Horizontal Red and Green Lines (GV-USB2)

[WhiteboyUltima]

Hmm I'm wondering now if I should just encode audio to MP3 rather than AAC.

[Alwyn]

Interesting notes on MP3 verses AAC here.

Just stick with AAC. The world will not end.

[WhiteboyUltima]

Welp I have my final file now I believe, I used CRF14 in x264 which is pretty much overkill compression quality but I did notice better details with that setting compared to CRF16. Gives me a 3.2GB file for a 40 min video. I set 'none' for tuning, and 'veryslow' processing time.

For audio I specified AAC at 96kbps per channel, (48KHz) which resulted in exactly 192kbps - and this time it showed as a constant bitrate in MediaInfo! So I will be using this setting every time now

Here's the final stats using MediaInfo:

Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : Base Media
Codec ID                                 : isom (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size                                : 3.24 GiB
Duration                                 : 39 min 22 s
Overall bit rate                         : 11.8 Mb/s
Frame rate                               : 50.000 FPS
Writing application                      : Lavf57.79.100

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L5
Format settings                          : CABAC / 16 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames        : 16 frames
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 39 min 22 s
Bit rate                                 : 11.6 Mb/s
Width                                    : 1 440 pixels
Height                                   : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 4:3
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 50.000 FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.149
Stream size                              : 3.18 GiB (98%)
Writing library                          : x264 core 157 r2935M 545de2f
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=16 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=10 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=24 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=24 / lookahead_threads=4 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=8 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=60 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=14.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Color range                              : Limited
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709
Codec configuration box                  : avcC

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AAC LC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID                                 : mp4a-40-2
Duration                                 : 39 min 22 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 192 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 54.2 MiB (2%)
Default                                  : Yes
Alternate group                          : 1

All seems good to my untrained eyes.

Thanks again for being with me on this journey to digitising my first VHS I wonder if there is some way to move the last 5 pages of posts to a new thread though, as the topic quickly changed from my Hanover bars problem, to well, everything else.

[Sharc]

Sidenote on audio formats: If undecided one can encode the audio as aac and put it in track1 and mp3 in track2, so one has the choice for playback
Multiplexing various streams like video,audio1,audio2,subtitles in an .mkv container is straightforward and very fast with mkvtoolnix, for example. It doesn't reencode, it just (re-)multiplexes.

[Sharc]

Sidenote on the video encode:
Format profile High@L5 may cause compatibility issues with some players/TVs. L5 was set by Vdub probably due to the upscale to 1440x1080@50fps (I would have to check to be sure where it comes from). Also mbtree=1 has caused issues in the past with some devices. Not to frighten you, just to make you aware, in case..... Sometimes one can cheat the player by just setting the level to a lower value, like 4.1 or 4.0. The cheat may or may not work in case of playback problems.
It shouldn't be a problem for newer devices though.
Low CRF - without setting buffer constraints - may produce temporary high bitrate spikes (much depending on the video details, motion, sharpness, noise, artefacts ...) which may cause temporary stutter on some devices or when streaming over bandwidth limited home networks or mediocre WiFi connections. Less of a problem for low resolution VHS encodes though.

[WhiteboyUltima]

Sidenote on the video encode:
Format profile High@L5 may cause compatibility issues with some players/TVs. L5 was set by Vdub probably due to the upscale to 1440x1080@50fps (I would have to check to be sure where it comes from). Also mbtree=1 has caused issues in the past with some devices. Not to frighten you, just to make you aware, in case..... Sometimes one can cheat the player by just setting the level to a lower value, like 4.1 or 4.0. The cheat may or may not work in case of playback problems.
It shouldn't be a problem for newer devices though.

I wouldn't know how to change/set L5 or mbtree, not do I know what they even do... I'll only ever be playing these on modern PCs or Android phone and possibly YouTube, so hopefully those all work. No plans to convert to DVD/Blu-Ray (at this stage!)

[Sharc]

.... I'll only ever be playing these on modern PCs or Android phone and possibly YouTube, so hopefully those all work

Yes should work. That's a significant reduction of your device compatibility requirements then.

[Alwyn]

Interesting. I'm getting L4.2 for both CRF 16 and 8000kbps at 1440x1080:

General
General
Complete name                            : I:\Linda\Exports\199600 Linda 2 Zoo J3 645 200 GV(20251225-1003) 1440x1080 CRF16 709.mp4
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : Base Media
Codec ID                                 : isom (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size                                : 163 MiB
Duration                                 : 1 min 25 s
Overall bit rate                         : 16.0 Mb/s
Frame rate                               : 50.000 FPS
Writing application                      : Lavf57.79.100

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L4.2
Format settings                          : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames        : 4 frames
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 1 min 25 s
Bit rate                                 : 15.8 Mb/s
Width                                    : 1 440 pixels
Height                                   : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 4:3
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 50.000 FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.203
Stream size                              : 161 MiB (99%)
Writing library                          : x264 core 157 r2935M 545de2f
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=24 / lookahead_threads=4 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=16.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Color range                              : Limited
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709
Codec configuration box                  : avcC

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AAC LC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID                                 : mp4a-40-2
Duration                                 : 1 min 25 s
Duration_LastFrame                       : -11 ms
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 192 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate                               : 46.875 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 1.96 MiB (1%)
Default                                  : Yes
Alternate group                          : 1

[Sharc]

Interesting. I'm getting L4.2 for both CRF 16 and 8000kbps at 1440x1080:

Your x264 preset was probably much lower (medium or slow?) than the OP's. See for example the number of ref frames (4 vs 16!).
The OP appears to be on the 'veryslow' trip

[Alwyn]

I use the default: Medium.


[Attachment 90449 - Click to enlarge]

[Sharc]

Notes on device compatibility:
Some HW DVD/Bluray players/TVs even reject to play L4.2. Maximum is often L4.1. Also, for .mp4 container the only audio accepted is AAC, and for .mkv container mp3/DolbyDigital/DTS. Similar, maximum framerate for 1440x1080 is 30fps rather than 50 or 60fps to be compliant with L4.1.
Pretty much wild west with surprises. The manuals should tell. These devices are made to play DVD and bluray discs first hand.

[Sharc]

... If you zoom in/go close to your screen, you'll see that the processing has introduced these diagonal coloured lines for some reason (look at the child's right arm and pillow) - what could this be? Just a natural part of QTGMC? ....

Taking a second look: Those "diagonal patterns" are definitely not caused by QTGMC. They exist already in the fields of the capture i.e. before QTGMC() deinterlacing.
I would double check the quality of your S-Video cable. Similar patterns are produced by C<->Y wire crosstalk or external interference due to poorly screened and/or unnecessary long S-Video cables. One can also see dotcrawl in the head switching crud at the bottom of the pictures which also points to possible crosstalk issues. So it may pay off to try a better cable. Cheap S-Video cables ore often poorly screened.

[Sharc]

deleted (double post)

[WhiteboyUltima]

I use the default: Medium.


[Attachment 90449 - Click to enlarge]

According to the x264 wiki, it says to go as slow as setting as you have time for, which is what I did haha. I did notice slight differences in accuracy of the image with slower speeds.

[WhiteboyUltima]

... If you zoom in/go close to your screen, you'll see that the processing has introduced these diagonal coloured lines for some reason (look at the child's right arm and pillow) - what could this be? Just a natural part of QTGMC? ....

Taking a second look: Those "diagonal patterns" are definitely not caused by QTGMC. They exist already in the fields of the capture i.e. before QTGMC() deinterlacing.
I would double check the quality of your S-Video cable. Similar patterns are produced by C<->Y wire crosstalk or external interference due to poorly screened and/or unnecessary long S-Video cables. One can also see dotcrawl in the head switching crud at the bottom of the pictures which also points to possible crosstalk issues. So it may pay off to try a better cable. Cheap S-Video cables ore often poorly screened.

It's actually a decent cable. About 1m long. Not the cheap rubbish ones as I originally bought it for my Nintendo 64, as the cheap ones have incorrect luma/brightness. It's also not the most expensive, there are probably premium ones with mega amounts of shielding etc.

As it stands, I am very happy and will not be recapturing this tape - those lines are extremely faint in the resulting mp4 and only really noticeable in one short scene when you get close to the display. Onto the next tape with all my learnings! Thank you both again