Interlaced encoding work in standalones?

[absinthe]

I'm capturing some old home video from VHS through a digital camcorder directly into the computer (interlaced NTSC - 720x480). Of course it's very old (about 15 years!), so I thought instead of deinterlacing and distorting the image even more, why not just encode it interlaced?

What I'm really curious about is standalone compatability. I've done a 3-minute sample with 'interlaced' checked, and it plays back very stuttery on my Philips DVP-642. Is there some way I could improve on this, or is it the best I can expect?

Is it simply a matter of checking "interlaced?" (i.e. no field-dominance settings?)

-abs

[Guest]

Well, obviously, you have to get the field order correct. If you don't, it will be jerky.

[communist]

If you want to encode with a stable 1.0.x version you can use MPEG4Modifier (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=78050) to change the field dominance after encoding your material interlaced.

Or you could use the XviD 1.1 beta (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=88404) which allows you to set field dominance within XviDs configuration.

[absinthe]

Originally posted by neuron2
Well, obviously, you have to get the field order correct. If you don't, it will be jerky.
What I mean is: Will the encoded file have some sort of header flag as to whether it's TFF or BFF? I don't see such as a setting. Or, is it automatically TFF? If so, my cam footage is definitely BFF so I'll have to swap the field order.

Anyway, the playback I'm getting on my standalone is not so much jerky as 'stuttering'; that is, it constantly stops and starts (as does the sound along with it). Basically, I just don't think files encoded as interlaced are compatible with at least my particular standalone. The picture that I can see on the TV, however, looks just fine. It's the playback that doesn't seem to work.

I wanted to know if anyone else had a different experience.

(I'm just now noticing communist's response about versions and field order. I'm using 1.0.3. I'll try another sample with swapped field order).

-abs

[celtic_druid]

1.1.x has an option for TFF so I assume that BFF is default including for previous versions.

Make sure that you have bframes disabled if you have interlaced enabled.
http://list.xvid.org/pipermail/xvid-devel/2005-February/004866.html

[absinthe]

B-frames! That's gotta be the problem.

I was going to say TFF must be the default, because when I encoded my BFF video it was jerky, but after I swapped the field order, it played normally but still looked a bit "shimmery."

I'll turn off B-frames and try again as BFF.

Is v1.1 pretty stable? I haven't upgraded yet.

Thanks!

-abs

[minolta]

interlace and b-frames work fine on the 642. i've encoded several 60-80 minute VHS at 352x480i to fit on 700MB CD (1200kbps, 2500kbps peak, more than adequate). quality is outstanding with my 642.

my guess is that your resolution and bitrate are just too high for this cheap player. keep in mind that vhs had less than half the horizontal resolution of tv/dvd (but still 480 lines). thats why 352x480i is widely supported by all dvd players (the 642 will scale it to fullscreen). keep the bitrate under 2000 should work fine.