How can I maximize quality?

[Fabulist]

Hello everyone!

First of all I'd like to say congratulations to the team and forum members who support Videolan.

Now to proceed with my question... How can I maximize quality settings in VLC? I am no expert user, but I have searched both the forums and the internet, and the only information I could find was:

1: Force Deinterlacing to be always On.
2: Uncheck "Skip Frames" from Video Settings.

Now as far as I know, media players like VLC have multiple settings that could improve Video Playpack, if your computer can support them. Thing is, I don't know much about VLC and I really cannot find any other settings that could improve image quality.

So if anyone can help me to maximize my quality settings, I'd appreciate it. Some examples:

1: What's the "best" Video Output of VLC and what is its Default setting that I see on the menu?

2: In Codec Settings checking "Use system codecs if available" does not give me better video quality in any of the files that I have played, but instead it has not let me play some particular files at all, meaning that I do not see the video, only sound.

3: I do not really know what "Video quality post-processing level" is, but according to other 3D applications, the higher it is the better. Thing is VLC does not save my settings, but in any case, I do not know what it really does.

4: I noticed that using Nvidia Video Settings to sharpen image, etc. only makes the picture worse. On a search I conducted, I came up with Using Direct3D as a Video Output and configuring Anti-aliasing and such on the Nvidia Panel. This is something I tried, maybe not properly as I do not really know how, but I did not see any difference in quality. I tried to configure VLC as an application through the Nvidia panel as I would with a video game for example.

Please note that I have tested OpenGL, DirectX and Direct3D mode, and I could not really see any difference in terms of quality, maybe the difference is small enough for me to notice. Also, take in mind that I am mostly talking about Low Resolution videos, for example: Mini Game Movies, running under .avi .flv .mkv .wmv and so on. Quality on high resolution movies or high quality videos is very satisfying.

Another thing I would like to note, is that with VLC 0.9.x I used to change Video mode to OpenGL or DirectX, because the “Default” and “Direct3D” (if I remember correct) used to give me bad image quality when playing these Mini Videos. This was fixed with later versions of VLC, but I do not really know if it is because I upgraded Windows, VLC or Nvidia drivers.

Some system information:
O.S.: Windows 7 x86 HP
GFX: Nvidia GTX295 SLI
CPU: I7 Extreme D0 (4 Cores)
MoBo: P6T7 WS SC
Monitor: CRT (Only connected to the computer)

Thank you for taking your time reading my post, any comments appreciated!

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

1. Use VLC 1.1.0-rc
2. Put deinterlace to auto
3. Select yadifx2 for deinterlacing
4. Put the postproc to higher
5. Put the nvidia drivers to full colourspace

[Fabulist]

Hello j-b, thank you for your answer!

1: I have been using VLC 1.1.0-rc, but at the moment I am using your night builds since I would like to check GPU Acceleration.

2&3: Done and Done

4: As I said in my post, unfortunately VLC does not save Post Processing, not at 26 or 7, it always goes back to Default 6 (this used to happen in VLC 1.1.0-rc, it's not a night build issue). If you have a solution to that, please share it with me, I will research on this issue more though.

5: As far as I can understand you are talking about Dynamic Range to 0 - 255, if you do I already have this setting set up as you suggested.

Do you not have any further advises regarding Video Mode or Nvidia settings? I though there would be more that I could do. If you have any other suggestion to make please do so in your convenience.

Thank you for taking your time replying!

Edit: ("4:...") I just saw that Post-Processing cannot go higher than 6, so I guess I already have the higher value. Thing is, I can't get it to 5 or 4 either from the menu. Anyway, since the optimum value is available, it is not a problem.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

then all seems cool.

[Fabulist]

Alright, I guess there isn't anything else I can do

Thanks again for your help!

[dumbo4711]

hi

sorry for interfering
but setting dynamic range to 0 - 255 in nvidia driver is not for all videos recommended !


normaly dvds, blu rays, hd dvds (and so there rips like xvid, divx,...) are created/encoded for normal tv's and not pc screens and expect 16-235 settings

with full range (or evr render from vista/w7 in wmp/mpc hc) most movies will be too dark
looks better u may think
but u will miss details in dark scenes



if u do this:
Tools -> Preferences... (set Show Settings to All) and then choosing Video -> Output modules -> DirectX and disable Use hardware YUV -> RGB conversions
mentioned in another thread
it will have the same effect as setting range to 0-255 in nvidia driver

but again i do not recommend this
because movies will be too dark in most cases

if full or limited range is better depends on video source and of course your personal preferences

[Fabulist]

Hello dumbo4711 and thank you for your response.

I will take everything you said in mind, but please note that I have been using 0 - 255 for a long time now, that's because I have a CRT monitor and I am using high Gamma, so with "full range" I get the correct picture colors and brightness.

Any further suggestions are welcome!

[eltouco]

hi

sorry for interfering
but setting dynamic range to 0 - 255 in nvidia driver is not for all videos recommended !


normaly dvds, blu rays, hd dvds (and so there rips like xvid, divx,...) are created/encoded for normal tv's and not pc screens and expect 16-235 settings

with full range (or evr render from vista/w7 in wmp/mpc hc) most movies will be too dark
looks better u may think
but u will miss details in dark scenes



if u do this:

Tools -> Preferences... (set Show Settings to All) and then choosing Video -> Output modules -> DirectX and disable Use hardware YUV -> RGB conversions
mentioned in another thread
it will have the same effect as setting range to 0-255 in nvidia driver

but again i do not recommend this
because movies will be too dark in most cases

if full or limited range is better depends on video source and of course your personal preferences

You are wrong, Jb is correct. this setting is right and respect the standards (the way DVD video are encoded are shoud be decoded)
if you find that the scenes are too dark then your screen is not welll calibrated or not good enough.

[andy220]

Dear Gents,

I capture my favorite radio stream but quality is low as dynamic. How to maximize captured quality and store it to high bitrate MP3 file?Any hint would be highly welcomed.
Regards

Andy

[Lotesdelere]

I capture my favorite radio stream

How ?
If you are using the Record button there is nothing you can do as it's recording streams in their native formats, no transcoding is performed.

[andy220]

So it means my favorite radio is streaming with low quality?I do not think so.If I am listening stream online quality is good. But once I record the resulting mp3 file is crap.Dynamic and sampling rate seems to be low.How to keep same quality as original stream in case of grabbing to mp3 format?