PAL to NTSC sd

Discuss about generic usage of MediaCoder.

Moderator: HuggiL

Post Reply
meRobs
Expert
Expert
Posts: 3116
Joined: Tue Jun 23, 2009 2:45 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: PAL to NTSC sd

Post by meRobs » Mon Feb 21, 2011 12:59 pm

Let me put in my tuppence worth first!

It all depends on:
(1) how well your DVDplayer/TV upscales from 576x432 (PAR=1) -- does MediaCoder (x264 encoder) do a better job?
(2) whether changing the frame rate from 25 to 29.97 causes a noticeable difference
(3) how well does the player read PAL.

My preference, since you are going to encode to h264/MP4 anyway, is to also upscale (Resize) to 720x576 for PAL (more pixels and the same frame rate) and Keep Display AR or Set Pixel AR = 16:15.
For NTSC, of course, you would use 720x480 with Keep DAR or set PAR = 8:9.
Have you checked out the Tips & Guides for MediaCoder? Try: http://forum.mediacoderhq.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8061
Also, get older builds at: http://www.videohelp.com/tools/MediaCoder/old-versions#download

meRobs
Expert
Expert
Posts: 3116
Joined: Tue Jun 23, 2009 2:45 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: PAL to NTSC sd

Post by meRobs » Mon Feb 21, 2011 2:21 pm

I think 'hence' is British English, actually, which some of us Aussies prefer.

Since some people would argue that changing from the PAL frame rate of your originals to 29.97 may add duplcates, and a slight stutter, I would recommend creating MPEG-PS (MPEG2 container) in PAL, provide your player is happy playing PAL (most are). So, I suggest the MPEG2 guide (viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8282&start=0), etc.

Suggest you try it on one good-quality file and check it TV.
Have you checked out the Tips & Guides for MediaCoder? Try: http://forum.mediacoderhq.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=8061
Also, get older builds at: http://www.videohelp.com/tools/MediaCoder/old-versions#download

ladycoder
Expert
Expert
Posts: 588
Joined: Fri Nov 24, 2006 5:29 am

Re: PAL to NTSC sd

Post by ladycoder » Thu Feb 24, 2011 2:28 pm

Avis are neither PAL nor NTSC; they just have different frame rates. If your setup plays 23.976fps and 29.970fps avis, there is no reason it should not play 25fps.

PAL and NTSC are dvd labels.

Since you want to recode to another codec/container, for some reason, that also has no PAL/NTSC distinction, do not change the frame rate. You can resize if you wish.

Changing frame rate is never advisable. The proper way to change 25fps to 23.976fps (US film rate) is to slow the video and audio down.

ladycoder
Expert
Expert
Posts: 588
Joined: Fri Nov 24, 2006 5:29 am

Re: PAL to NTSC sd

Post by ladycoder » Thu Feb 24, 2011 6:30 pm

If you just want a smaller container, no worries. I have not found really good settings for xvid to x264 that don't look a bit fuzzy in the shadows, but I have only done a couple with mencoder.

Increasing the resolution won't make it any sharper, though. If it already has the proper AR with VGA11, why resize to a dvd resolution and set DAR. Maybe one setup won't read DAR as well as another.

I know many that do the stream to tv; I personally can't afford the luxury of large HDDs. :x

Post Reply