I am interested it converting NTSC interlaced video into something that could maybe rival film (on the tv set). To do this, it has become apparent that I need to deinterlace the video. The problem is, I need to interpolate the fields. Blending or discarding results in a loss of quality.

I have been using the area based deinterlacer on Virtual Dub with good results, but that process is too slow. I would like to find out if anyone has found a way of interpolating fields in any other way, either using standard free programs or just by writing their own algorithms.

Also, is there a way of getting rid of all that video noise with a loss in detail?

Thank you.

-- Emcee One (emceeONE@hotmail.com), March 30, 2002

Answers

What are you converting it over to? mpeg4, mpeg2, mpeg1?

How slow is slow? I can do the same deinterlacing in virtual dub at about 1:2 ratio ( 1hr=2hr encoding ) on 1900+XP AMD system.

As for deinterlacing: If you are planning to view it on TV, It is probably better off just to leave the interlace be. If you planning to watch it on your computer then yes by all mean deinterlace it.

There is a script that is called Avisynth which comes with filters just for that purpose: Decomb.dll is the filter for Avisynth, which can 1) extract 24fps (film contents out of NTSC telecine materials) 2) deinterlace the video at the same time. Furthermore, you can resize, sharpen, blur, etc with this script. However, there is always a trade off, quality for speed.

-- (wingstarzz@hotmail.com), March 30, 2002.

Actually, I am doing this so if I wanted to print directly to film, or sell a master to a distributor, it would look like I shot my movie on film. The interlacing is the propblem.

How slow is slow? It took 1.5 hrs to deinterlace a 23min clip in Virtual Dub. The results were great, but it spoiled text (made it shifty--not shitty--although you could say that). Also, you could still tell the difference. I need better results. I tried Avisynth, it was more trouble to use than virtual dub.

My plan is to output to TV, in the .avi format (DV compressed) to retain max quality, but interlaced motion is just not as nice to look at as deinterlaced motion. I want to retain the sharpness and therefore the detail, so blurring is not good. I want to get rid of the video noise though. I understand this is a VCD forum, but maybe there are some video nerds like me who just happened to figure this out.

-- Emcee One (emceeONE@hotmail.com), March 30, 2002.