Improvement of shaky and pale / wrong colors vhs-tapes

[linuxpreferred]

First, please move this thread, if I am wrong here.

I have already captured the tapes with a Canopus to a DV-avi-file.

Now I would like to stabilize the shaky videos.

Some clips are pale, I would like to improve the colors automatically.

Some clips were made with the wrong color temperature.

Which free software can I use to improve my (s)vhs-tapes? I would prefer to do it with a linux pc, but if there are better programs for Windows XP, I could use XP too.

[zilog jones]

AviSynth will help a lot, but it is currently Windows-only (though I think people have had success with running it in Wine).

Regarding "pale" clips, if there is clipping of luma or chroma you won't be able to correct this unless you calibrate levels of your capture device and capture them again.

When you speak of "shaky videos", do you mean shaking from a handheld camera, or an unstable picture from time base errors (horizontal line jitter and occasional vertical jitter)? There are some solutions for the former (e.g. DePanStabilize for AviSynth), but the only really effective solution for the latter is to use a TBC (Time Base Corrector) when capturing (some S-VHS VCRs have a built-in TBC which may help to an extent).

There are various options for colour correction with AviSynth (ColorYUV, Tweak, etc.). Are these NTSC tapes?

[hatetea58]

It's too late. This has to be done before it gets turned into a digital version. Stabilizing is done with hardware, in a good VCR with timebase correction and other files as needed. No software exists that can act as TBC.

The DV compression didn't help the color situation either, as DV compresses colorspace. But that's the least of your problems.

[Ghitulescu]

There are several solutions to this problem:

1. find the DVDs if the tapes contain commercial material. As the DVD is on its deathbed, more and more archived material surfaces, just to grab one more buck before it's too late.

2. send the tapes to a video restore service, if they do not contain [too] private material and if you can afford the price

3. get yourself a good VCR, preferably an S-VHS one, as it's usually better build, has Y/C outputs, better heads and top models also include a TBC (get the Pannies over JVC at similar specs and/or prices).

4. get yourself or borrow an external TBC, not a fake one (most boxes call themselves TBC without a particular reason). Remember, without one most issues are futile.

5. some external TBC also contain some video improvers, including color balancing, color correction, color shifting and so on. Do not confound these with a "video copy enhancer device", it's not the same. It's good to have one of these because you can watch the video in real time on a real TV and not on your PC monitor which is different calibrated, especially now, most if not all of them being LCDs.

6. the canopus DV is a good device, despite some still say that DV has specific artefacts. Well, if you can withstand the VHS quality, you won't mind the color conversion of DV nor its compression artefacts.

7. THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE: if you intend to publish them on the net, forget the advices 1 to 6, it's not worth the time or the money you invested in.

[lordsmurf]

It's too late. This has to be done before it gets turned into a digital version. Stabilizing is done with hardware, in a good VCR with timebase correction and other files as needed. No software exists that can act as TBC.

The DV compression didn't help the color situation either, as DV compresses colorspace. But that's the least of your problems.

That's my writing. Where'd you copy/paste that from? :thanks:

I disagree with #7 up above. Even if it's for web video, it should still look good.

[Ghitulescu]

I disagree with #7 up above. Even if it's for web video, it should still look good.

Maybe I should have said something like: a good tape and a perfect one would look almost the same in a 176x120x15 realmedia or similar high compression format. You won't notice the timebase errors (1 pixel or less), the color shifting (same error) - it's the colours that count and this can be done in Vdub, avisynth or the like. Think of youtube ...

The diferrences between a good tape and a perfect tape are equalised by the methods listed above, or on lordsmufs' site, or in analogue capture guide here or at videohelp.

If you plan this however for archival purposes, yes, every penny is worth investing in.

[zilog jones]

...176x120x15 realmedia...

Most web video is much better than that these days. YouTube default is now 480x360 @ 30 fps, and goes up to full 1080p @ 30 fps - although the bitrate isn't really enough for decent looking real 1080p HD it's plenty for upscaled VHS :)

Vimeo, Facebook and others also offer some form of "HD" video.

[lordsmurf]

Yeah, you beat me to it. Youtube can be higher quality than VHS (although it often is not, due to clueless uploaders with crap source quality).

I'm so tired of seeing unstable VHS conversions with visible overscan on Youtube.

[drbuzz0]

What kind of deck are you using for this? I find it's most important to get as good a playback of the original and try to correct as much as possible by just using hardware with good tracking and YUV decoding.

I've had good experiences with JVC D-VHS decks. These decks can record transport streams onto digital VHS tapes, but they can also play back VHS and SVHS material and they have an internal encoder that will allow it to play over firewire. You can get them cheap now since they're pretty much obsolete for their primary purpose.

[Ghitulescu]

What kind of deck are you using for this? I find it's most important to get as good a playback of the original and try to correct as much as possible by just using hardware with good tracking and YUV decoding.

I've had good experiences with JVC D-VHS decks. These decks can record transport streams onto digital VHS tapes, but they can also play back VHS and SVHS material and they have an internal encoder that will allow it to play over firewire. You can get them cheap now since they're pretty much obsolete for their primary purpose.

I do not own or had access to a D-VHS deck (AFAIK all D-VHS decks are JVC made even if sold under different names, like Thomson or Philips, in EU, no idea for USA/Japan). Therefore I repeat what I learned from some fora long time ago: D-VHS decks are average in terms of quality.

But yes, do as much as you can do in hardware, before digitising, also try to find a good digitser ...

[lordsmurf]

The D-VHS decks vary quite a bit, model to model. I would not lump them all together. In fact, some of the D-VHS decks appear to have synchronizers similar to the ES10/ES15 Panasonic recorders, something not found on JVC S-VHS decks, making them useful. However, they are weaker in other areas (build quality, notably) as compared to the S-VHS decks, so you can't say D-VHS is better than S-VHS, either.

video - VCRs > TBCS > proc amps / detailers > digital converter
audio - VCRs > audio mixers > audio processors > digital converter