How to get rid of these image artifacts?

[AlvinusDeDiaspar]

First let's begin with my hardware stack:

- VCR is a JVC HR-S6600
- It's connected to a SCART->HDMI SpeakA Professional converter (link). The converter is upscaling to a 1024x768 pixel image (it's got a few possible output resolutions, the lowest being 800x600). I chose 1024x768 at 60hz because it's natively 4x3 and the source material is quite bad itself.
- The SpeakA converter is plugged to an Elgato CamLink 4K
- The audio is routed directly from the VCR to a Focusrite interface (and I'm quite happy with the audio quality)
- I'm using OBS to gather video+audio. I'm using a canvas of size 1024x768. I'm not doing any cropping (will do in post-prod).
- I have a pretty powerful PC (Ryzen 5900x, 64gb RAM, NVIDIA GTX 3060)

I'm working on converting some home-made tapes from my childhood. The quality is quite bad. Most of them are recorded in LP mode...

I am seeing this halo/ghosting effect, always to the right of the shapes. It's not the worst, but I'm wondering what's causing it. I do not see this effect when playing a commercial VHS tape. A separate issue is, I find images rather dark at times. Sadly I don't own an old TV so I can rule out my converter is doing something weird.

What's going on? How to mitigate this problem?
Also, given the hardware I own, am I making the right choices?


[Attachment 77131 - Click to enlarge]

[Attachment 77132 - Click to enlarge]

[AlvinusDeDiaspar]

I just fixed the problem with image darkness. Setting the upscaler's frequency to 50hz (since the source video is PAL) has a pretty dramatic effect in the luminance.

Sadly, the 50hz option is only available for 720p and 1080p, which means that I need to unstretch the input image during video capture.

I believe this is a nice scart->hdmi converter and upscaler, but perhaps this is not the best use for it.

This is a low-light photogram from Flubber (commercial copy). The image is blurry and lacks detail.

[Attachment 77147 - Click to enlarge]

Also, the ghosting problem in my home-made VHS's is as bad as it was. There's no ghosting whatsoever in my captures from my camcorder (which reads vhs-c), so this artifact is either a problem in the vhs tapes, a problem of the VCR (but there's no ghosting in Flubber!), or a problem arising from the interaction b/w the VCR and my scart->hdmi converter.

[rgr]

Start by throwing away this converter.
If you want a "professional" rip from HDMI, buy a Panasonic DMR-EH57 (575, 58, 585 etc. are cheap, the drive doesn't have to be functional).
Connect the audio to a converter (but not this one) to avoid possible audio/video delay.
And don't use OBS.

[AlvinusDeDiaspar]

Start by throwing away this converter.
If you want a "professional" rip from HDMI, buy a Panasonic DMR-EH57 (575, 58, 585 etc. are cheap, the drive doesn't have to be functional).
Connect the audio to a converter (but not this one) to avoid possible audio/video delay.
And don't use OBS.

What's a good alternative to OBS?

By the way, from o purely technical perspective, is it possible this ghosting effect is already baked into the tape (meaning, it's not an artifact caused during playback) and therefore it's to some degree impossible to get rid of?

I'm working with home-made tapes which are the result of recording (using low-quality VCRs mostly, and in LP mode!) input AV signals coming from a Samsung VHS-C camcorder.

[jagabo]

is it possible this ghosting effect is already baked into the tape

Possible, but extremely unlikely. Especially with home camcorder video.

[AlvinusDeDiaspar]

is it possible this ghosting effect is already baked into the tape

Possible, but extremely unlikely. Especially with home camcorder video.

Then what would you say is the source of this ghosting? The VCR itself? The analog->digital conversion step (with the SpeakA converter)?

Thing is, I see no ghosting at all in the one and only commercial VHS tape I have available, which is the Flubber movie. The image there is quite nice and shapes aren't casting this dim shadow on their right side.

[oln]

Are the tapes tapes that have been copied? The effect in the first image in particular is something that isn't uncommon on 2nd or nth generation tape dubs as the effects of going through the processing inside the vcrs multiple times stack up.

Allthough the capture method probably is not ideal since the converter is upscaling don't think that's what's causing it.

Changing the Picture setting to edit the JVC or turning off/on "B.E.S.T" (aka "video calibartion on american models) may or may not help a little on the second one.

[jagabo]

Most likely the analog to HDMI converter is causing the problem by blending the two fields together. Your commercial tape has both fields from the same film frame so you don't get ghosting. The camcorder video is interlaced so bending the two fields together looks like a double exposure anywhere there is motion.

You should upload a short capture file (don't re-encode it) for a more definitive analysis.