I had been happy using XVID4PSP for converting video from a digital camera into XVID. I just had to be sure the files were merged first because otherwise there were terrible audio synch problems. But XVID4PSP can't work with some video I shot with a Canon SX130is. So I started using AVIDEMUX but the video didn't look sharp enough so I started the sharpen filters. But even on modest settings, all three of them lead to color banding which is noticeable with the sky. So is there any way to tweak the actual XVID settings to sharpen the video? I'm currently doing 2pass encodes at 2500kbs and using what I think are the highest quality settings. Thanks.
I've done test after test using all the sharpening filters on every setting and the problem doesn't go away. But I'm wondering if the problem is with the original XVID encode. If I look carefully enough, that banding might already be there only not pronounced. The sharpening filters might only be making it more visible than causing the problem. So how does one get rid of banding in XVID? I seem to remember that with x264 I got rid of it using no-fast P skip. But that option isn't available in AVIDEMUX... unless it has a different name. It does seem to be part of the XVID encoder in a now unsupported version of Handbrake. Back to testing!
If you read the actual handbrake devs documentation you will see they consider xvid as obsolete old tech.. they haven't done any development on it for years. Theres not a lot of point trying to "sharpen" xvid encodes.. the way to get them sharp is to encode them properly in the first place.. video is the same as audio.. put shite in-get shite out. it can be "tweaked" a little, but the main problem is the information is damaged in the first place so no amount of "tweaking" will ever make it as good as getting it right first time. Avidemux has various filters and settings.. but it seems to me like you are just trying to force the bitrate.. all you get doing that is the same crap you put in at a higher bitrate with more artifacts and garbage from it being yet another generation away from the original source.
I did some tests with the now obsolete version of Handbrake (HB discontinued XVID last winter) and the results were actually better than from AVIDEMUX. It got rid of the subtle color banding in the sky without any apparent loss of sharpness. But it has no sharpening filter. From the HB tutorial, but from the H264 section No Fast P-Skip (no-fast-pskip) This can help with blocking on solid colors like blue skies, but it also slows down the encode. Having used it before to deal with similar banding problems, it seems to be a form of dithering.
Thanks for responding. It's the conclusion I've come to as well after better studying the videos. But it seems some encoders do a better job than others. I should mention this is standard definition video 30fps @ 640x480. I didn't have these banding problems at 2500kbs with XVID4PSP even with the use the LimitedSharpen filter. And I don't get these banding problems with HandBrake. But XVID4PSP doesn't like this new video format and HandBrake doesn't have a sharpening filter. So assuming I'm not forcing the bitrate... any suggestions for new XVID settings in AVIDEMUX or generally what direction NOT to go in? Thanks EDIT I'm also not getting any color banding using AutoMKV at 2500kbs. So I have to assume bandwidth is sufficient.
