Motion Adaptive De-interlacing
The following clips illustrate the importance of proper de-interlacing when creating streaming files greater than one video field (240 lines) in height. Properly processing the video from its native interlace form factor to high quality progressive scan data is extremely important to the overall quality of the resulting image. Digital Rapids encoding systems feature hardware-based motion adaptive de-interlacing , one of the most advanced forms available.

Competitive hardware results - Raw footage captured using a competitor's hardware and encoded with all filtering options turned on. The footage is captured at full resolution as a demonstration of how interlaced material is handled by capture systems without advanced de-interlacing capabilities. The presence of the interlace artifacts causes many compression issues in the image, not the least of which is poor presentation quality. Pause the video just as the wheels bounce through the scene to see the full effect.

Software-based de-interlacing - This is an example of the same footage captured as an uncompressed AVI file and processed using a very popular software solution. Notice that there are less artifacts overall and that the image quality is improved somewhat. The overall effect of the software based de-interlace engine is motion blur (trails) artifacts in areas of high motion. Pause the clip just as the wheels bounce across the screen to see the full effect.

StreamZ real-time results - Same footage captured using a Digital Rapids StreamZ media encoding server. This footage was captured and processed in real-time resulting in a high quality, progressive scan file. Notice the lack of interlace artifacts and the overall higher quality of the clip. Pause the video anywhere in the clip and notice that there are no interlace artifacts.

Motion Adaptive 3D Noise Reduction
The following clips demonstrate the ability of our advanced video noise reduction technology to salvage troublesome, noisy footage into a useable result. This is an extreme example; even with good source footage, noise reduction can have a very significant impact on the quality of the compressed result. Digital Rapids encoders feature motion adaptive 3D noise reduction , delivering the benefits of noise reduction - not only the removal of visible noise, but also allowing the codecs to work more efficiently and thus create a higher quality output - without the trail artifacts that may occur with other 3D noise reduction methods.

Without noise reduction - This clip represents the raw footage as captured by a 3 chip DV camera in very challenging lighting conditions. Obviously there are quite a number of things wrong with the footage in question. The video is too bright, there is a lot of video noise from the camera's auto gain (trying to compensate for low light) and there is very little contrast in the image. Look in the background of the clip and you will see that the graininess induced by the camera.

With 3D motion adaptive noise reduction - 3D motion adaptive noise reduction has been applied to the clip and there is already a significant improvement in quality over the original footage.

With 3D motion adaptive noise reduction and some simple processing applied - Some simple proc amp adjustments have been applied to the clip to try and restore some contrast and saturation to the image. The footage is not perfect, but it is no longer wasted footage and can now probably be used for its original purpose.

Samples of Various Bitrates and Formats
Zoo Footage (Multiple Bitrates)

The following four clips were all encoded simultaneously in real-time on a Digital Rapids StreamZ. These clips are not an example of the ultimate quality possible using a Digital Rapids solution, but rather what is possible using even consumer equipment in real world conditions. The camera used is a 10 year old Hi-8 camera, it is hand held and the lighting conditions vary from poor to terrible. Notice that the camera never stops moving through the clips creating a challenging situation for the codec.

All of the clips are sized somewhat above what would be considered normal resolution for these bitrates. During the opening frames of the clip, look at the shallow angle of the wires that make up the tiger cage. On a system without proper de-interlacing the wires would show up as jagged lines without the clear definition that you see in these clips.

MPEG-2 Samples
To play these clips, right click on the link, choose 'Save Target As' and save to your local hard disk . You will need a player capable of decoding variable bitrate MPEG-2. If you are having problems you might try the  Empg  shareware player from Elecard.

Slime - The same clip used to demonstrate motion adaptive de-interlacing above, encoded at ~2Mb/s MPEG-2 format at 640x480 resolution.

DHL - A commercial spot for DHL encoded at ~2Mb/s VBR MPEG-2 format at 640x480 resolution.

ZooTest - Some amateur footage shot with a consumer camera to show off 3D noise reduction and motion adaptive de-interlacing in a low bitrate MPEG-2 file at 640x480 resolution.

ZooTest2 - More amateur footage shot with a consumer camera to show off 3D noise reduction and motion adaptive de-interlacing in a low bitrate MPEG-2 file at 640x480 resolution.

MPEG-1 Samples
To play these clips, right click on the link, choose 'Save Target As' and save to your local hard disk . If you are having problems you might try the  Empg  shareware player from Elecard.

ZooTest - Some amateur footage shot with a consumer camera to show off 3D noise reduction and motion adaptive de-interlacing in a low bitrate MPEG-1 file at 320x240 resolution.

ZooTest Highres - Some amateur footage shot with a consumer camera to show off 3D noise reduction and motion adaptive de-interlacing in a low bitrate MPEG-1 file at 640x480 resolution.