Horizontal lines and block noise in VHS capture

[elbenno]

Hi everyone, I am capturing VHS to my laptop, using a JVC HR-S8500 with TBC, capturing via Easycap with SVHS for video, and using Virtualdub to save the capture as an AVI compressed with Lagarith, before I filter the capture in Avisynth and save as a deinterlaced H264 MP4.

During my capture I noticed 2 types of noise:


Horizontal lines (see the shadows)


Blocks (see the floor)

You can download the video fragment here.

Current script is:

LoadPlugin("D:\SOFTWARE\OUD\avisynth\RemoveGrain-1.0\RemoveGrainSSE2.dll")
loadplugin("D:\SOFTWARE\OUD\avisynth\mvtools2.dll" )
LoadPlugin("D:\SOFTWARE\OUD\avisynth\nnedi3.dll")
LoadPlugin("D:\SOFTWARE\OUD\avisynth\install\02 install\RemoveGrain\SSE2Tools.dll")
LoadPlugin("D:\SOFTWARE\OUD\avisynth\QTGMC 32-bit Plugins\Avisynth 32-bit Plugins\2.5x Plugins\mt_masktools-25.dll")
import("D:\SOFTWARE\OUD\avisynth\QTGMC-3.32.avsi")
LoadPlugin("D:\SOFTWARE\OUD\avisynth\autolevels.dl l")

AviSource("VHS.avi")
ConvertToYUY2
AssumeTFF()
QTGMC(Preset="Faster")
ColorYUV(autowhite=true)

My workflow is to deinterlace with QTGMC, which solves some of the blockiness although not all, and I am left with the horizontal lines.
Would you have any advice on preventing these horizontal lines during the capture or a good filter to remove them during my avisynth conversion? Thank you for your help!
I also probably should capture in Huffyuv, because it compresses more, and I will lose the first conversion in my script, right?

[JVRaines]

You could try using a different s-video cable, but those look like problems in the recording. I'm sure jagabo will be along in a few minutes to share some Avisynth wizardry with you.

[jagabo]

Defreq() in AviSynth should be able to reduce the stripes. But I don't know how to use it.
http://www.avisynth.nl/users/fizick/defreq/defreq.html

[restore-chappy]

You can try my method in Virtualdub using the `2D Comb Filter` and `Frequency suppressor of the noise`
Tweak the Frequency suppressor settings to around 20 for each level setting or you lose too much detail.

BTW You mentioned that Huffyuv compresses better than Lagerith but this is quite the opposite (your sample file is Lagerith)






You can also try a method i learned from Jagabo where you resize down by half or 25% then resize back up

the image gets a bit more softer and noiser but the lines do get fainter etc.

[LMotlow]

BTW You mentioned that Huffyuv compresses better than Lagerith but this is quite the opposite (your sample file is Lagerith)

True. And the O.P. is capturing in RGB. Should be capturing in YUY2.

Defreq() in AviSynth should be able to reduce the stripes.

Maybe, but I've seen it tried many times. DeFreq doesn't seem to have any effect on that noise, especially since it doesn't move much

[elbenno]

Thank you for your great suggestions. I played around with some of the filters and got some tradeoff effects, so losing some quality. After hours of testing I remembered my old capture device, the Envivo VHS to DVD Maker, of which I found the drivers that still work in Windows 10 here: https://www.teknihall.be/en/downloads/envivo/1335

After comparing, it seems that the Easycap device introduced the horizontal lines and blocky artefacts, as the Envivo capture is clean:


Easycap capture


Envivo capture

Afterwards I adjusted the capture filter to lighten up the Envivo capture, and then I was really happy with the outcome!

Then I captured Huffyuv, with YUY2 (in capture pin), but now I cannot open the files in Avisynth and gives me the error "avisource couldn't locate a decompressor for fourcc hfyu". This confuses me, as VirtualDub has no problems. Would you have advice how to fix this? I use the 64 bit version of huffyuv, with 64bit virtualdub, AviSynth_260. Thanks!

[jagabo]

Make sure you use all 32 bit or all 64 bit versions of each piece of software in the AviSynth chain. For example, use 32 bit AviSynth, 32 bit AviSynth filters, 32 bit codecs, and a 32 bit editor/encoder. The 32 bit and 64 bit subsystems are completely separate and cannot see each others' components.

And your ezcap capture is probably closer to the original video than the other device. You just have to know how to deal with interlaced video.

[elbenno]

Thanks, Jagabo, going to make sure there are all 32bit.

[elbenno]

Thanks, I installed the 32bit of Huffyuv on my 64 bit system and that solved it, I can happily capture my videos now! Thank you so much!

I used this to install:

Go to the Start menu/button > All Programs > Accessories and right click on Command Prompt then Left Click on "Run as Administrator".
A little black DOS window should appear that will say "Administrator Command Prompt" at the top.
In this example we are assuming that your copy of Windows was installed to the standard directory (C:\Windows), and that you extracted the huffyuv files to a folder on your c drive called "downloads". navigate to the SysWOW64 folder by typing: cd c:\windows\syswow64 and then press enter.
Again, in the DOS box, type rundll32.exe setupapi.dll,InstallHinfSection DefaultInstall 0 c:\downloads\huffyuv.inf and press enter. Pay close attention to the spacing (or lack thereof). And that's a "zero" in the last half of the command, not the letter "O". There's no space around that comma. What you type has to match perfectly.
If there are no error messages, then it has installed correctly.