Best way to upscale a 480p video to 1080p?

[fighuass]

I have a few Anime episodes only available in 480p (old) and I want them to be 1080p. I've tried Avisynth, Video Enhancer & After Effects. Problem is, when the quality is good, it takes like 5~8 hours to encode, which is wayyy too long for me.

What can I do to preserve as much quality as possible? Size doesn't matter to me, quality and encode time do.

Here's a MediaInfo of a file I want to encode as an example:

General
Unique ID                   : 244857016911356285905704324365619845703 (0xB835BF002AA2BFC2A7EC2B3A78105A47)
Complete name               : C:\Users\Jeroen\Videos\TEST\480.mkv
Format                      : Matroska
Format version              : Version 2
File size                   : 140 MiB
Duration                    : 22mn 36s
Overall bit rate            : 864 Kbps
Encoded date                : UTC 2012-10-02 19:42:08
Writing application         : mkvmerge v5.2.0 ('I can't explain') built on Dec 18 2011 18:12:03
Writing library             : libebml v1.2.3 + libmatroska v1.3.0
Attachements                : Amira-Semibold.otf

Video
ID                          : 1
Format                      : AVC
Format/Info                 : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile              : Main@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC      : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames   : 6 frames
Codec ID                    : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                    : 22mn 36s
Nominal bit rate            : 768 Kbps
Width                       : 848 pixels
Height                      : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio        : 16:9
Frame rate mode             : Constant
Frame rate                  : 23.976 fps
Color space                 : YUV
Chroma subsampling          : 4:2:0
Bit depth                   : 8 bits
Scan type                   : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)          : 0.079
Writing library             : x264 core 120 r2120 0c7dab9
Encoding settings           : cabac=1 / ref=6 / deblock=1:1:1 / analyse=0x1:0x111 / me=umh / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=0.40:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=0 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=4 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=50 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=768 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=1536 / vbv_bufsize=3840 / nal_hrd=none / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:0.60
Default                     : Yes
Forced                      : Yes

Audio
ID                          : 2
Format                      : AAC
Format/Info                 : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile              : LC
Codec ID                    : A_AAC
Duration                    : 22mn 36s
Channel(s)                  : 2 channels
Channel positions           : Front: L R
Sampling rate               : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode            : Lossy
Default                     : Yes
Forced                      : Yes

Text
ID                          : 3
Format                      : ASS
Codec ID                    : S_TEXT/ASS
Codec ID/Info               : Advanced Sub Station Alpha
Compression mode            : Lossless
Default                     : Yes
Forced                      : Yes

[jagabo]

Too long to upscale or too long to encode? Are you performing any other filtering?

[fighuass]

Encode, I guess. I execute the filter using Virtualdub, and it takes 5h to render the file.

As for filtering, I'm using this (Avisynth):

import("c:\Program Files (x86)\AviSynth\plugins\GradFun2DBmod.avs")
LoadPlugin ("C:\Program Files (x86)\AviSynth\plugins\RemoveGrainSSE2.dll")
LoadPlugin ("C:\Program Files (x86)\AviSynth\plugins\dfttest.dll")
LoadPlugin ("C:\Program Files (x86)\AviSynth\plugins\gradfun2db.dll")

ffvideosource("480.mkv")
nnedi3_rpow2(rfactor=2,cshift="spline64resize")
spline64resize(1696,960)
crop(8,6,-8,-6)
spline64resize(1920,1080)
crop(0,120,-0,-120)
dfttest(sigma=8.0)
aWarpSharp2(depth=20)
Gradfun2dbmod(str=0,radius=1,range=1, adapt=1, temp=20, thr=2)

[Cornucopia]

Why need it STORED as 1080p? Why not just leave it as is and let your TV scale it on playback?

Scott

[fighuass]

I want to watch the video on my tablet, not my TV, as my family is using it. And my tablet has a 1600p resolution, so scaling looks horrible.

On a side note: Does it matter if you use a TV, Computer or Tablet when talking about resizing? How does the device influence the resize?

Edit: Got to go, I'll return tomorrow.

[theewizard]

please don't say resizing if you mean scaling and vise versa, it confuses the issue (at least for me)

resize is when you are processing /encoding to a new file

scaling is what the TV or video player does to display it

and if your tablet does a bad job of upscaling the video, maybe you should try a different "player" app/program on your tablet

[fighuass]

I'm using mxplayer, and I don't think there is a better one.

[theewizard]

"ffvideosource("480.mkv")
nnedi3_rpow2(rfactor=2,cshift="spline64resize")
spline64resize(1696,960)
crop(8,6,-8,-6)
spline64resize(1920,1080)
crop(0,120,-0,-120)"

if i'm reading this correctly your resizing TWICE aka 2 times

what the heck for ?

resize it one time, it won't take as long and the quality will be better

[fighuass]

I'm using this script from a blog, but I believe it's done to get the correct aspect ratio. I'll try just resizing it once tomorrow.

[theewizard]

why crop away video top an bottom to make it fit the 16:9 screen, thats a waste

resize once once to double height and width, it will almost fill the screen, black bars on the side, but you will have the full frame
nothing removed

and BTW if your forcing Mxplayer to stretch the original video to 16:9
that is why it looks bad

[fighuass]

Good point, but is there a way to put the black bars on the top and bottom of the video instead of the sides?

[theewizard]

that depends on the aspect of the source file
4:3 is almost square, 16:9 is wide, you can't but bars on top an bottom, with out cropping away video
unless you want to hold your tablet vertical
if your tablet is truly HD 1920/1080
and you resize to 1080/ XX, where 1080 is the width
and play the video with the tablet vertical
you will have bars top and bottom
Me i would prefer just double size, and watch normal, with bars on the side
just like watching an old TV show on a new TV

[jagabo]

Crop before any scaling. Then scale only once. But none of those filters is especially slow. Your problem is the encoding time. Use faster settings in the encoder.

nnedi3 is probably the best upscaler for AviSynth -- better than any media player or TV can do. Sometimes upscaling in two steps with an aWarpSharp() and Sharpen() in between can give sharper results with animation.

[fighuass]

I'll change the script to

ffvideosource("480.mkv")
nnedi3_rpow2(rfactor=2,cshift="spline64resize")
crop(0,120,-0,-120)
spline64resize(1920,1080)

What do you mean by using faster settings in the encoder? As changing the x264 settings in virtualdub?

[jagabo]

I'll change the script to

ffvideosource("480.mkv")
nnedi3_rpow2(rfactor=2,cshift="spline64resize")
crop(0,120,-0,-120)
spline64resize(1920,1080)

Crop before scaling. Resize only once with nnedi3 to the correct size.

What do you mean by using faster settings in the encoder? As changing the x264 settings in virtualdub?

Yes. Though AVI isn't a good container for AVC.

[fighuass]

Hmm, I think I'd best drop the cropping entirely and seeing how it works out. On a side note, what's the most lightweight anti aliasing filter?

[jagabo]

Hmm, I think I'd best drop the cropping entirely and seeing how it works out.

Why? The equivalent using your crop values are:

ffvideosource("480.mkv")
crop(0,60,-0,-60)
nnedi3_rpow2(rfactor=4,cshift="spline64resize", fwidth=1920, fheight=1080)

I haven't seen your source so I don't know if that crop or resize is appropriate. But it has the same effect as your two step resize.

Or in two steps:

ffvideosource("480.mkv")
crop(0,60,-0,-60)
nnedi3_rpow2(rfactor=2,cshift="spline64resize", fwidth=1280, fheight=720)
aWarpSharp(depth=2)
Sharpen(0.2)
nnedi3_rpow2(rfactor=2,cshift="spline64resize", fwidth=1920, fheight=1080)
aWarpSharp(depth=2)
Sharpen(0.2)

Though with Spline64Resize and the extra sharpening that will probably produce oversharpening halos.

On a side note, what's the most lightweight anti aliasing filter?

I don't know which is the lightest weight but I usually use Santiag() when I need antialiasing. It does a reasonable job without causing too much damage.

[fighuass]

I don't think the cropping's that necessary, but as I said, I'll test it.

[gregalan]

The frame size and bit rate you are starting with doesn't seem like it could be very good quality to start.
That may be the main reason it looks like crap on your tablet, I could be wrong it's according to the content.

If it needs denoising that should be done before the re-sizing, that's one reason the script was taking so long to render, you were denoising after the resize.
Spline64 has no big advantage over spline36, but spline36 is faster and about the same quality the difference between the two is hardly noticeable at all.

If it were me I would denoise, maybe a light awarpsharp, and then nnedi3_rpow2(rfactor=2).
If you leave out the cshift parameter it speeds up nnedi3, thats just to correct the center shift that nnedi3 introduces, it's not noticeable unless you compare screenshots.
There's really no benefit to resizing it to 1080p unless your tablets upscaling is utter crap, it will just waste time re-encoding and sd/hdd space.
But if you have to I would do it in one step with
nnedi3_rpow2(rfactor=2,cshift="Spline36Resize", fwidth=1920, fheight=1080)

Or
nnedi3_rpow2(rfactor=2,cshift="Lanczos4Resize", fwidth=1920, fheight=1080)


edit: I meant to type spline36, all corrected.

[fighuass]

Whoa, after tweaking the script quite a lot, it's now only 50 minutes. That's fast.

What the script now looks like:

ffvideosource("480.mkv")
aWarpSharp(depth=40)
Toon(strength=1)
nnedi3_rpow2(rfactor=2,cshift="Lanczos4Resize", fwidth=1920, fheight=1080)

Also, what would be the "best" android video player for upscaling, if there's a better one than MX?

[jagabo]

Somehow I missed the full script in post #3 and only saw the partial script quoted by thewizard in post #8. dfttest(sigma=8) is the biggest CPU hog in the full script. As gregalan pointed out, calling dfttest after cropping but before upscaling will be much faster.

aWarpSharp(depth=40) is really going to distort the picture and create a lot of buzzing edges.

Since we haven't seen your source it's hard to recommend particular settings. But try something like:

ColorMatrix(mode="rec.601->rec.709")
Santiag()
UnDot()
TemporalDegrain(SAD1=200, SAD2=150, Sigma=8)
nnedi3_rpow2(2,cshift="Spline36Resize", fwidth=1440, fheight=1080)
MergeChroma(aWarpSharp(depth=10),  aWarpSharp(depth=20))
Sharpen(0.2)

You can get even better denoising using DeDup() to remove duplicate frames before denoising. But then you'll have to encode VFR.

[theewizard]

If your resizing, you don't need to up scale while playing
If you want to let the player upscale, you don't need to resize
Just remember Not to stretch the video to 16:9, let it play in the original aspect 4:3 / 5:4 ?
Do a test, compare the new video in mx player to the source,not stretched
And go with want looks best to you
With a clean clear crisp quality source, there is probably little difference
But with an Iffy source, the re-encoded resized file will probably look better

[fighuass]

Here's a short part of the source: https://vid.me/ktPG

[jagabo]

That's about the most annoying clip you could have uploaded.

[theewizard]

Except for the shifting focus, it looks good, and does not needed be resized
I don't think You are not going to fix the focus problem by resizing, or sharpening
That will be a tedious frame by frame processes
Somebody else might know a short cut, but that is beyond me

When recording a screen with a camera, Turn Off Auto Focus
Set it manually and leave it

[jagabo]

Except for the shifting focus, it looks good, and does not needed be resized

He's claiming his player has poor upscaling.

[fighuass]

I'm not sure if it's my tablet or the player, and the shifting focus is intended to be a part of the video's "intro". Later on it disappears.

[theewizard]

then I would just do the test I mentioned above
But I think you will see little difference,
Unless your tablet is really poor at upscaling

[jagabo]

It's annoying trying to work with that video because there are so few clear frames between the blurred sections. Noise reduction, halo reduction, etc. mostly just made it worse so I left it at this:

ColorMatrix(mode="rec.601->rec.709")
aWarpSharp(depth=2)
nnedi3_rpow2(2, cshift="Spline36Resize", fwidth=1920, fheight=1080)
MergeChroma(aWarpSharp(depth=5), aWarpSharp(depth=20))
Sharpen(0.2)

That should be pretty fast as long as you don't use slow compression settings. I get about 25 fps with x264 at the veryfast preset, 6 fps at slow (i5, 2500K).

[fighuass]

^I get an error when opening the script,

"Script error: expected a or )
line 3 column 38


EDIT: Nevermind, it should be

ColorMatrix(mode="rec.601->rec.709")
aWarpSharp(depth=2)

instead of

ColorMatrix(mode="rec.601->rec.709aWarpSharp(depth=2)

As for the speed and quality of the script? The quality is great, and the speed equals 1 hour at 10~13fps for a 24 min video. That's good for me!