVD format.

(I am currently out-of-town, so I don't have access to my equipment be able to re-record for about a month.)

[manono]

That recording was then read-in to my laptop and converted, using Honestech's VHS to DVD 5.0 Deluxe software

Is it possible to just digitize without converting? Can you separate the two functions? I doubt it was either broadcast or recorded to VHS tape like that so something went terribly wrong later on.

Related to that, is it possible to use a different software to transfer to the computer? Maybe something like WinDV or VDub?

Edit: Reading up on it, in the 'Advanced Mode' you can separate the digitizing from the converting. That would be best if in the conversion it gets ruined.

[DaleB]

Hi:

Thank you for your advice.

>Is it possible to just digitize without converting? Can you separate the two functions?
>I doubt it was either broadcast or recorded to VHS tape like that so something went terribly wrong later on.

I do not know how to do this. When I record the audio/video from the VCR to the laptop via a little converter box
that comes with Honetsech's software, the file gets saved as an .mpg file. I can either save and
edit this file or write it directly to a DVD-R disc.

I have another program that I tried to use, but its output was "choppy" blocks of A/V.
The program is Pinnacle's Studio 10. During my process of trying to "fix" this chopping problem,
I lost the audio portion of the recorded/converted signal. In other words, the A/V ouptut from the VCR,
converted by Studio 10, would display the video on the laptop's screen in the little "edit" window in
which you could play (view/hear) the recording, but there would be no audio.
I have been trying to find a way to reset Studio 10 to its default settings, but so far, have had no luck.

>Related to that, is it possible to use a different software to transfer to the computer?
>Maybe something like WinDV or VDub?

I have not used either of these programs, but can look into it.

>Edit: Reading up on it, in the 'Advanced Mode' you can separate the digitizing from the converting.
>That would be best if in the conversion it gets ruined.

Can you provide me with any info on how to do the separation with VHS to DVD 5.0 Deluxe ?

BTW: One thing that I forgot to mention. The over-the-air signal is trasmitted as a digital signal,
converted to an analog signal via one of these little $40.00 D/A converter boxes. The analog A/V
output of this D/A converter box is fed into the VCR (bypassing the VCR's internal analog tuner).
This digital-to-analog signal fed to the VCR, is then recorded to the VCR's tape. On playback, the
output of the VCR tape is fed into the software's converter box that feeds the signals into the laptop.
Again, the A/V output of the VCR to the HDTV is great (for a VCR recording)...crisp, no ghosting, etc.

[manono]

You said in the first post that the tape plays fine, without the ghosting or the choppiness. So, it had to have happened somewhere else along the chain - either during the capture to the computer or during the conversion to DVD. Your user guide:

http://www.honestech.com/pdf/UserGuide_VHStoDVD5_EN.pdf

on page 30 says how to set it up when using the Advanced Mode. If you plan on doing any filtering at all, you'll want the best settings for the largest size. That way when it's being reencoded you'll be starting with the best possible quality (which is none too good to begin with). Then on Page 34 it explains how to record when using that mode.

Apparently the Easy Wizard Mode both captures and burns to DVD during the same session. I don't know. Maybe the unit was never any good to begin with (I wouldn't use it). But I think your best chance to find out if it's actually possible to capture to the computer video that isn't ghosted and choppy is to see what you get after only capturing. Then you can use better encoding programs to reencode it for DVD (ones such as AVS2DVD, for example).

[DaleB]

Thank you for the information:

In the past, I had converted a pre-recorded cartoon VCR tape to DVD-R using VHS to DVD 5.0 Deluxe, and had no problem.
Then, I was using ver. 3 of VHS to DVD 5.0 Deluxe, not ver. 5, like I am now. Once I return home, I should try converting the
over-the-air, home-recorded VCR tape to DVD using ver. 5.