Ghosting in the captured footage

[retractOffer]

I have captured some PAL VHS-C tapes using the Panasonic camcorder that recorded the tapes + ATI-600 USB capture card. The captured footage has some sort of a ghosting effect as you can see around the face outlines in the attached sample. How can this be avoided during capture? I have tried both virtualdub and amarectv and they both exhibited this issue. I had to choose amarectv ultimately because of a/v sync issues with virtualdub.

Thanks

[dellsam34]

It looks like some sort of edge correction applied, Try to turn off all the effects in the camcorder, alternatively try a VCR. Also always post the model number of the hardware you are using to save time and number of posts.

[jagabo]

Typical VHS oversharpening halos. Turn off all sharpen filters in your capture chain. If your VHS deck doesn't have a setting get a different deck.

[retractOffer]

It looks like some sort of edge correction applied, Try to turn off all the effects in the camcorder, alternatively try a VCR. Also always post the model number of the hardware you are using to save time and number of posts.

Thanks. The camcorder is Panasonic NV-VS70EN. I turned off DNR on the camcorder but the issue persists.

[retractOffer]

Typical VHS oversharpening halos. Turn off all sharpen filters in your capture chain. If your VHS deck doesn't have a setting get a different deck.

I've turned down "Sharpness" in the capture device's settings from 2 to 0, but it didn't make any difference for the halos.

[Attachment 54695 - Click to enlarge]

[retractOffer]

It's worth noting that I also tried with another exact same camcorder and I still see the halo. At this point I'm not sure if this is because of the tape or the camcorder. If it's for the tape, can a deck fix it?

[jagabo]

The digital sharpness setting in your capture device works at a different bandwidth than the analog sharpening filter in a VHS deck (about 3 pixels vs. 7 pixels in a 720 pixel wide cap). So adjusting the proc amp won't make much of a difference (it just increases noise in a VHS cap). You need to reduce the sharpness setting in the VHS deck. Unfortunately, many decks don't have a control for it, it's just always on and way overactive.

Here's an example of a software dehalo. Before on the left, after reducing halos on the right:

[Attachment 54696 - Click to enlarge]

[lordsmurf]

Panasonic is infamous for oversharpening.

[Alwyn]

Here's an example of a software dehalo. Before on the left, after reducing halos on the right

Jagabo, how did you actually do that? It came out pretty well, although the facial features are less distinct.

[jagabo]

Here's an example of a software dehalo. Before on the left, after reducing halos on the right

Jagabo, how did you actually do that? It came out pretty well, although the facial features are less distinct.

Yes, removing halos after capture can be very damaging to the picture. That's why you want to avoid them while capturing.

I used a filter called dehalo_alpha() in AviSynth:

AviSource("_pal_halo_org.avi") 
ConvertToYV12(interlaced=true)
AssumeTFF()
QTGMC(sharpness=0.6)

BilinearResize(width/2, height)
dehalo_alpha(rx=3.0, ry=1.0)
TurnRight().nnedi3(dh=true).TurnLeft()

You could also use a mask to limit the halo reduction to just the worst halos (bright white, sharpest vertical edges, etc.).

[Alwyn]

Thanks Jabago.