post processing decoder options

[davexnet]

Hello, in the Divx decoder options you can, for example, turn off the post-processing
"automatic deblocker".

If you do this and open a poorer quality Divx file in Virtualdub you can sure see the difference.
The macro blocks are not softened at all.

If you then re-encode this video, you're re-encoding this non-softened version.
the output is different - it's almost as if you had a different source file.

In general, if you need to re-encode a file like this, should this kind of post-processing
be left on, or are there circumstances where turning it off is better?

[LoRd_MuldeR]

Depends on your personal preferences ;)

For MPEG-4 ASP the deblocking post-processor is fully optional. You will get reduced blocking at the cost of reduced details/sharpness, if deblocking is enabled.

Decide whether this is what you want or not...

[davexnet]

What you say makes sense. The reason I mentioned it are twofold:

1) I never realized it was a factor. (I guess I never looked at the decoder options before - or if I did,
I assumed it only affected dshow playback in the media player)

2) I've never seen any post, discussion or anything about the relevance of this option, as it pertains
to re-encoding.

[Dark Shikari]

If you're re-encoding, you might as well spend time and use a better deblocker.

I'm a fan of dfttest, though its obnoxiously slow.