Result is blurry when converting from NTSC to PAL.

[redeemer-dk]

I'm trying to convert The Ring NTSC to PAL, but when i try, i can clearly see the image becoming much more blurry. Here are my two scripts, both creates blurry image:

Script 1:
LoadPlugin("D:\Program Files\GordianKnot\MPEG2DEC.dll")
LoadPlugin("D:\PROGRA~1\GORDIA~1\decomb.dll")

MPEG2Source("H:\THERING\thering.d2v")
Telecide().Decimate(5)
LanczosResize(720, 576)
ChangeFPS(25)

Script 2:
LoadPlugin("D:\Program Files\GordianKnot\MPEG2DEC.dll")
LoadPlugin("D:\PROGRA~1\GORDIA~1\decomb.dll")

MPEG2Source("H:\THERING\thering.d2v")
Bob()
LanczosResize(720, 576)
ConvertFPS(50)
SeparateFields.SelectEvery(4, 0, 3)
Weave

Telecide(threshold=12,dthreshold=5,firstlast=true,blend=false,chroma=true)

Does anyone have any recommendations? I'm encoding the PAL video at 9500 kbps so it's not the bitrate that is making it blurry. Anyone know any other scripts that keep the crispness of the picture?

Thanks in advance.

-Rune Svendsen

[Swan]

Hi Rune,

I've only done PAL to NTSC conversions, so I'm no expert in the other way around.
But my first reaction to your problem is that it seems natural that blurring occurs when going from NTSC to PAL.
Since NTSC only has 480 lines vertical resolution and PAL has 576, the conversion process is resampling to create 576 lines from 480 lines.

I have quite a bit of experience from graphics (photo) editing, though, and the term used to describe "adding pixels that weren't there from existing pixels" (making an image larger in pixel resolution than it actually is) is called upsampling.
Avisynth is upsamling from 480 to 576 lines, it has to make up, invent, 96 lines here, interpolate them from existing pixels.
This is what causes blurring, if you ask me. :)

From Corel's web site:
Resampling changes the resolution or size of an image to alter the number of pixels it contains. Downsampling reduces the resolution, decreasing the number of pixels in the image; upsampling increases the resolution, increasing the number of pixels in the image.

Downsampling is generally a good idea for reducing any amount of unused information in an image. If displayed or printed at a higher resolution, the image will appear jaggy unlike the downsampled lower resolution.
Upsampling consistently results in a lower input quality because interpolation algorithms add extra pixels to the actual sampled data to approximate detail.

[redeemer-dk]

it was rather simple actually, in CCE SP i just turned off all the filters in the Quality section.