Capture image quality (does this look right?)

[nicknick]

The ES10 is on it's way. I expect it wednesday.I will post some new samples then.

[sanlyn]

Had some time this weekend to rework the AV2 video. Two versions here: an mkv encoded with x264, a standard MPG for PAL DVD (MPEG2). For MPEG, it takes twice the bitrate of x264bto get about the same quality. The biggest problems with AV1, AV2, and AV3 is the interlacing problem (probably associated with the capture device) and the fact that the original tape has more noise than at first meets the eye.

I used the same AVS script for both versions, but different encoders: TMPGEnc Mastering Works 5 for the mkv, TMPGenc Plus 2.5 for the DVD. Cleaning the video required more Avisynth work than I'd like; sawtooth edges and combing were the big headaches. Likely you could eventually use enough edge cleaners to repair the interlace problem, but you can see that the few filters used have softened the video; more edge cleaning would soften more, so I took it as far as I dared. I've seen these interlacing artifacts on several capture devices during the past few years. I've no solution except to acquire a better capture device or use more filtration. Anyone with a better edge cleaner is welcome to chime in. Most such anti-alias or anti-combing filters are slow and destructive.

Video with camera jiggling, bouncing and panning requires high bitrates. There's no way around it except to filter the devil out of the video. I also made a purely progressive version as well. But it had clunky motion at 25FPS and was hardly any cleaner as far as edges go.

The script shows what I used in Avisynth, finished off with some rather low-power NeatVideo in VirtualDub. For "problem" VHS tapes I'd suggest that you acquire a copy of NeatVideo. You can't use it for everything, but for polishing off repairs on bad videotape it's hard to beat. This is a slow script that was running at 6 to 8 fps until I added the blur/sharpen edge cleaning routine, which slowed it down to ~4 fps. NeatVideo, run separately, ran about 15 fps.

# #=== AVisynth plugins used:
#-QTGMC-3.32.avsi
#-Vinverse.dll
#-SMoothAdjust.dll
#-Cnr2.dll
#-awarpsharp.dll
#-DeHalo_Alpha.avsi
#-Stab.avs
#-DePanEstimate.dll
#-RemoveDirt.avs
#-RemoveGrain package v1.0
#-LSFMod.avsi
#-GrainFractory3.avsi
#-AddGrainC.dll
# -----------------------------
# #=== VirtualDub plugins used:
#-NeatVideo v3, about 35% power, moderate sharpen
 
LoadCPlugin("drive:\path\to\plugins\yadif.dll")
Import("drive:\path\to\plugins\RemoveDirt.avs")
Import("drive:\path\to\plugins\Stab.avs")

Avisource("drive:\path\to\video\AV2.avi")
Trim(51,0)
ColorYUV(cont_y=-10,off_y=2,cont_v=50,cont_u=-15,off_u=-1)
ConvertToYV12(interlaced=true)
AssumeTFF().QTGMC("ultra fast",EZDenoise=2.0).vInverse()
SmoothLevels(16,1.0,255,16,250,chroma=200,limiter=0,tvrange=true,dither=100,protect=6)

# === use a contrast mask to bring up shadows in trees + tame highlights
a=last
mask=a.Greyscale().Invert().ColorYUV(cont_y=100).Blur(0.5)
Overlay(a,0,0,mask)

Cnr2("xxx",4,5,255)
# === do a little sawtooth edge smoothing ===
Blur(0.5).Blur(0.5).Sharpen(0.7)
MergeChroma(awarpsharp2(depth=30))
DeHalo_Alpha()
stab()
RemoveDirt(20,0,false)
LSFMod()
# add light grain to try to fake a little extra "detail"
grainfactory3(g1str=4, g2str=4, g3str=4)
addgrainc(0,2)
Crop(6,4,-4,-8).AddBorders(4,6,6,6)
# #=== reinterlace ===#
AssumeTFF().SeparateFields().SelectEvery(4,0,3).Weave()
return last

[jagabo]

Personally, I don't bother to encode for any interlaced medium any more. For interlaced material I'll usually QTGMC and encode with x264 at 59.94 FPS NTSC, or 50 fps PAL. For film based material I'll IVTC and encode at 23.976 fps (NTSC) or 25 FPS (PAL), and again, encoded with x264. All videos now go onto my NAS and are played via different media players in the house (computers, WDTV Live, Blu-ray players, etc.).

[sanlyn]

Actually didn't try this at 59.94 FPS. For standard def AVCHD/BD for set top disc, doesn't that have to be interlaced? Or process at 59.94 progressive and encode as interlaced?

[jagabo]

Actually didn't try this at 59.94 FPS. For standard def AVCHD/BD for set top disc, doesn't that have to be interlaced?

Yes. But I don't use AVCHD. I just make MKV files that I can play on all the devices I have (my Blu-ray player isn't limited to AVCHD specs for MKV playback).

[sanlyn]

My OPPO can probably handle it. Will give it a try.

[sanlyn]

And at this point I guess I should mention:
AV1 and AV3 have no audio.
AV2 has right-channel audio only.

[nicknick]

I just got my ES10 and did a short test.I recorded with my vcr connected to the capture card (direct.avi).
I recorded with my vcr connected trough the ES15 (es15.avi).
I recorded with my vcr connected trough the ES10 (es10.avi).


This time i used an other vhs tape. I have attached the clips to this post. But it's already clear that the ES10 and ES15 seem to do the same thing. They cleared up a great deal of the bottom part of the video.
I'm not sure if the ES10 does a better job then the ES15, but there is no harm in having both.


About the sound:
I didn't bother connecting the audio for the direct recording. And the other 2 recordings only have one channel (possibly because of a lose cable).

[sanlyn]

ES10 and ES15 look identical. To answer the qustion of the thread;s title: Does it look right? Well...it looks much better than the original, but it doesn't look "right". Levels are within the valid RGB16-235 range (for PC color, but not for TV display), and color is oversaturated.To a large extent, luma and chroma are affected by each other, but you can have a "dark" luma with oversaturated color, which is what you have in both captures. Each can be adjusted independently in YUV. The Avisynth capture histogram doesn't pinpoint saturation issues in themselves; that's something you have to judge by eye most of the time. You can tell if colors are oversaturated when you have what appears to be a "correct" luma range, but colors begin to bloom and look plastic.

The filter control that I set in VirtualDub capture is this one:



The dialog that appears is based on my ATI 9600XT capture card:



There are other ways to do this, far more complex, but the controls shown are all you would need. Denoisers are too slow for capture, not very good anyway, and usually give you a colorspace conversation you don't want. Trying to correct "Hue" during VHS capture is an exercise in futility unless you have something really haywire coming in--and with VHS it will change with every camera shot anyway. And don't use the sharpener with VHS: all you'll sharpen is noise.

Two basic but serious problems. Your VCR is not not tracking properly, and your Pinnacle capture setup is not interlacing correctly. What Pinnacle is doing incorrectly is up for grabs, and maybe a Pinnacle user can help with that, but my experience over the years with Pinnacle is that it really isn't that great and causes a lot of problems that are almost impossible to correct.

Your "direct" capture and other captures demonstrate that your VCR is mistracking. All that noise along the bottom of your captures is severe. The pass-thru is obviously correcting some of those problems, but you can't expect it to work miracles. The edges look "better" after pass-thru, but they're incredibly noisy and ragged. Old and damaged tapes are always a problem, but IMO you really need some VCR maintenance or a better player. I'd also opt for a better capture device, even though I know they are difficult to find. Other members might have ideas on that, or some who look at your captures can offer more analysis about playback issues.

The attached mkv is so heavily filtered to reduce mistracking and interlace problems, I wouldn't be satisfied with it. It's the best I could get without using even more filters and destroying more data. Some of the scratchy edges look like worn or dirty video heads.

Also: your captured audio sampling rate was incorrect. You had 96Khz, it should be 48Khz for DVD/BD/AVCHD and most other formats.

[nicknick]

I will check on the VCR problem. The JVC i have does have a option called "BEST", a fancy name for auto tracking i assume. I will enable this for the next recording (i cause problems with some tapes, it went nuts).

About the capture device. I still have some other option lying around. I also have a component capture card somewhere, would the next setup help increasing the capture quality?
VCR > S-VIDEO > ES10 > Component > Capture card.


Or is this not recommended?

[sanlyn]

Nothing at all wrong with using a component connection if your card will accept it. Whether that card can capture to loss AVI or be rcognized by VirtualDub is another matter. It might encode only to MPEG.