Using PLEX HTPC on a Mac Mini (Mojave) to TV using HDMI.
All DVDs were ripped using makemkv. No problems there. Playing them natively works fine, except for interlaced ones. Using VLC, the videos look just like when playing the physical DVDs in a DVD player. But with PLEX HTPC, the videos have lots of quality issues. Weird vertical lines. Not playing smoothly. etc.
This issue must have been addressed already, but can’t seem to find any references to it.
Now I see the problem comes and goes. Well, that’s just weird! Maybe it’s not related to being interlaced?
Back to the drawing board.
VLC has de-interlacing on by default. You can turn it off during playback via Video → Deinterlace → Off.
Not all Plex clients deinterlace video (I don’t know if HTPC does or does not).
Interlaced artifacts are usually visible when there is motion - someone waving a hand, the camera zooming and panning at the same time, a moving car, etc. See picture below from Wikipedia.
I run interlaced movies/shows through Handbrake to clean them up as much as possible.
Handbrake (and similar tools) will de-interlace the video if configured to do so. Look at the Filters tab on the H.264 MKV 1080p30 or H.265 MKV 1080p30 presets. That will get you started. You can adjust as necessary. Note that it is not always possible to remove all interlacing artifacts. Sometimes the source material is just too bad to completely clean.
Wikipedia: Interlaced Video
This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.
