viewing interlaced content on progressive monitor

[robemich]

I have a Sony DCR-HC30. My work flow in the past was to import into FCE, edit and then export to AppleTV format. I could then view my clips on my 480i TV. Everything looked great.

I have since upgraded my TV to a 720p TV and right away I have noticed that I am getting a lot interlacing, or what looks to be interlaced effects that show on the output to my new 720p TV. Along the edges of people, especially if there is motion, I see jagged horizontal lines.

I have tried all kinds of 'de-interlace' tricks through FCE, but they still are there no matter what I try. Here are my questions:

1. Is it possible to remove the jagged lines? I don't believe my HC30 is capable of recording natively in progressive mode, so is this something that I will just have to deal with as long as the content is viewed on a progressive scan TV?

2. It is possible to run the content through a newer progressive MiniDV camcorder like a Canon HV40 while importing and it will remove the lines?

3. I am getting ready to have a bunch of old 8mm and Super8 content transferred to MiniDV. The company is using professional studio cameras for the process. What can I do to mitigate this? If I have them transfer the content directly to DVD, would it have the same results?

Please answer inline if possible. Sorry for the lengthy post, but I just hit a wall here, and I would like to understand what I can do before I start transferring my entire library of MiniDV tapes. Thanks a bunch!

-mike

 

[huntercr]

I have a Sony DCR-HC30. My work flow in the past was to import into FCE, edit and then export to AppleTV format. I could then view my clips on my 480i TV. Everything looked great.

I have since upgraded my TV to a 720p TV and right away I have noticed that I am getting a lot interlacing, or what looks to be interlaced effects that show on the output to my new 720p TV. Along the edges of people, especially if there is motion, I see jagged horizontal lines.

I have tried all kinds of 'de-interlace' tricks through FCE, but they still are there no matter what I try. Here are my questions:

1. Is it possible to remove the jagged lines? I don't believe my HC30 is capable of recording natively in progressive mode, so is this something that I will just have to deal with as long as the content is viewed on a progressive scan TV?

2. It is possible to run the content through a newer progressive MiniDV camcorder like a Canon HV40 while importing and it will remove the lines?

3. I am getting ready to have a bunch of old 8mm and Super8 content transferred to MiniDV. The company is using professional studio cameras for the process. What can I do to mitigate this? If I have them transfer the content directly to DVD, would it have the same results?

Please answer inline if possible. Sorry for the lengthy post, but I just hit a wall here, and I would like to understand what I can do before I start transferring my entire library of MiniDV tapes. Thanks a bunch!

-mike

Are you directly connecting your 720p TV with a VGA cable or something? Surely your TV can handle 480i input.

What does it look like when you do *not* attempt to get rid of the interlacing and simply send the video to iDVD. ( Set for professional quality, etc etc ) and burn to a DVD?

 

[robemich]

My new TV is connected via HDMI to my AppleTV. My old TV was connected via component.

When you say "Set for Professional Quality, etc etc" could you please be more specific. Sorry I'm a little green on all the exporting stuff and still learning it.

Thanks for the quick reply.

-mike

 

[KeithPratt]

When you say "Set for Professional Quality, etc etc" could you please be more specific.

'Professional Quality' is an option in iDVD. But I'm not sure you wanted to make a DVD, so it may not be relevant.


There was a time a few years back where basically nothing was truly progressive. Even when it looked like it and camcorder manufacturers were promising it, it was actually a progressive image stored in an interlaced stream. Why? Because every video playback device expected an interlaced stream and would go all funny if you tried to feed it something progressive.

But the snowballing convergence of TV and computing over the last few years means the position we're in now is that some stuff is genuine progressive, some stuff is traditional interlaced and some stuff is that thing in-between I described above.

And that all means there's no simple answer to your question. So we're going to need some more information...

Open the original footage in Quicktime, hit CMD+I and tell us the Format, FPS, Normal Size and Current Size. Do the same with the edited file you're going to send to Apple TV. Also tell us whether you can see interlacing artefacts in this file when you watch it back on your computer. Now find out what the Apple TV video output setting are and what your TV display settings are. And tell us whether you are playing regular, non-HD television on your new HDTV without this problem.


To answer the rest of your questions directly:

1. With a change to your settings somewhere in the chain, there's no reason why you shouldn't get a decent picture, free from interlace artefacts.

2. No. For several reasons this wouldn't work or be what you wanted to do. (The HV40, incidentally, is one of those camcorder that records progressive in an interlaced stream.)

3. If the company is reputable there should be no problems. The footage will turn out (in terms of signal) just like the tapes you're getting from your camcorder, so once your TV is playing that footage fine there'll be no problems with this.

 

[hvfsl]

There is probably an easier way to do this straight from FCE, but it's been a while since I used FCE so can't remember what options it gives you. Anyway, I would:

1) Download JES Deinterlacer:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~jeschot/home.html
2)In FCE, export as quicktime movie, make sure 'make movie self-contained' isn't ticked or it will take a lot longer to export.
3)Load the exported movie up in JES Deinterlacer. Under the 'Project' tab make sure deinterlace is selected. Then under the Output tab, select the correct format for your Apple TV.

This should then produce a 480p (playing at 60 frames per second) video file which will look a lot better when played back.

The problem with a lot of movie viewer software on the Mac is it ether doesn't deinterlace the video when you watch it at all, or it deinterlaces it and cuts the framerate in half (which makes everything look blurry). Compare watching an interlaced DVD (like a TV show) on your Mac to playing it back in PowerDVD in Windows (or watching on a normal DVD player) to see what I mean.

 

[THX1139]

If you were using Finalcut Studio or After Effects, you could use Red Giant plugin "Magic Bullet Frames". It will allow you to convert any interlaced footage to progressive with excellent results. I just used it on some interlaced SD footage and it looks almost film like.

 

[martinX]

FCE/FCP has a deinterlacer under Effects -> Video that you may find useful.

Some of my exports involve making WMVs. I do this using via MPEG Streamclip and get it to deinterlace my DV footage on the way out.

 

[bki122689]

Remember that de-interlacing takes away some of the horizontal resolution of a frame.

 

[martinX]

Remember that de-interlacing takes away some of the horizontal resolution of a frame.

Softens things up a bit. Still, beats the hell out of interlacing artefacts. Progressive all the way!

I recently read an interview with a Very Important Person (whose name escapes me) who has worked with film and lenses since Adam was a boy. He was surprised at all the attention resolution was receiving when, in his opinion, it's frame rates that should be upped.