Tips on re coding my AVI files so they appear clearer on Emby

[embyboy9317 0]

Im new to Emby, but let me start by saying I love it.  Everyone steered me to Plex, but after 2 weeks I couldn't take it anymore.  Emby is much simpler and much more intuitive for me.

That said, Ive uploaded some old family videos that are native AVI files.  They dont look very good when played through Emby.  They play fine, but they have jaggy edges and some blurryness.  I have recoded these using a few different codecs....ie MT2S, MP4, WMV.  While going through the conversion process, there are usually all sorts of questions asked before converting.  For instance, if I choose H264 codec, it asks do you want 720x480/60i at 8MBPS, do you want 720x576/24p at 8 MPBS etc.  If I try MPEG 2 I have to decide do I want DVD HQ 720x480 or do i want MPEG-2 1280x720/30P at 20 MBPS, etc.  Thge are also Quicktime and and Windows Media options.  Im using Power Director 13 to convert the files.

How are you supposed to know which one to choose?  Which one will yield the best conversion?  Im very confused about all of the selections.   I have attached a screen shot of the original AVI being played back on Emby on my computer.  Note all the jaggys on her hands and arms.

[Sammy 738]

What you have is interlaced video that is not being properly de-interlaced. Download mediainfo and post the video charicteristics.

[rbjtech 4289]

As @Sammy has said - your biggest issue here is it is interlaced video in the AVI.

As long as you choose to de-interlace the video and choose the same frame rate as the original video - then the resulting picture should look a lot better.

I would personally use h264 and AAC 2.0 Audio in an MKV or MP4 container for maximum compatibility.

Bitrate is subjective - but for SD material - then anything between 1-4 Mbit should be more than enough - but only experimentation will get you the best outcome that YOU are happy with - there is no magic 'use this' formula.

I hope this helps.

btw - this should probably go into the 'general' forum area - this is not an Emby Feature Request  .. one of the Mods will likely move it .. @GrimReaper ..

Edited February 11, 2022 by rbjtech

[embyboy9317 0]

ok my apologies........i will report in the general discussion and include the video details for everyone to look at.

[embyboy9317 0]

Im so sorry, I posted this in the wrong place.  I had asked about problems with my AVI files and was told it had interlacing in it.  I have posted the video data here:

 

Format                                   : AVI
Format/Info                              : Audio Video Interleave
Commercial name                          : DV
Format profile                           : OpenDML
File size                                : 4.32 GiB
Duration                                 : 21 min 25 s
Overall bit rate mode                    : Constant
Overall bit rate                         : 28.9 Mb/s
Recorded date                            : 2004-04-18 14:27:42.000

Video
ID                                       : 0
Format                                   : DV
Duration                                 : 21 min 25 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 24.4 Mb/s
Width                                    : 720 pixels
Height                                   : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 4:3
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 29.970 (29970/1000) FPS
Standard                                 : NTSC
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:1:1
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Interlaced
Scan order                               : Bottom Field First
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 2.357
Time code of first frame                 : 00:00:00;00
Time code source                         : Subcode time code
Stream size                              : 4.31 GiB (100%)
Encoding settings                        : ae mode=full automatic / wb mode=automatic / white balance= / fcm=manual focus

Audio
ID                                       : 0-0
Format                                   : PCM
Format settings                          : Big / Signed
Muxing mode                              : DV
Muxing mode, more info                   : Muxed in Video #1
Duration                                 : 21 min 25 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 1 536 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Bit depth                                : 16 bits
Stream size                              : 235 MiB (5%)

 

Thank you for looking at this and helping me out.  I have reposted the screen shot from the movie Im looking at.  I would like some guidance on which codec to use to get the best picture.

Thanks again !!!

 

 

 

[arrbee99 1561]

Its just me but I'd just try experimenting and seeing how it looks. You could just test on a 30 second sample of a few of your movies too speed things up. Maybe try with Handbrake. Or Power director ? I don't have Power Director so don't know what its capable of. Just a thought.

[rbjtech 4289]

On 11/02/2022 at 22:45, embyboy9317 said:

Im so sorry, I posted this in the wrong place.  I had asked about problems with my AVI files and was told it had interlacing in it.  I have posted the video data here:

 

Format                                   : AVI
Format/Info                              : Audio Video Interleave
Commercial name                          : DV
Format profile                           : OpenDML
File size                                : 4.32 GiB
Duration                                 : 21 min 25 s
Overall bit rate mode                    : Constant
Overall bit rate                         : 28.9 Mb/s
Recorded date                            : 2004-04-18 14:27:42.000

Video
ID                                       : 0
Format                                   : DV
Duration                                 : 21 min 25 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 24.4 Mb/s
Width                                    : 720 pixels
Height                                   : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 4:3
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 29.970 (29970/1000) FPS
Standard                                 : NTSC
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:1:1
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Interlaced
Scan order                               : Bottom Field First
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 2.357
Time code of first frame                 : 00:00:00;00
Time code source                         : Subcode time code
Stream size                              : 4.31 GiB (100%)
Encoding settings                        : ae mode=full automatic / wb mode=automatic / white balance= / fcm=manual focus

Audio
ID                                       : 0-0
Format                                   : PCM
Format settings                          : Big / Signed
Muxing mode                              : DV
Muxing mode, more info                   : Muxed in Video #1
Duration                                 : 21 min 25 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 1 536 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Bit depth                                : 16 bits
Stream size                              : 235 MiB (5%)

 

So this is original bitrate DV captured in an AVI container - so the good news is you have about the best source you can get with SD material recorded on video camera

The key things you need to encode are as follows :-

Framerate - 29.97 (Not 30..) 

Display ratio : 4:3

Interlaced : YES - BFF (Bottom Field First) - this is important

Video : h264

Bitrate - I'd start at 2Mbit/sec - and see if you notice any macroblocking with fast movement.  if you do, then increase to 4.  The original is 29Mbit/sec (!) so if you are not bothered about saving space - then anything from 4-8 will be MORE than sufficient for SD with h264.

Audio - AAC - 2 Channel (Standard Preset) - 128Kbit 

Container - MKV or MP4 - Either will be fine.

--

As @arrbee99 said - just encode a 30 second slice to ensure it's all good before you go ahead and encode the entire thing.

If you have the choice and a fast CPU, try to use this over the GPU if that is an option - it should result in better overall quality.

 

I hope this helps

 

 

Edited February 13, 2022 by rbjtech

[embyboy9317 0]

thanks for the replies.........I have started practicing with some software packages using the tips you gave and Im pretty happy with the results. One question..........when i go through and make my selections, i havent found software that gives me the option to deinterlace bottom field first.  You mentioned that was important.  Do you have any recommendations for software that offers this option?

[rbjtech 4289]

37 minutes ago, embyboy9317 said:

thanks for the replies.........I have started practicing with some software packages using the tips you gave and Im pretty happy with the results. One question..........when i go through and make my selections, i havent found software that gives me the option to deinterlace bottom field first.  You mentioned that was important.  Do you have any recommendations for software that offers this option?

if the interlacing has gone (no jaggies on movement) then it's probably automatically calculating this for you.