Noise reduction?

[Hellbore]

Hey guys, are there any good standalone noise filters for removing video noise from NTSC sources such as beta, vhs, and 8mm tapes?

I know that noise is the bane of my hardware encoder and causes more macroblocking than usual... I have a JVC HR-S9911U on the way but that's not gonna do anything for my Beta and 8mm tapes.

Any suggestions? Are there any units smart enough to reduce noise without screwing up the picture?

I tried messing with the Hauppauge card's noise filter setting but it's not very good, from what I can tell. Isn't there a way to remove noise from the NTSC signal and not have to do it in the digitized version?

[guns1inger]

Have you tried doing a search ?
Have you read through the sticky at the top of this forum on hardware prcessing and filters ?

[State Of Mind]

They have some outstanding filters over at the AviSynth Usage Forum, too.

[Hellbore]

Have you tried doing a search ?
Have you read through the sticky at the top of this forum on hardware prcessing and filters ?

Yes I have. The sticky doesn't talk about noise reduction devices, other than the circuits that are built into the JVC Digipure line of VCR's.

Searching has only found other people asking the same question.

Actually I think I did see LordSmurf answer this question one time with a simple "no". I find it hard to believe, however, that there are NO noise reduction devices out there that are any good. Maybe he's right though...I just thought it was worth asking.

[DVWannaB]

the quick and dirty answer is: Depends on what you are looking for and how much are you willing to spend.

If you want to spend in the neighborhood of $10,000 or more you can get great stuff. If you want to spend $100 o ebay for used equipment, you can get some pretty effective stuff.

I have recently started a combination that looks much like such (most of the time):

JVC 9800 SVHS VCR
to
Datavideo TBC-1000
to
Vidicraft Detailer III
to
BVP 4 Plus Proc Amp
to
JVC MH30 DVD Recorder

For my most problematic VHS tapes, I simply record in XP mode the highest quality (approx 8300Mbps VBR video) to a DVD-RW disk in VRO mode. Copy the DVD-RW to my computer's hard drive, where I apply outstanding image enhancing filters for Avisynth (iiP, BlindDeHalo, Limitesharpen). Like state of mind said, the guy over on the dom9.org avisynth usage forum, know their ish.

I have to post some pics to show you all the difference. JUST GREAT. I bought all my equipment used on ebay (except the DVD recorder) at a fraction of the price when it was new.

[swiego]

I'd love to see those pics!

[Hellbore]

Me too...

[lordsmurf]

There is not much in terms of hardware for noise reduction. I find the best NR is generally done in software. AVIsynth, TMPGEnc, Procoder ... each of these offers filters.

Capture high bitrate MPEG (10-15Mb/s) or uncompressed/Huffy/MJPEG AVI and then re-encode with NR filters.

LSI chips found in JVC (and a couple other) DVD recorders are great at removing chroma noise.

It depends on the type of noise, among other factors...

[Marvingj]

I have alot of beta tapes & have gone thru alot to get them to DVD. If you want noise out, a good TBC like Datavideo or my preference AVT-8710. I had great noise reduction with Laird 2000 Video Corrector. It has a Great Noise Reduction Circuity. This isn't Full Proof but is probably the best a standalone can do without going into the computer.