Recommendations for MPEG-4 output specs for VHS and Hi8 input?

Sailor Guy

Member Location: St. Louis, Missouri USA Joined: Aug 19, 2012 10:23 Messages: 73 Offline

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Jan 02, 2016 21:47

I have captured dozens of old VHS and Hi8 tapes and am preparing to produce/output them as MP4 files. The MP4 files will generally be directly played on computers (Windows and Macs) or burned onto MPEG-2 DVDs for DVD players.

My VHS and Hi8 AVI input video capture specs are:

Capture AVI 720x480, 29 FPS, 28955 Kbps data rate / Audio 1536 kbps, 48k Hz, 2 stereo channel

Some VHS were captured as AVI 640x480, 29 FPS, 6005 Kbps data rate

When I produce an MP4 output file, I’d like to know what are the best output specs without sacrificing video quality.

There are (4) H.264 MPEG-4 output choices in PD13:

640x480/30p (6 Mbps)

640x480/24p (6 Mbps)

2K 2048x1536/30p (40 Mbps)

4K 4096x3072/30p (50 Mbps)

What is the best choice:

For VHS? I assume #2 – 640x480/30p (6 Mbps)

For Hi8? I assume #3 – 2K 2048x1536/30p (40 Mbps)

Is there any significant loss of Hi8 video quality if I choose 640x480, since Hi8 is normally 720x480? A 45-minute Hi8 video output as 640x480-30p is about 2.02 GB but is about 12.1 GB as a 2K 2048x1536-30p file. Is the difference in video quality worth the 6x size multiplier?

Is there a more optimal MP4 custom profile spec that I should specify that would be a good compromise between the 2 GB and 12 GB file size?

Thanks,

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TonyL

Newbie Location: Nr. Coventry, UK Joined: Oct 10, 2015 04:07 Messages: 46 Offline

Jan 03, 2016 07:40

The higher the bitrate the better the video quality and bigger the file. So 5 is the best and only you can say if 4 is acceptable to you.

If all you want to do with your captures is convert to MP4 and MPEG2, be aware that once you convert to MP4 you will need to convert to MPEG2 if you later use the MP4 to make a DVD. You can burn the MP4 on a Data DVD to play the file on your PC but not in a DVD player.

To burn a DVD to play on a DVD player, an MPEG2 codec must be used. Even if your video uses another codec, such as H.264\MP4, whichever authoring program you use it will re-encode your footage to MPEG2 because that is the only codec that DVD players recognize.

TonyL

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Jan 03. 2016 08:38

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BarryTheCrab

Senior Contributor Location: USA Joined: Nov 06, 2008 22:18 Messages: 6240 Offline

Jan 03, 2016 08:37

"A 45-minute Hi8 video output as 640x480-30p is about 2.02 GB but is about 12.1 GB as a 2K 2048x1536-30p file. Is the difference in video quality worth the 6x size multiplier?"
No.
Taking a Hi8 tape and upscaling it to 2K and 4K is just a waste of time and space.
Capture at it's normal resolution and let the TV upscale it for you.
DVDs are basically MPEG2, seen on the disc as VOB. Capture using MPEG2 if you are going to DVD, it's best to avoid going back and forth in formats.
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PepsiMan

Senior Contributor Location: Clarksville, TN Joined: Dec 29, 2010 01:20 Messages: 1054 Offline

Jan 03, 2016 13:41

welcome to the forum

Quote: The higher the bitrate the better the video quality and bigger the file...
TonyL

whenever you're capturing the initial Master video, this is very much true statement;

however, when you have the source from VHS and Hi8, it's better to stick with

720x480 .MP4 8.0 Mb/sec for video and for audio 128 Kb/sec.

Quote: ...DVDs are basically MPEG2, seen on the disc as VOB. Capture using MPEG2 if you are going to DVD, it's best to avoid going back and forth in formats.

like Barry says what you have, captured video, is SD(720x480) resolution, going to HD(1280x720) or FHD(1920x1080)

or even UHD(3640x2160) is not a good idea.

you're stretching it too much and will lose PQ and VQ!

it'll be like watching the video on a cctv monitor...

PepsiMan

'garbage in garbage out'

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Jan 03. 2016 15:38

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Neil.F.1955

Senior Contributor Joined: Mar 07, 2012 09:15 Messages: 1303 Offline

Jan 03, 2016 21:36

I'm almost certain I've posted on this subject in the past 24-48 hours but my post seems to have vanished. Moderator, have you any idea what might-ve happened to it? Come to think of it, I think it might've been not this thread, but a related subject. I'll have a search and see if I can find it.

Cheers!

Neil.

Yep! Did find the comment, it was in the thread titled PD11: How can I stretch 4x3 to a 16x9? though iy wasn't entirely similar to this subject.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Jan 03. 2016 21:40