Distortion @ Bottom w/AIW MMC and Best JVC/MMC Settings??

[Offroad]

Just added a JVC SVHS 7600 with TBC which has my old tapes looking much better, however I'm getting a band across the bottom of the frame thats distorted.

It runs the full width of the TV viewer and is the same height all the way across.
I have checked "Crop Video" on the display tab of the TV but some still shows. Its bigger when you play back the captured file, since no cropping is done during the cap.

I've had this in the past and it didn't show when playing a DVD on my TV due to the overscan of the set. It appears larger on my oldest tapes so it might show now.

Is there any way to crop this out of the capture entirely?
Whats causing it? Is this something common to the AIW or the level of Driver or MMC I'm using?

Also, I have the JVC and MMC set as follows to try and clean up the 20yr old tape I'm working with. If anyone can reccomend better settings to try with either the JVC or MMC I'd appreciate it.

AIW is a 9700 Pro currently using Catalyst 4.4 and MMC 9.0.

JVC
Video Calibration - On
Picture Control -Auto
Digital R3 - On
TBC - On (picture is really awful with it off)

MMC
352x480 VBR (Lord Smurf's movie setting except bit rate raised to 4.5 Target and 5.0 K/bps Max)
Video Soap - Heavy, Despeckle 40%, Combo1 25%, Sharpen 10%

Anyones suggestions for the distortion at the bottom of the frame and for better settings for the JVC/MMC would be appreciated. The tapes I'm capturing are mostly VHS SP copies of Hi8 recordings 5-10yrs old.
I have a few 2nd generation VHS SP copies that are 15-20yrs old.

Thanks.

[lordsmurf]

It's overscan. Be sure to view with CROPPED and then CROP video during capture (but use MPEG2-DVD mode).

The MMC screen is still slightly larger than a tv set, so just test some clips on a DVD-RW/DVD+RW disc. Only way to see.

If that won't fix it, you must restore the video. You can either capture in AVI then re-encode in something like TMPGENC (while cropping the image manually) ... or if you have two PC's with ATI AIW cards, you can loop them together, one playing zoomed, the other recording.

[Offroad]

It's overscan. Be sure to view with CROPPED and then CROP video during capture (but use MPEG2-DVD mode).

Lord Smurf: Thanks, your responses here and your site have made big improvements in my captures. The biggest one other than getting an AIW and using your settings, was to get a JVC VCR with TBC.

I "had" forgotten to enable cropping in the capture as well as the TV viewer. What I'm seeing in the viewer is pretty small so probably won't show on my TV when captured cropped.

Do you have any suggestions about my JVC and MMC Filter settings?
I have tried various combinations of filters and have trouble seeing that I'm making the picture better. (I can easily make it worse however)

I know each tape is different, but can you suggest a combination of MMC Filters that although might not be ideal, would be appropriate for a source like I'm using??

I have a 3ghz P4 and my CPU use is very low during capture so overloading it with filter settings shouldn't be a problem.

Any chance I'm helping by increasing your "Movie" capture setting bitrate a bit?? Just don't want unused space on my DVD's if it will help at all.

Thanks for any additional info you can provide.

[FulciLives]

Why don't you post a pic of the capture so we can see exactly what this band looks like and exactly how big it is.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[lordsmurf]

352x480 MPEG2 interlaced 5.0 max 3.5-4.0 range avg is fine.

15-18% despeckle is good in VideoSoap. Don't overdo it, remember PC shows more flaws than tv. Don't need to over-correct

On JVC, just play around. AUTO is best. SOFT can be good on cartoons. Only use stabilizer when needed. TBC is great, use as much as you can, as long as it doesn't harm image.

[Offroad]

352x480 MPEG2 interlaced 5.0 max 3.5-4.0 range avg is fine.
15-18% despeckle is good in VideoSoap. Don't overdo it, remember PC shows more flaws than tv. Don't need to over-correct

Lordsmurf: If I set 15% despeckle in VideoSoap what should the Video Soap Type be set to? Light, Medium or Heavy?
Is 15% the same in all types or diferent in each?

Here is a sample of the distortion, is this overscan?
This was captured with Catalyst 4.4, MMC 8.7 and No Filters.


Hard to believe this baby is now twenty.
I thought all my tapes were recorded in SP but I was wrong, this one is in EP. Its my oldest tape and is 2nd or 3rd generation.

This was shot on a VHS camera that was hooked to a Top Loader VHS VCR. The camera alone must have weighed 25lbs.

Any other suggestions for this tape is appreciated.

Thanks.

[FulciLives]

Well loading that image up in VirtualDubMod I had to cut 21 lines off of the bottom to hide it all.

That's a lot but consider this:

1.) It is a very old tape made on old video equipment
2.) Recorded EP/SLP speed

I've seen distortion that big before but oddly only only tapes that were a copy of another tape etc.

I'd say cut 24 from the bottom to be safe that you got it all or 22 from the bottom and say 2 from the top to make it 24 then shift the picture to even it out (i.e., put 12 black across the top and 12 black across the bottom).

Then you won't see the black on a TV and shifting it 12 lines down ain't no big deal if you ask me.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[lordsmurf]

Doesn't matter. Change it. Those mode are just preset names. Pick one then alter it.

That is overscan, but it's grown. I see that in old 80s tapes, even commercial ones. It's a glitch in something, I forget. I always have to capture AVI and crop, re-encode.

Just capture this whole tape in AVI, re-encode and do noise processing later too. I still like TMGPENC filters better than VideoSoap.

Again, test on DVD-RW/+RW to see if it shows up on tv. If so, AVI/crop. If not, don't worry about it.

But it is close.