NTPC 0.1 - The NTSC to PAL Converter

[Amnon82]

Hi Fans,

I coded a nice NTSC to PAL converter.

Screenshot (http://rj-elektronik.de/avideo/images/NTPC/ntpc01.jpg)

I used for this app

-VidInfo.pas
-repal.dll
-DVD2AVIDG
-QuEnc 0.45

here You can download it

NTPC 0.1 (1.54 MB) (http://rj-elektronik.de/avideo/files/SetupNTPC.exe)
NTPC 0.1 VCD Sample Encode (6.85 MB) (http://rj-elektronik.de/avideo/files/ntpc01_vcd.mpg)

todolist:

add support for CCE
add AudioConverter
add Multiplexer

[Amnon82]

This is the AVS created by NTPC 0.1. The sample has 1112 Frames

# Created with NTPC 0.1 - visit: www.dvdr-page.tk
# FPS: 29,970 - MPEG V.2 - Res: 720*480 - AR: 3 - Frames: 0 - PiDAR: 1,18519 - Streams: 2
LoadPlugin("C:\NTPC\DVD2AVI\MPEG2DecNTPC.dll")
LoadPlugin("C:\NTPC\DVD2AVI\repal.dll")
mpeg2source("F:\NTPC\VIDEO_TS\Source.d2v")
complementparity()
bob()
repal()
assumefps (25, true)
Subtitle(" converted by NTPC 0.1",450,440,8,200,"Arial",20,$FFFFFF)
LanczosResize(464, 430, 10, 0, 700, 480)
AddBorders(8, 73, 8, 73)

I deleted the RePal lines and this Sample has also 1112 Frames

# Created with NTPC 0.1 - visit: www.dvdr-page.tk
# FPS: 29,970 - MPEG V.2 - Res: 720*480 - AR: 3 - Frames: 0 - PiDAR: 1,18519 - Streams: 2
LoadPlugin("C:\NTPC\DVD2AVI\MPEG2DecNTPC.dll")
mpeg2source("F:\NTPC\VIDEO_TS\Source.d2v")
assumefps (25, true)
Subtitle(" converted by NTPC 0.1",450,440,8,200,"Arial",20,$FFFFFF)
LanczosResize(464, 430, 10, 0, 700, 480)
AddBorders(8, 73, 8, 73)

The last script is for a NTSC SVCD Encode and has 1335.

# Created with NTPC 0.1 - visit: www.dvdr-page.tk
# FPS: 29,970 - MPEG V.2 - Res: 720*480 - AR: 3 - Frames: 0 - PiDAR: 1,18519 - Streams: 2
LoadPlugin("C:\NTPC\DVD2AVI\MPEG2DecNTPC.dll")
mpeg2source("F:\NTPC\VIDEO_TS\Source.d2v")
LanczosResize(464, 350, 2, 0, 716, 480)
AddBorders(8, 65, 8, 65)

What I found out:

With the first Script it lost his flow. It is a little jerky.
The second is in slowmotion.
The third is the original playtime.

So guys of the R1 Land: Is there a better way for convert NTSC to PAL?

[Kika]

I think, there are a lot of ways to do it better.

First, i don't think the Source is at 29.97 fps. If it is in 23.976 (as it should), the easyst Way is to perform a PALSpeedUp, which is simple:

AssumeFPS(25)

If the source really is at the framerate of 29.97, there's something wrong with it.

OH, and by the way: The AR of the Sample-Video isn't correct.

[Amnon82]

AR is correct in WinDVD and PowerDVD. Maybe it is a bug in QuEnc...

For the Source Your right. It is 29.970 FPS. So I've to get a other R1 DVD to check...

[ukendt]

All my dvd reg 1 are 30 fps.............:D

[SeeMoreDigital]

I'm sorry to say that the sample encode you provided does not play very well at all with my hardware decoder card!

Cheers

[Kika]

@Amnon82

Belive me, the AR is completly wrong. You have done 4:3 letterboxing, but Encode Mode was 2.21:1 - if you are doing letterboxing, the only(!) correct AR is 4:3. And VCD does not support other ARs, only 4:3 is allowed.

OK, what did you use for Muxing? The Stream isn't propper multiplexed.

And i bet, your Source wasn't at 29.97 fps. IF the DVD is propper encodet, the Framerate should be 23.976. Please do a research on Telecin, 3:2-Pulldown and such stuff.

I know the DVD you used, all you need for a NTSC->PAL-conversion is to do a PAL-SpeedUp and the Resizing, maybe pitching the Audiopart. On any other way of conversion you will get jerky playback.

[RB]

Originally posted by Kika
And i bet, your Source wasn't at 29.97 fps. IF the DVD is propper encodet, the Framerate should be 23.976. Please do a research on Telecin, 3:2-Pulldown and such stuff.
Not every NTSC video stream on DVD is film with 3:2 pulldown applied. NTSC is 29.97 fps. It's possible the studio applied 3:2 pulldown before encoding (lame, but it happens) or it's just true, purely interlaced NTSC at 29.97 fps.

[Kika]

@RB

OK, that's true, i own a couple of those lame DVDs. But in that special case? The NTSC-DVD of this film i saw was a progressive one.

[Mug Funky]

standards conversion is a complete can of worms, especially with hybrids (most anime from the late nineties up, plus several US shows)

for 30p and 30i pans, blended fields are best. for 3:2, speedup is best (or duping 1 frame per sec). the big problem is detecting all this.

what i've been doing lately is bumping it up to 59.94, blending, then unblending the result, so slow pans get blended and everything else gets crisp treatment.

however, this is a stupid method that i only use because it provides compatibility with my blended encodes (i have some anime DVDs of the same series in r1 NTSC and r4 PAL... i'm not a believer in box sets :)) for later SVCD.

fizick's dePan function looks promising if it can be nicely adapted for frame-rate interpolation, but aside from that avisynth doesn't provide simple, elegant solutions for hybrids to PAL conversions.

a note:

i HATE transcoded audio and equally hate pitch shift, so in my opinion speedup is not an option. too many PAL movies have been ruined by crappy transcoded ac3 because arrogant r1 studios will not provide us with lossless (or reasonable quality lossy, like DTS) soundtracks to put on our DVDs. the upside of field-blended NTSC-PAL is that the sound is not transcoded.