[AndrewL.]

My old 8mm and Hi-8 videos look BAD on my new HDTV, even though they look good (as much as analog videos can) on my old CRT set. Even Digital 8 videos burned to a DVD in mpeg-2 look bad on the new one.

 

[scampbell]

What connection do you use to connect those? composite? s-video?

Is your HDTV plasma or LCD (or something else)? 768p 1080p? I think we would need more information to assess your situation.

I wonder if upconversion through an AVR would help?

 

[jbracing24]

I hope you aren't trying a stretch mode on the TV to fill the screen. Viewing them in the 4 X 3 mode will certainly help the PQ

 

[57]

Here's the FAQ on the topic. Optimized TV settings may help, but you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=18580

 

[AndrewL.]

What connection do you use to connect those? composite? s-video?

Is your HDTV plasma or LCD (or something else)? 768p 1080p? I think we would need more information to assess your situation.

I wonder if upconversion through an AVR would help?

PC via HDMI cable

My TV is an LCD 1080p, 47 inch LG.

I've noticed that the picture seems to look somewhat better now though. Could the TV needed to be 'broken in?'

 

[cavu]

Could the TV needed to be 'broken in?'

No.

You cannot get gold from straw.

Your original analog 'videos' are something between 220 and 420 lines of resolution. This poor resolution simply becomes more apparent when you use a high definition display. There is no way around it except squint your eyes or move a long, long way back from the screen.

 

[AndrewL.]

Stupid lying salesmen! Who would have guesed in the 90s that their home videos would end up looking like crap (and I don't mean just in relative terms because they're analog vs. HD) in the future simply due to a new TV technology?

Would it help if I saved the video files in an HD format rather than an mpeg?

 

[cavu]

Would it help if I saved the video files in an HD format rather than an mpeg?

No.

 

[Jake]

Andrew, Your D8 burnt to DVD should look pretty good. I have D8 and Hi8 and they look OK. They are not HD and never can be. The D8 material is the same resolution as DVDs 720x480 or broadcast SD. Use that for comparison. Now if the lighting is poor the material will look grainy. Also, what software are you using to encode the DVD material? What I suggest you do is try to perfect your method with a short sample. Don't be conservative with your bitrate. The higher the better the quality (to a point). You could pick 8Mbps constant bit-rate and not have to worry about compression artifacts. Hi8 is analog and if you can drop a Hi8 tape into your D8 deck or cam then the capture quality will increase somewhat. Same with your 8MM tapes.

 

[Michael TLV]

Greetings

Two additional items here.

SD TV ... as developed in 1939 ... was envisioned to be seen on TVs as big as ... 19".

That's the limit of the SDTV system ... watch it on a bigger screen and you see that the founding fathers were not kidding when they figured out what the limits of the system were.

Item #2 ... interlaced versus progressive.

Analog video as viewed on interlaced displays receive the benefit of something the brain does when viewing interlaced images. It interpolates the image and processes a sharper image than is actually present.

The same image on a progressive scan display now lacks the line structure of interlace and the brain is no longer asked to interpolate between the lines. No interpolation means we see the image more for how it really is ... versus the power of brain processing.

An image of a white wall shown as interlaced ... and then as progressive scan ... will have people choosing the interlaced image as being more detailed. (There is no detail on the white wall so no image can possibly be more detailed than the other)

regards

 

[Interceptor]

Great informative post as usual, Michael TLV.

 

[AndrewL.]

Hi8 is analog and if you can drop a Hi8 tape into your D8 deck or cam then the capture quality will increase somewhat. Same with your 8MM tapes.

I'll get a better capture if I use a D8 cam as opposed to a Hi8 cam even for Hi8 and 8mm tapes? Are compression artifacts the white flash you often get when there's a jump cut when playing Hi8/8mm tapes on a D8 cam?

 

[AndrewL.]

Item #2 ... interlaced versus progressive.

Analog video as viewed on interlaced displays receive the benefit of something the brain does when viewing interlaced images. It interpolates the image and processes a sharper image than is actually present.

The same image on a progressive scan display now lacks the line structure of interlace and the brain is no longer asked to interpolate between the lines. No interpolation means we see the image more for how it really is ... versus the power of brain processing.

I know about deinterlacing and it's supposed to eliminate pan/motion blur (motion adaptive deinterlacing?)caused by conversion of analog video to digital, but I haven't figurered out how to get it to work on Nero 9 as it's always unavailable.

BTW, what's the difference between interlacing and deinterlacing?

 

[JamesK]

SD TV ... as developed in 1939 ... was envisioned to be seen on TVs as big as ... 19"

Also, while analog has about 480 lines of vertical resolution, horizontal resolution is less than digital SD. This is even more so on consumer gear using tape and there are also colour quality issues (just compare a VHS tape with the original show to see the difference). With consumer level video cameras, you've now got a picture that's noticeably inferior to broadcast analog video and then blow it up onto a much larger screen, where it gets compared to HDTV. It's no wonder it looks bad.

BTW, when NTSC was introduced, back before WW2, it was considered "HD" in comparison to the other formats of the time.

 

[Jake]

Andrew, If you have a tape that was recorded on a Hi8 or 8MM camera and put it into a compatible D8 camera then the captured video (i.e. transfer to PC) will be of better quality when you use the firewire connection. I am not talking about if you put a blank Hi8 or 8MM tape into your D8 and start recording.

Are compression artifacts the white flash you often get when there's a jump cut when playing Hi8/8mm tapes on a D8 cam

The white flash I am not familiar with. Compression artifacts will often look like blurry or blocky image. If you have ever seen poor youtube videos you will know what I am talking about.