how to properly deinterlace DV video

[Crabba]

I want to deinterlace my DV videos before putting them on DVD. They're all standard def NTSC DV 720x480 videos, and from what I've been able to gather, the best way to do that is via avisynth. Problem is there seem to be a gazillion different plug-ins/scripts/versions and whatnot but hard to tell which ones to use and why/how.

Can someone please recommend which plugin/script would be best for my needs (deinterlacing SD NTSC DV), my main priority is quality and not so much of speed, but if quality is same but one is faster I'd obviously prefer that, and I'd really appreciate a sample script of how to use it too :)

[2Bdecided]

I want to deinterlace my DV videos before putting them on DVD.Why? Your source is 60i. DVDs support 60i.

Deinterlacing while maintaining the temporal resolution of the source (i.e. "bobbing") will give 60p. DVDs don't support 60p. You'll have to drop it to 30p instead, which halves the temporal resolution, giving a stuttery look to any movement.

Cheers,
David.

[Crabba]

I used to just encode it to MPEG-2 interlaced and do it that way, but I've been thinking about trying to deinterlace it to 30p progressive instead, at least to compare end quality between them.

Why?

1. Any modern digital display will have to deinterlace the video on the fly anyway, so I'm guessing you should get better quality video by doing it beforehand, and also avoid any potential deinterlacing problems by the display
2. I've read that many MPEG-2 encoders, including CCE which I've been using so far, have problems encoding interlaced video, which probably means decreased quality compared to encoding a native progressive video
3. Avoid any problems/hassles with BFF to TFF

Please correct me if I'm wrong.
About the halved temporal resolution, I don't really see why that should translate into any REAL loss of resolution, since you're deinterlacing the half-resolution interlaced video into a full-res progressive video, and 30p is what most better professional camcorders that can handle progressive video use AFAIK, as well as blu-ray & dvds encoded progressive.

Anyway, do you have any tips on what deinterlacer to use to get the best quality from NTSC DV sources? All live footage from a camcorder of course, no animated stuff. From searching the forums, I've been able to find a few plugins such as TDeint and mcbob/mvbob? that you apparently can combine with other plugins such as EEDI2/EEDI3/NNEDI2/NNEDI3 to improve deinterlacing. Which of these would work best in my case?

Also, is this the correct way I should call them in avisynth:
avisource("C:\Pal DV type II.avi")
interp = separatefields().eedi2(field=2)
tdeint(mode=2,order=0,edeint=interp)

Any help appreciated!

[um3k]

TempGaussMC or QTGMC, followed by a SelectEven or SelectOdd. Better quality deinterlacing probably doesn't exist.

[communist]

Why?

1. Any modern digital display will have to deinterlace the video on the fly anyway, so I'm guessing you should get better quality video by doing it beforehand, and also avoid any potential deinterlacing problems by the display

DVD does not support 60fps - so you can only get compatible progressive video which has gone from 60i to 30p and thereby forever lost half of temporal resolution. Simple panning and other shots will start stuttering unless you shot with great care.

There is a good reason why professional and consumer cameras even in the HD age allow you to record 50/60 fields/frames per second.
To make it short - you do not gain anything, you just discard half of the information you have before even starting to compress to MPEG2.

If you keep it interlaced your display will take care of it. If you play it on a PC you can even choose the deinterlace (full-rate vs same-rate) but with a 30p source you can never restore the original video. DV is always BFF. DVD supports BFF/TFF - you just have to set the encoder right.

[2Bdecided]

^^ what they said ;)

btw, if you encode 30p, and then watch it on one of the TVs from Samsung, Philips etc which do motion interpolation, you'll get something like the original smooth movement - the TV will try to re-create 60p. On any other normal TV, you'll see exactly what's on the DVD: probably a horrible stuttery mess. The only way to get a 60p-like image is to give the TV 60i and hope it's got a decent deinterlacer. Or use something other than a DVD!

Cheers,
David.

[WorBry]

FWIW - As a 'limey' now residing in Canada, I was surprised to find that 'pseudo-progressive' 25p (Procinema/Frame Mode) DV material from my PAL GS400 camcorder (converted to progressive DVD) actually looks better and smoother on my NTSC Panasonic 1080p plasma HDTV (TC-P42U1) than PAL interlaced footage. Evidently, the HDTV does a better (more convincing) job interplolating (and whatever else it does in frame rate conversion) than the DVD player (Bose 3-2-1 via HDMI) does deinterlacing. Hooked up to a 'normal' NTSC TV, forget it.......very sssstuttery.

Not the normal situation for most folks, I know, but a case in point.

PS - I've yet to test deinterlaced (TGMC/MCBob) 50p material (converted to x264) to see how it compares with (Frame Mode) 25p, for want of a BD/AVCHD player. Anyone know if WDTV Live can handle anamorphic 576/50p H264 OK, or 576/25p for that matter?

[GodofaGap]

Seems the HDTV does a better (or more convincing) job interplolating than the DVD player (Bose 3-2-1)
DVD players don't do any deinterlacing, or at least they aren't supposed to. What might happen is that your HDTV doesn't do a good job at interpreting PAL interlaced material though.

[WorBry]

DVD players don't do any deinterlacing, or at least they aren't supposed to.

Surely progressive-scan (capable) DVD players can/do, but now you've got me thinking whether it is the player or HDTV that deinterlaces in my set up. IIRC it depends somewhat on the type of connection used. I'll pull out the manuals when I'm home.

[2Bdecided]

Component progressive is deinterlaced - but sometimes very badly with interlaced material.

PAL<>NTSC conversions in DVD players can be atrocious. Some of the less annoying ones do 50i > blend deinterlace > 25p > repeat fields > 60i.

Cheers,
David.

[hydra3333]

Anyone know if WDTV Live can handle anamorphic 576/50p H264 OK, or 576/25p for that matter?What was the answer ?

[SeeMoreDigital]

Anyone know if WDTV Live can handle anamorphic 576/50p H264 OK, or 576/25p for that matter?What was the answer ?It should do... All my hardware players can ;)

[Blue_MiSfit]

576/25p for sure. 50p is a bit more questionable.

[henryho_hk]

Instead of worrying about deinterlacing, you should make sure that your DV Interlaced YV12 data is properly converted to MPEG2/4 Interlaced YV12 data. In other words, make sure that you are using Cedocida DV Codec.

[SeeMoreDigital]

Instead of worrying about deinterlacing, you should make sure that your DV Interlaced YV12 data is properly converted to MPEG2/4 Interlaced YV12 data. In other words, make sure that you are using Cedocida DV Codec.I agree...

This is what I do with any pure interlaced sources I receive ;)