Removing tracking lines?

[DiggyDre]

I just recieved a brand new copy of a commercial released tape from the 90's. I opened it up and I am currently working on transferring it in my AG-1970. For some reason I keep seeing white lines pop up here and there that after a while seem distracting. Some are small, some are almost have of the horizontal length of the screen. They appear to be thin tracking lines. Is there anything I can possibly do about them in Virtualdub? I really would hate to have to break the film down into frames and photoshop the lines out manually.
[Attachment 48097 - Click to enlarge]

I tried to screenshot a image catching some of the larger lines but I would be better off uploading a sample clip. I may be able to in a while.

[aedipuss]

capture it twice, if the dropouts are in the same places it is most likely oxide shedding from age. if they move around you can do a multicam edit in vegas or pp and switch between the versions.

[jagabo]

If they appear in different places with each capture you could use a median filter to eliminate them. If they're in the same place each time, and there's not too many of them, you can use RemoveDirt() or RemoveSpots() in AviSynth.

[lordsmurf]

FYI: Those are not tracking lines.

[DiggyDre]

FYI: Those are not tracking lines.

What are they? They come in as white horizontal lines.

[johnmeyer]

It looks like nothing more than a typical dropout. There was a massive difference in tape formulations and only the really good brands (Maxell) would give you playback that was almost dropout free. The off-brands were really awful. Commercial tapes usually used pretty average formulations and so it is not surprising, even without the twenty-five years of aging, that you'd have dropouts. They were probably there from the day the tape was made because, unless the tape was stored badly, it probably isn't shedding (I haven't yet come across any shedding problems with VHS tapes).

Capturing again might skip over the dropout, so that's worth trying. If it doesn't help, you should be able to configure RemoveDirtMC (AVISynth plugin) to remove most of them.

[jagabo]

Sometimes called comets. Comet removal with RemoveDirtMC:

https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/390324-Avisynth-recommendations-for-vhs-capture-noise

[JVRaines]

FYI: Those are not tracking lines.

What are they? They come in as white horizontal lines.

A dropout is a loss of magnetic signal. In audio, which was the first tape medium, the sound would briefly "drop out" in spots where the tape could not be read. The reasons could be that there is a loss of oxide coating (which contains the magnetic imprint), or more commonly a crease or other deformity which pulls the tape away from intimate contact with the playback head. Since video is negatively modulated, a zero signal becomes pure white.

Comets are more indicative of worn video heads and appear all over the screen.