Another PAL to NTSC import - hope I'm getting it right

[LMotlow]

Darned if I"m certain I'm doing this right, but it plays OK on DVD and TV. I recorded 9 episodes of an Australian TV show broadcast as NTSC, recorded as letterboxed 4:3 off a cable box using a DVD recorder. To restore the frame to 16:9 and get 3 episodes on a DL DVD disc, I clean up the odd interlace/blend pattern, resize, do some cleanup, and re-encode for DVD.

Yep, I know, this resize business ain't optimum but it's "great" (I hate that word) for some relatives who don't get this show where they live. I cap these in HD as well with a PVR, but none of the backward folks back home have BD players. Best I can figure, with blending removed I get 25fps PAL progressive, which I slow to 23.976 (maybe I should use 24fps?). Seems to work. Playback seems to flow at the right pace -- 25fps looks too fast IMO. This is the basic code I use, minus debanding, cleanup, and resizing, etc.:

vid=MPEG2Source("path to the original VOB/d2v on  DVD disc"
aud=WAVSource("path to the original VOB/d2v audio.wav")
AudioDub(vid,aud)
AssumeTFF().QTGMC(preset="very fast")
SRestore(frate=25)
AssumeFPS("ntsc_film",sync_audio=true)

Attached is a demuxed unprocessed m2v (and the .wav file if anyone wants it).
Also is attached is a 23.976 resized result (no pulldown)

[manono]

Didn't you say you capped HD? But we're getting SD? Anyway, I can't see anything as it's too dark for me. Maybe someone without the outside on the other side of their monitor can check.

[LMotlow]

Didn't you say you capped HD? But we're getting SD?

I captured both. But the folks only have DVD. And the Hauppauge has audio sync issues, which is twice the work. So when this broadcast was repeated I recorded DVD. Here's a brighter m2v. And, yep, I had to tweak this one -- the broadcast was a bit dim. Oughtta be enough lateral emotion to see things well.

[jagabo]

I cranked up the gamma and motion looked ok to me.

[LMotlow]

I found that resizing from this series, whether HD or SD, looked crappy unless I could get the videos into progressive form. Most of these Brit shows come in as 3:2 pulldown, but this maverick Aussie series doesn't use 3:2.

If motion looked OK in the first 23.976 sample mpg, then I guess I got it right. Looked OK on HDTV and a CRT. IVTC didn't work. I also kept looking for dropped frames using that script. I found one, after about5 minutes of video. Never came across another one.

[LMotlow]

I'm waiting for Black Friday, maybe I can get at least one of my 400 relatives a decent BD player on sale. Prob'ly a waste, though, they'd never know the difference.

[jagabo]

For faster processing you could use Yadif() or Interleave(TFM(field=0),TFM(field=1)) instead of QTGMC(). Reverse the TFM field arguments if necessary.

[LMotlow]

Yep, yadif often works better on the HD stuff I downsize, softens up some of that line twitter. The nine 4:3 episodes are what I have left and have low-bitrate artifacts and are kinda soft, so I used QTGMC. QTGMC goes OK by itself, about 17 fps processing, but it's the extra cleanup that slows things. The Christmas deadline is gaining on me, so I don't have time to get those same episodes in HD. The first 2 are a hassle, capped at 6200 VBR, the others are 8200 and easier to work with.

This is the first time I've run into that odd blend pattern on these PBS imports.

P.S.: And thanks, guys, for checking.