How do I remove pixelized video resolution?

[rjacek1]

I have a MPEG file that was created at 320x240 resolution. I saved it as an
MPEG with a higher resolution of 720x480 which is the typical resolution
for viewing a DVD on a 3:2 television. Naturally, when I viewed the MPEG
on my TV, the picture was pixelized due to the increase in size. Is there
any way to remove the pixelization or tighten up the resolution so that the
video doesn't look so bad? Would another format be a better solution?

[skier-hughes]

Save it as mpeg1, vcd format and watch it on your tv.
Find a better source of the video in a larger size.
You could try sharpening, if it's available in VS, I'm not sure.

[etech6355]

Mpeg2 - 352x240 is also a valid dvd compliant framesize for ntsc. pal is 352x288.
Still may be pixeled when blown up on the TV.

[DVDDoug]

In general, you can't re-generate information does not exist in the video file! (Theoretically you can interpolate, but I don't think Video Studio can do that... And, that will "soften" the image.)

If your original file is DVD compatible MPEG-2, it would be best to leave it alone. MPEG is lossy compression, and re-coding it will involve an additional lossy encode step. If you use a high-enough bitrate, you probably won't notice the quality loss, but it will also probably offset any sharpening (or softening) that you apply to the video.

320x240 shouldn't be that bad. It should be about equal to VHS, if the bitrate is high enough.

If you see the pixels all the time, that could be the resolution. If it gets "blocky" when there's motion, or during scene transitions, that's caused by the bitrate.

[rjacek1]

What bitrate should I use?

[skier-hughes]

Let's start by getting all the info we need.
Where did the file come from?
What sort of mpeg file is it?
What bitrate was used to produce it?

[DVDDoug]

What bitrate should I use?

Here's a Bitrate Calculator. Higher bitrate = higher quality.*

A bitrate of 6000kbps is "typical" for commercial DVDs. At 6000kbps, you can fit about 90 minutes of video with Dolby audio on a single-layer DVD.

At the high end, the DVD spec limits the combined audio and video to a bit more than 10,000 kbps. However, some DVD players have trouble with high-bitrate "burned" DVDs, so you will be safer if you keep it under 7000 or 8000.

At the low end, I start to notice quality loss below 4500 kbps. (i.e. When I've tried to squeeze more than 2 hours onto a single-layer DVD.)

If you do use a lower resolution (352x240), you might be able to get-away with a lower bitrate, since you will be using more bits per pixel.




* MPEG is lossy compression. There is always some quality loss. At higher bitrates, you are using more bits (and bytes) to hold your video, so less data is thrown-away...

Higher bitrate = higher quality = bigger file size = lower compression = less playing time.

Lower bitrate = lower quality = smaller file size = higher compression = more playing time.

[rjacek1]

The movie was created with a digital camcorder. I converted it from a Quicktime (.MOV) to a MPEG2. The bitrate is 2496. Should I convert it again at a bitrate of 6000 or higher?

[rjacek1]

The movie was created on a digital camcorder. It was converted from a
Quicktime (.MOV) to a MPEG2. The bitrate is 2496. Should I convert it again at a bitrate of 6000 or higher?

[etech6355]

If you want to put the video on a dvd to playback I'd use these settings to create a new mpeg2 file:

DVD NTSC or DVD PAL (wherever you are)
Framesize = 352x240(ntsc) / 352x288(pal)
Fielding = Same as the source video
Framerate = 29.97(ntsc) / 25(pal)
Video_Bit_Rate 2500 Constant
Audio = (Whatever your dvd player can play)
Compression = 90 - 100
Those settings will do the least amount of damage to the video.

[skier-hughes]

If it was a digital camcorder I'd start from fresh, connect via firewire and capture as a dv-avi file at full resolution.

WHat make and model is it?