DVDRB and Procoder 2.0...too dark??

[Blackout]

hi there,

whenever i do a PAL encode with DVD-RB using Procoder 2.0, (And ECLPro naturally) the resulting encode looks slightly darker once played on my TV and dvd player than the original.

This is not the case when CCE is selected as the encoder. Then everything is the same brightness....however CCE doesnt handle interlaced TV show-style dvds (ie. Sienfeld) as well as Procoder (this is well known and i tend to agree).

So i really want to use Procoder 2 to do the encode, but it has consistently made a darker (ie not as bright) encode. I also tried it on a Raymond DVD, same result. Its not a huge amount darker, but enough for me to think my TV tube is on its last legs.

Anyone else discovered this problem? any solutions?

Many thanks,
Blackout

[SpazzHH]

I have used Procoder in the past and never had any problems with darkness. One suggestion, try HC on your interlaced material and see if that solves your problem. It gives fabulous results and will let you know if it's the encoder or your T.V.
I swapped from Procoder to HC on my interlaced stuff awhile ago, and haven't looked back. If it's progressive and the bitrate is above 2800, then I use CCE. If it's interlaced or below 2800, then it's HC.
Anyway, good luck with the T.V.

[jdobbs]

You can always use the AVISYNTH Tweak() filter to adjust the hue, saturation, brightness, and contrast...

[Blackout]

HC eh, id need to do extensive tests to see that it is better than Procoder 2. If there is a quality-rival to Procoder then i will definately look into it.

Ive extracted vob files to my hard drive, and simply loaded them up in Procoder. Its mpg output is still a bit darker than the original. This is all very wierd, Procoder does not mess with avi file brightness, only VOB files it seems. I guess this test proves that its not Rebuilder or something ECLPro is passing on incorrectly.

I once had this problem in CCE, and it was the "Luminance Level" setting, which can be "16 to 235" or "0 to 255". I have a feeling that Procoder might not be reading something correctly from vob files (that Rebuilder has passed to it)....

I notice that when you load in a VOB file into Procoder, it has two extra paramaters it lists... "Profile@Level" and "Chroma Format"...i wander if these two settings are related to brightness...