Is RGB Lagarith lossy for colour compared to YUY2?

[bigbadben]

Hi all,

I am converting VHS to my PC and using Lagarith and plan to convert the 7 videos I have done so far within Virtualdub2 to FFV1. Is YUY2 and YV12 lossless? I heard that RGB is lossy from a Youtube video? How do I get FFV1 maximum compression within Virtualdub2?

[jagabo]

You should never capture as RGB. The capture should always be YUY2 or other YUV 4:2:2 arrangement. Lagarith is always lossless if you keep the color format the same. If you convert color format it will not be lossless. The color conversion will cause losses, lagarith will then compress that losslessly.

[dvd3500]

How does one determine the color format?

[poisondeathray]

How does one determine the color format?

Can you clarify the question ?

In what context? Of the source, same random file ?

Sometimes you can use mediainfo, other times ffprobe

[dvd3500]

What I meant is that I am pretty sure I can figure out what codec was used but not what color format.
If I understand your response I can see it using mediainfo...

[jagabo]

Even knowing what format the codec uses doesn't guarantee what you get from a particular decoder. For example NTSC DV is stored internally as YUV 4:1:1 (720x480 luma 180x480 chroma). Most decoders output YUV 4:2:2 (720x480 luma 360x480 chroma). At least one outputs RGB 4:4:4 (720x480 R, G and B).

[dvd3500]

Exactly that is my point.
If I can't be sure of the color format I don't know how best to handle the video.

I am planning on finally digitizing some home videos and am trying to figure out how best to go about it.
DV video is a option....

[jagabo]

I am planning on finally digitizing some home videos and am trying to figure out how best to go about it.
DV video is a option....

It shouldn't be. Capture as YUY2, encode with a lossless codec like huffyuv or lagarith in yuy2 mode. Filter and encode from there.

[Cornucopia]

If you are trying to figure out how to BEST handle the video, follow jagabo's advice if you are starting from Analog sources. If you are starting from already DV sources, just transfer the DV stream, but DV is NOT the "best" option for analog sources, merely a sometimes convenient one.


Scott

[dvd3500]

Thanks folks.
That was exactly the advice I was looking for.