Is this normal?

[inuyasha]

Hello there,
I have used Tmpgenc for some time and have been pleased with its output quality. Lately, I created a dvd compliant mpeg2 file from dv using Ulead VS9. I felt the video was a little too bright, so I toned down the bringtness using VirtualDub, and frame serving it at the same time, to TMPGenc Plus, to re-encode again. I selected 2 pass VBR, 6500kbps, highest quality motion search. At the end of the encoding, I played the final mpeg on the computer (also later on TV after authored with TDA). A few times throughout the hour long footage, about 2 seconds long each time, I noticed a row of microblocks (about 60x10 pixel size) appeared to be "misplaced" slightly off to the right side of where they were supposed to go. For example, if there was an image of me appearing on the screen, the horizontal row of pixels that from the pupil of my right eye would all in a sudden shifted a few pixels to the right, and 1 to 2 seconds later, all the pixels seemed to be in the right place again. It seemed to happen at random position on the screen.
I wondered if the brightness filter in VDub could have caused the problem, so I tried just frame serving the same original Ulead created Mpeg file to Tmpgenc, without any filters. I got the same displaced pixels sightings.
I next tried encoding the original mpeg file directly with TMPGenc (ie without Vdub), and I still saw the occassional misplaced pixel rows.
So it must be within Tmpgenc itself. At last, I tried changing the motion search quality to "estimate" and also tried again with "normal", and in both cases, the abnormality went away! However, the encoded quality was not as good as in "highest quality" setting particularly for moving and high textured objects.

I used Tmpgenc with other avis and had no issues. The only thing I did different this time was to use a mpeg created by Ulead and had it re-encoded by Tmpgenc. Is it a known issue for Tmpgenc to re-encode mpeg created by some program else but itself?
Does anyone have similar experience with TMPGenc giving similar artifacts in highest quality mode with mpeg or avi inputs?
I would love to hear from you.

[mats.hogberg]

I never use "Highest", as it to my eyes doesn't add one bit of increased quality (compared to the second best setting) but increases encoding times horribly.

/Mats