VHS to Apple TV

Discuss encoding for devices and presets.
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Harry_The_Bustard
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Joined: Thu Dec 04, 2014 10:26 pm

VHS to Apple TV

Post by Harry_The_Bustard »

I have a slew of UK television programmes recorded on VHS - mostly music performances with some documentaries and other odds & sods. All are PAL, of course, and some have mono audio with others having NICAM stereo audio which my VHS recorder/player can handle.

I want to capture and encode them to play on my Apple TV 3 – probably an Apple TV 4 when I can afford one – using either iTunes or, more likely, a media server such as PLEX. (The media server isn't relevant - not least as PLEX won't need to transcode MP4, which Apple TV needs, on the fly - so please don't get bogged down in that.) The file size and encoding time are not issues though as with all encodes the smaller and shorter these are the better so long as the quality loss is imperceptible. Not that the source is exactly superb – though it’s as good as it got in the days the programmes were broadcast – mostly late Eighties to the late Nineties with all being 4:3.

My capture device is a Pinnacle Studio MovieBox DV and my capture software is iMovie 9 though I have 10 if need be. I have a recent high performance Mac which I can dedicate to the task overnight and keep cool.

Guidance on which existing pre-set to use – perhaps even tweaks to such – would be appreciated. N.B. It will end up being customised in a way as I will need to modify the screen borders given that a test run shows HandBrake isn’t able to suss them out – as the documentation says it can't always - and anyway there is a bit of noise at the top and bottom which needs cropping out.

P.S. I did search for similar requests in the forum before posting but to no avail.
rollin_eng
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Re: VHS to Apple TV

Post by rollin_eng »

Could you please post your logs, instructions can be found here:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=31236
Harry_The_Bustard
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Joined: Thu Dec 04, 2014 10:26 pm

Re: VHS to Apple TV

Post by Harry_The_Bustard »

I have no activity log to submit and cannot generate one as I don't know which preset to try. If a preset is suggested I'll run a one minute music performance clip through it.
rollin_eng
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Re: VHS to Apple TV

Post by rollin_eng »

Just try the defaults.
Woodstock
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Re: VHS to Apple TV

Post by Woodstock »

There is no "perfect" preset for everyone. Start with one targeted for your device; with AppleTV, there are differences in what the different versions support, so use the one for your version. And VHS sources introduce their own elements.

Watch the results. Are they what you want? If yes, job done, move on. If not, we will have to look at the logs to determine things you might want to change.

You will likely need tweaks for the interlaced nature of a VHS capture, and maybe for the noise characteristics. There are "tunes" for those.

Plex adds a different dimension to things - it can transcode "on the fly" (if your hardware supports it), so you get more freedom in what you use for encoding.

I find it best to treat this as a game. You have tools you don't know how to use yet, raw materials (video), and an ultimate goal. As long as you don't destroy the source files, you can "reset" and start over at any time. Play with different things. You can speed things up by encoding just a few seconds or minutes of your source, and examining the results.

It's all part of the entertainment! :)
Harry_The_Bustard
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Joined: Thu Dec 04, 2014 10:26 pm

Re: VHS to Apple TV

Post by Harry_The_Bustard »

rollin_eng wrote:Just try the defaults.
My first attempt with 1.0.1 failed - both with the default and the legacy Apple TV 3 - so I downloaded the latest nightly build and it worked. I've not checked the change log since 1.0.1 but clearly something was bad and is now good.

Here is the requested Activity Log for one with the default setting - i.e. General / Fast 1080p30.
Harry_The_Bustard
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Joined: Thu Dec 04, 2014 10:26 pm

Re: VHS to Apple TV

Post by Harry_The_Bustard »

Woodstock...

Thank you for the advice.

I'll use "Devices / Apple 1080p/30 Surround" so that I can continue to use my Apple TV 3 when I also have the next model - each in different rooms - though given the source ""Devices / Apple 1080p/30 Surround" might be as well. As you say it depends how it looks.

I guess the x264 Tune "Grain" (under "Video / Encoder Options") is needed and maybe one of the "Denoise" options under "Picture / Filters" - though the documentation on the latter is not yet in place so that's a stab in the dark.

I'm aware of PLEX's "on the fly" transcoding, as mentioned, and (again) don't need to account for that as the encoded version will suit the Apple TV that I use. For the record I've used that to play MP4 files generated by 0.10.5 for Apple TV 3 from EyeTV packages and no transcoding was necessary.

I've not got a great deal of time to play the game much - a life-threatening condition constraining such - so hope I find the best bet soon.
Woodstock
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Re: VHS to Apple TV

Post by Woodstock »

Tuning x264 for grain will make the grain pass through... bigger files, and the static will be better preserved.

You may want to use denoise "NLmeans", tuned for VHS conversions; Information in this topic: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=34356&hilit=vhs+tune
Harry_The_Bustard
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Joined: Thu Dec 04, 2014 10:26 pm

Re: VHS to Apple TV

Post by Harry_The_Bustard »

Thanks for the further suggestions.

I happened across that thread before starting mine but stopped reading it when the kicking started. However, I've just read it through but will need to again tomorrow when I'm more awake (it's very late where I am) and see if I can make more sense of it.
Harry_The_Bustard
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Dec 04, 2014 10:26 pm

Re: VHS to Apple TV

Post by Harry_The_Bustard »

I've had a bit of a play (despite time not being on my side) and having tried the "NLmeans" filter ("Picture / Filters") with Preset "Light" (whatever that means) and Tune "Tape" can see subtle differences. However, it's so subtle that I'm having difficulty deciding and will have to run a few more tests against different content - e.g. a fast-moving rock concert and a slow-moving documentary - after which I'll report back. If only I had two identical HD television sets - with an Apple TV plugged into each - to do a live comparison!
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