Should my long term storage master be de-interlaced?

[22west]

Hi,

I have decided to capture each of my VHS videos in a lossless (huffyuv) avi. I am doing this using virtual dub. Should I de-interlace this master before I "lock it away for long term" or shoud I deinterlace it first? My goal is to have the best digital version of the VHS video available for future use, whether it is eventually edited, streamed, authored to DVD etc.

Sorry if this already out there somewhere but, after a couple of hours of digging, I cannot find a clear answer

Thanks!
22west

[smrpix]

Keep your archive version as "pure" to the original signal as you can. There will always be better deinterlacers, noise removers, etc. in the future.

[Sharc]

Same thinking here. Spend your time and efforts in producing lossless and - as much as possible - flawless interlaced captures of your VHS sources. Means basically avoid dropped frames and other glitches, no clipped or crunched colors (levels) etc. Don't process this captured interlaced "master" footage further for archiving. And continue to keep your VHS tapes and VCR gear (players) in a safe place, they may survive longer than you think - your experience and opinion about the captured quality may also change over time (happened here ).

[22west]

Many thanks for the advice. Cheers.