I want to put all my personal home DVDs on my server so that I can watch them using Plex.
I understand that Plex cannot playback VOB files so I used MakeMKV to make the VOB files into MKV files, which I believe is supposed to be lossless as there is no re-encoding.
However, when I play the MKV files on Plex the image is terrible becase there are lines on the video (like some kind of interlace). These lines become worse if the video footage is moving, the faster the footage moves the worse the lines become.
Below is a picture to show the issue.
If MakeMKV is lossless then why is the video playback so poor ?
Not all Plex clients support de-interlacing video during playback.
Suggest you run the videos through Handbrake. Handbrake will transcode the videos from MPEG2 to H.264 or H.265 (your choice). When configuring the transcode, in Filters settings, choose Interlace Detection = Default; Deinterlace = Decomb, Preset = Default.
Start with those settings and see how it works, and adjust as necessary. It is not always possible to remove all interlacing artifacts. To save time, test with a short sample or chapter of a video until you get the best result, then process the entire move/show.
Thanks for the replies. I thought using MakeMKV was supposed to maintain the quality as it does not re-encode, whereas handbrake would reduce the quality because it has to re-encode ? This is why I used MakeMKV instead of handbrake. So if I use handbrake, will the quality be reduced ?
Not so much that you could notice - for DVDs itās very likely, if you use the right magic tricks your encode will look better than the source - it sure wonāt be interlaced and that would be a step in the right direction:
HD Above - 480p Below.
De-Interlace is in Filters/De-interlace/No Detection/Yadif - Default/Lapsharp/Light/Film (probably, but pick Animation if necessary - like if youāre encoding animations).
More than about 2500Kbps is a waste of time (for DVDs/Standard Rez), but do a 2 pass at whatever you decide on.
BTW - there should be a setting in that recording device (are these from a camera recorder?) to disable interlacing. There is no earthly reason to have it on - if you have a choice.
The video was originally recorded using a Sony PC105E camcorder
It was then written to DVD-R using a Panasonic DMR-E55 DVD Player/Recorder (via S-Video)
I used Mediainfo to get details of the VOB file on the DVD and the results are shown below:
Format : MPEG-PS
File size : 1 023 MiB
Duration : 15 s 974 ms
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 537 Mb/s
Video
ID : 224 (0xE0)
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@Main
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, Matrix : Custom
Format settings, GOP : M=3, N=12
Format settings, picture structure : Frame
Duration : 15 s 974 ms
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 527 Mb/s
Maximum bit rate : 9 579 kb/s
Width : 704 pixels
Height : 576 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate : 25.000 FPS
Standard : PAL
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan order : Top Field First
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 51.936
Time code of first frame : 00:00:00:00
Time code source : Group of pictures header
GOP, Open/Closed : Open
GOP, Open/Closed of first frame : Closed
Stream size : 1 002 MiB (98%)
Color primaries : BT.601 PAL
Transfer characteristics : BT.470 System B, BT.470 System G
Matrix coefficients : BT.601
Audio
ID : 189 (0xBD)-128 (0x80)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Muxing mode : DVD-Video
Duration : 15 s 726 ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 256 kb/s
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 kHz
Frame rate : 31.250 FPS (1536 SPF)
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 491 KiB (0%)
Service kind : Complete Main
Iām hoping - 'cause I donāt know - Handbrake is smart enough to know the dimensions for you - PAL are going to be 720x576. If that actually happens, remains to be seen. By you.
With āNoneā Selected for Anamorphic - Drag and Drop that thing on Handbrake and it should just use 704x576 - like it is.
Use the same settings elsewhere - Same as Source/Variable Bit Rate, but change my Average Bit Rate to 9000Kbps (to maintain as much quality as you can, but I can tell ya anything more than about 2500Kbps is a complete waste of time for DVD material). Use 2 Pass (with a lower bit rate - this is precious cargo - but you canāt turn a sowās ear into a silk purse with bit rate).
Under Filters do as I suggest - create some 240second previews, put them in an Other Videos Library and watch 'em on some things.
I donāt have any PAL material on hand - soā¦ soldier on bravely and get back with us.
Just out of curiosity - there are Plex clients that deinterlace? Thatās interesting. It would be great to rip using MakeMKV instead of having to encode. Iāve ripped a LOT of stuff and I usually rip using MakeMKV, then encode using handbrakeā¦but you have to be super careful with your settings or you can lose smooth motion - like a slow pan will be jerky and that absolutely drives me crazyā¦ I wish I could remember which series I tried to rip but no matter which settings I used, it would be jerky (or at least slightly jerky) during panning scenes or any kind of slow camera movementā¦I finally ended up using Avidemux for that seriesā¦and I honestly donāt know what the difference was but the motion was smooth whereas on Handbrake it wasnāt.
I have this odd problem in that my TV de-interlaces on the fly ANYTHING - in any input! (get the cheapest Chinese POS you can find - thatās what I did).
You wouldnāt think that would be a problem - until you donāt see the interlacing - so it can be fixed - until, of course, it causes a remote transcodeā¦ then you knowā¦lol
Itās worth noting there is a big difference between different deinterlacing methods. Some clients have deinterlacing but the options can vary widely.
For streaming boxes itās typically whatās available in the deviceās hardware and usually this is one of the worst deinterlace methods.
PMP and Plex For Windows/MacOS use MPV as itās playback engine which will use a method that depends on which hardware decoding is in use. For software decoding it uses yadif which is typically a decent deinterlacing method. You can examine the source for more details
Handbrake has yadif and also has a method called decomb
For deinterlacing to work properly, you often need the frames to be properly marked in the source media. This isnāt always the case. Recently I looked at the DVDs for Stargate SG-1 and noticed:
The DVDs for several seasons were marked as progressive even though the content was clearly interlaced
Some seasons had random episodes within a season marked as progressive but again were clearly interlaced.
Even when the media was marked correctly as interlaced, the field dominance was sometimes wrong causing the deinterlace to perform the wrong operation (on a scene change from scene A ā B, the deinterlace would show frames like the following: AAAAABABBBBBB)
I fought these files using every single deinterlacing method in FFmpeg but the incorrect field dominance defeated most of them. With the first 7 seasons of this show, I had to run them through handbrake using the decomb deinterlace method to yield the correct results. Also important is I had to set handbrake to use a constant framerate that was the same as the source which for these yielded 23.976fps so the client would output to the TV at correct refresh rate (for this content)
The best method is going to depend on the content. Usually yadif is quite good but there are exceptions (see my field dominance example) where it falls flat. I ran across some posts where people couldnāt find an acceptable method for some content between Avidemux and Handbrake and ended up having to use the AI-based method available in FFmpeg which runs at single digit fps on modern hardware. So expect to be surprised on occasion with some of the more ācreativeā interlacing that people do.
Yes. I remember back when I ripped China Beachā¦ OH MY G. I kept testing the first episode with handbrakeās different decomb/deinterlace settings. I was using h.265 as the codec. I ended up having better luck with variable framerate and decomb/bob than anything. On the first episode, about 3 minās in, there was a beach panning sceneā¦so I could always just encode the first few minās, watch it, then stop/do over until I found the right settings. The encodes ended up looking great with smooth playback during panning. (I tried avidemux with this series too and it was choppy with ANY deinterlace method I chose in filters.
the new handbrake is bulletproof and these settings are pretty much how you use it for everything - almost.
Trust me.
Iāve even changed slightly from this, but only increasing bit rates a bit - isnāt anything to re-write a guide over - trust me on that one as well. Itāll probably be the first thing you do - and thatās fine - to a point.
I ran into the Nightmare Scenario in Family Guy World recently. Thatās because Fox Sucks (they pieced the S01-S05 DVDs together out of spare parts they had laying around), but I havenāt noticed any badness much anywhere else.
