H.264 encoding advice for uncompressed VHS captures Blackmagic

[Ferggue]

Hello,

I’m looking for recommendations specifically about compression / encoding, starting from an uncompressed capture.
I am not looking to change capture hardware or capture format — only to improve the compression stage.


Source (capture master)

I capture VHS tapes using Blackmagic Intensity Pro with Media Express.
This is the file Media Express delivers:

Uncompressed master (.mov):

• Container: QuickTime (.mov)
  
• Video codec: 2vuy (UYVY)
  
• Resolution: 720×486 (clean aperture 704×480)
  
• Frame rate: 29.97 fps
  
• Scan type: Interlaced
  
• Field order: Bottom Field First
  
• Chroma: 4:2:2
  
• Bitrate: ~168 Mb/s
  
• Compression: Uncompressed / lossless
  
• Color matrix: BT.601 NTSC
  
• Audio: PCM 24-bit / 48 kHz

I’m satisfied with this file and keep it as the archival master.



Current compression (delivery file)

From this MOV, I encode using Adobe Media Encoder to H.264 MP4 for client delivery.


H.264 MP4 (current settings):

• Codec: H.264 (High@L3.1)
  
• Resolution: 720×484
  
• Frame rate: 29.97 fps
  
• Scan type: Interlaced
  
• Field order: Bottom Field First
  
• Chroma: 4:2:0
  
• Bitrate: ~2.1 Mb/s (VBR)
  
• Color matrix: BT.601
  
• Audio: AAC 192 kb/s

The problem

I understand the limitations of VHS and that H.264 is lossy, but the resulting MP4 looks noticeably softer than expected.
Fine detail seems to be lost, and the image feels over-smoothed / blurred, more than I would expect purely from the format change.

The uncompressed MOV clearly retains more usable detail than what survives the encode.


What I’m trying to achieve

• Deliver H.264 MP4 files (universally playable)
  
• Reasonable file size for home users
  
• Maximum perceived detail preserved from the master
  
• Content is home video, final use is home viewing

I am aware that deinterlacing happens during the H.264 encoding stage, and my question is not whether to deinterlace, but how to do this compression in the least destructive way.



My questions

1. Starting from this uncompressed 4:2:2 interlaced master, what would you recommend changing in the compression stage?
   
2. Is ~2 Mb/s too low for VHS in H.264 if detail preservation is the priority?
   
3. Would increasing bitrate alone help, or are there specific H.264 / x264-style settings (even conceptually, if not Adobe-specific) that better suit analog sources?
   
4. Are there common Adobe Media Encoder pitfalls when compressing analog interlaced material that I should avoid?

Thanks in advance.

[ozymango]

Hello,

I’m looking for recommendations specifically about compression / encoding, starting from an uncompressed capture.

From this MOV, I encode using Adobe Media Encoder to H.264 MP4 for client delivery.


H.264 MP4 (current settings):
[LIST][*]Codec: H.264 (High@L3.1)
[*]Resolution: 720×484
[*]Frame rate: 29.97 fps
[*]Scan type: Interlaced

I am aware that deinterlacing happens during the H.264 encoding stage, and my question is not whether to deinterlace, but how to do this compression in the least destructive way.

Hello. It sounds like you're transfering/creating videos for customers/clients? Well even if this is just for home use, while I'm not up on the latest versions of Adobe Media Encoder, I'm not all all clear on your interlaced/deinterlaced final output with your x264 files, and that could be a big issue right there, in terms of image quality.

Short version: I can see no reason why you want to have interlaced x264 files, and from my own experience, for best results, you want to deinterlace your video *before* you convert it to x264. That is, don't trust your media encoder to compress the video *and* deinterlace at the same time -- deinterlace first, and make sure that looks good, before then outputting to any compressed format.

I'm not at all clear on your workflow, but if you're currently doing the compression and deinterlacing at the same time, I'd change the steps so:

1) Capture uncompressed video
2) Deinterlace uncompressed video using AviSynth and QTGMC -- tons and tons of posts and articles and commentary on doing this step
3) Then compress your now-progressive video.

The deinterlacing step using AviSynth and QTGMC has really helped improve the quality of my own VHS captures, *IF* the intent is not to make into standard DVDs, but to share as x264 files.

[davexnet]

Perhaps a small sample of the source and corresponding h.264 encode wourld be useful

[Alwyn]

2000kbps is too low IMO. I use at least 5000kbps.

[jagabo]

2000kbps is too low

Exactly. VHS is very noisy. Noise does not compress easily. With insufficient bitrate that noise will be removed and along with it will go similar details of the video.

[Sharc]

@Ferguue
If filesize really matters and prohibits encoding at ~3x of your current low bitrate you would have to take the route of denoising your capture before encoding. Denoising would significantly improve the compressability, but you would have to find the sweet spot of denoising strength vs loss of wanted picture details. Depends on the denoiser and your acceptable compromise.
Can't help you with Encore and its settings/tools. For the x264 encoder one would probably prefer its "constant quality" mode and play with the rate factor (-crf 15 .... 18, for example).

[4kblurayguru]

deinterlace 59.94fps
bitrate crf 18
speed slow
2 pass

[rgr]

deinterlace 59.94fps
bitrate crf 18
speed slow
2 pass

Deinterlace - zależy czy potrzebne
CRF 18 - good (I prefer 17)
preset slow (or slower if speed doesn't matter)
2 pass for what??? 1 pass

You should get a bitrate between 5k and 10k.

[Barrythecrab]

If it is VHS isn't it ALWAYS Top Field First?

[jagabo]

If it is VHS isn't it ALWAYS Top Field First?

No. It depends on the capture device. Analog video is an alternating series of top and bottom fields. It has no field order. It's only when it's digitized that it acquires a field order. The capture device can start with a top field then weave in the next bottom field creating a top field first frame; or it can start with a bottom field then add in the next top field creating a bottom field first frame.

[Ferggue]

Hello colleagues,

First of all, thank you very much for taking the time to respond and for sharing your knowledge and experience. I truly appreciate it.

I did not have time until now to reply, but I can say that I have been experimenting with the material and the final results have improved significantly.

I have not yet been able to implement AviSynth and QTGMC, although I did attempt to do so. The learning curve is considerable and I have not yet found the time to dedicate to it properly, but I do plan to explore it further.

In the meantime, your advice helped me clearly understand that the final video should be exported as progressive, and that keeping it interlaced made little sense for my intended delivery format. That alone has already resulted in a noticeable improvement in the exported files.

For now, I continue using Adobe Media Encoder for the .mov files captured with Media Express, and VirtualDub2 for the .AVI files captured with VirtualDub2. It is practical for me, I am familiar with the ecosystem, and I am reasonably satisfied with the results at this stage.

In Adobe Media Encoder, I import the uncompressed files captured with the Blackmagic Intensity Pro and Media Express, which generate files with the following characteristics:

General
Complete name                            : D:\DIGITRABAJOS\Sulma Escobar\Egresados 1997.mov
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : QuickTime
Codec ID                                 : qt   2005.03 (qt  )
File size                                : 50.2 GiB
Duration                                 : 42 min 14 s
Overall bit rate                         : 170 Mb/s
Frame rate                               : 29.970 FPS
Encoded date                             : 2026-02-13 14:29:59 UTC
Tagged date                              : 2026-02-13 14:29:59 UTC
Writing library                          : Apple QuickTime
TIM                                      : 00:00:00;00
TSC                                      : 30000
TSZ                                      : 1001

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : YUV
Codec ID                                 : 2vuy
Duration                                 : 42 min 14 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 168 Mb/s
Width                                    : 720 pixels
Clean aperture width                     : 704 pixels
Height                                   : 486 pixels
Clean aperture height                    : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 4:3
Clean aperture display aspect ratio      : 4:3
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 29.970 (30000/1001) FPS
Standard                                 : NTSC
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:2
Scan type                                : Interlaced
Scan type, store method                  : Interleaved fields
Scan order                               : Bottom Field First
Compression mode                         : Lossless
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 16.000
Stream size                              : 49.5 GiB (99%)
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : 2026-02-13 14:29:59 UTC
Tagged date                              : 2026-02-13 14:29:59 UTC
Color primaries                          : BT.601 NTSC
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.601

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : PCM
Format settings                          : Little / Signed
Codec ID                                 : in24
Duration                                 : 42 min 14 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 2 304 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel layout                           : L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Bit depth                                : 24 bits
Stream size                              : 696 MiB (1%)
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : 2026-02-13 14:29:59 UTC
Tagged date                              : 2026-02-13 14:29:59 UTC

Other
ID                                       : 3
Type                                     : Time code
Format                                   : QuickTime TC
Duration                                 : 42 min 14 s
Frame rate                               : 29.970 (30000/1001) FPS
Time code of first frame                 : 00:00:00;00
Time code of last frame                  : 00:42:14;06
Time code, stripped                      : Yes
Title                                    : 001
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : 2026-02-13 14:29:59 UTC
Tagged date                              : 2026-02-13 14:29:59 UTC

For compression and deinterlacing in Adobe Media Encoder, I am currently using the following settings:

Frame rate: 59.94 fps

Field order: Progressive

Pixel aspect ratio: Square Pixels (1.0)

Bitrate: VBR (1-pass), Target 6 Mbps

This produces an output file with the following characteristics:

 General
Complete name                            : D:\DIGITRABAJOS\Sulma Escobar\MP4\Tene de dore y choco (2).mp4
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : Base Media / Version 2
Codec ID                                 : mp42 (mp42/mp41)
File size                                : 1.37 GiB
Duration                                 : 31 min 5 s
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 6 324 kb/s
Frame rate                               : 59.940 FPS
Encoded date                             : 2026-02-10 23:21:45 UTC
Tagged date                              : 2026-02-10 23:25:38 UTC
TIM                                      : 00;00;02;36
TSC                                      : 30000
TSZ                                      : 1001

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : Main@L3.1
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                                 : 31 min 5 s
Source duration                          : 31 min 5 s
Bit rate                                 : 6 000 kb/s
Width                                    : 720 pixels
Height                                   : 486 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 3:2
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 59.940 (60000/1001) FPS
Standard                                 : NTSC
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.286
Stream size                              : 1.30 GiB (95%)
Source stream size                       : 1.30 GiB (95%)
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : 2026-02-10 23:21:45 UTC
Tagged date                              : 2026-02-10 23:21:45 UTC
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.601 NTSC
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.601
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.601
Codec configuration box                  : avcC

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AAC LC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID                                 : mp4a-40-2
Duration                                 : 31 min 5 s
Source duration                          : 31 min 5 s
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 317 kb/s
Maximum bit rate                         : 544 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                              : 70.6 MiB (5%)
Source stream size                       : 70.6 MiB (5%)
Language                                 : English
Encoded date                             : 2026-02-10 23:21:45 UTC
Tagged date                              : 2026-02-10 23:21:45 UTC

I also capture using a Diamond VC500 with VirtualDub2 in Lagarith, and then process those files within VirtualDub2 to MP4 using its deinterlace filter.

For now, I feel this workflow represents an improvement compared to my previous approach. I understand that using AviSynth with QTGMC would likely provide better results, and I intend to implement it in the future.

In the meantime, I would appreciate your thoughts on this updated compression and deinterlacing workflow.

Thank you again for your guidance.