@jak.willis Hi, a video or picture image is made up of tiny dots called pixels, when you upscale an image those pixels get spread apart & would leave gaps but your software fills them in using the nearest pixels,

Any upscale of a video/picture would result in a lower quality image, there's software that helps to keep the quality of a video upscaling but the better ones are expensive & don't always give the best of results.

This is a 960 x 540 BW image, zoomed in you can see it has a nice crisp join, (bottom right there's little white square that shows what it's zoomed in to)

Upscaling that image to 1920 x 1080 does this to that BW join, that is why your video is fuzzy.

Here i added Sharpen, on this simple BW image it works well but on a video it can have differing results, sometimes it cleans the image up well, but too much sharpen can be as bad as a fuzzy image.

PS this is pretty much the same for a video as it is for a picture, ie. the same in a photo editor like I've shown & for video editors.

Hi,

Many thanks for your input there. So going back to my original question, will watching the video with it zoomed out (so not filling the TV screen) make the picture quality better because it isn’t being upscaled as much?

@jak.willis Someone else will have to give a better explanation but -

Zooming out (downscaling) will not return the video back to it's orig pixel layout, when it was upscaled pixels were added, then when the image is downscaled those pixels don't get removed to how the orig was.

This is that 960x540 image that was upscaled to 1920x1080, I've returned it to 960x540, (I removed the sharpening first), you can see the join is still blurred even tho it's now returned to it's orig size,

@jak.willis

Jak,

will watching the video with it zoomed out (so not filling the TV screen) make the picture quality better because it isn’t being upscaled as much?

Yes. Any video, whether previously upscaled or not, will look better on a smaller screen or at smaller physical size on the same TV. Compare a video on a phone with the same video on your TV. A 720x576 video encoded at a measly 1000kbps will look great on your phone but very average on your big TV because the physical size of the pixels is smaller on your phone, so it looks sharper.

My view (pardon the pun) is that upscaling produces slightly better video on a big TV but whether it is worth the effort is up to you. Modern TVs are very good at upscaling so many say it is not worth it or needed.

You can easily give it a go: create a 1920x1080 16:9 movie in Settings and then bring your video in. You'll see the movie fill the screen vertically. You haven't said what ratio your video is, 4:3 or 16:9 (assuming it's not 544x576 1:1). If it's 4:3, you'll have black bars on the sides (called pillarboxing). You have effectively upscaled your video to 1080 vertical. You could add a little sharpening as Gid says. Export that and try it on your TV. If that looks too fuzzy or pixelated, you'll have to reduce the size of your video using Size and Position, so it is physically smaller on the screen. The downside is that it will be harder to see because it is smaller.

@AAProds

Hi there,

Thanks for your comment. Sorry for not mentioning about the Aspect Ratio. It is 4:3. And the resolution (according to the computer) is 544x576. It is quite an old TV show broadcast on a UK channel called ‘Drama.’ Most of their broadcasts look quite poor and fuzzy.

So, if I load it into MEP and shrink the size so that it is like letterboxed, then play it through my TV, it will not be upscaling it to the set’s native (or fixed) pixel resolution of 1920x1080? Therefore the picture will look better?

@jak.willis Someone else will have to give a better explanation but -

Zooming out (downscaling) will not return the video back to it's orig pixel layout, when it was upscaled pixels were added, then when the image is downscaled those pixels don't get removed to how the orig was.

This is that 960x540 image that was upscaled to 1920x1080, I've returned it to 960x540, (I removed the sharpening first), you can see the join is still blurred even tho it's now returned to it's orig size,

Yes but i don’t think there was much upscaling of the broadcast in the first place because, as I mentioned in my reply to AAProds, the video is an old TV show filmed in 1999. And if the broadcast is in 544x576 and the show itself was filmed in or close to that resolution then there is not much upscaling going on in the first place is there? On the broadcast side I mean.

@jak.willis I'm not quite sure i fully understand, but whether it is in the video editor or played directly on a TV screen, if the screen is larger than 544x576 it will be getting upscaled, The old TV's will have upscaled differently to modern LED screens, I don't know much about that, but as @AAProds says TV's are good at upscaling,

This is 544x576 on a 1920x1080 project, played on a TV that has a screen that is also 1920x1080 there wouldn't be any upscaling,

@jak.willis I'm not quite sure i fully understand, but whether it is in the video editor or played directly on a TV screen, if the screen is larger than 544x576 it will be getting upscaled, The old TV's will have upscaled differently to modern LED screens, I don't know much about that, but as @AAProds says TV's are good at upscaling,

This is 544x576 on a 1920x1080 project, played on a TV that has a screen that is also 1920x1080 there wouldn't be any upscaling,

Yes, but if the video is not filling the screen then I don’t see how it is still going to be upscaling. Also, if you are exporting a 544x576 video as 1920x1080 then the editor will be effectively upscaling it before it even gets to the TV won’t it?

@jak.willis Read my last comment - 'This is 544x576 on a 1920x1080 project, played on a TV that has a screen that is also 1920x1080 there wouldn't be any upscaling'

The black background of that clip i posted is 1920x1080, but the video in the middle is only 544x576, played on a 1920x1080 tv it wouldn't get stretched because the black background is already the size of the screen,

@jak.willis Read my last comment - 'This is 544x576 on a 1920x1080 project, played on a TV that has a screen that is also 1920x1080 there wouldn't be any upscaling'

I have another much smaller TV that has a native resolution of 1366x768. How would it work for this?

@jak.willis

Jak, you don't appear to understand what we're doing with the 1920x1080 export. The video being exported from MEP is 1920x1080, so it will fill your TV screen with no upscaling (it can't be upscaled because it's already at the TV resolution). Your "Drama" show is not being upscaled: it is placed in the middle of the 1920x1080 frame at it's original size, being 544x576 at 4:3. So, on your TV, your "Drama" show will appear as Gid shows in the last video he posted above: black sides all around with your smaller 544x576 video in the middle.

I have another much smaller TV that has a native resolution of 1366x768. How would it work for this?

It would achieve your aim of reducing the physical size of the show as you look at it, which will make things sharper, as I explained above.

@jak.willis Read my last comment - 'This is 544x576 on a 1920x1080 project, played on a TV that has a screen that is also 1920x1080 there wouldn't be any upscaling'

The black background of that clip i posted is 1920x1080, but the video in the middle is only 544x576, played on a 1920x1080 tv it wouldn't get stretched because the black background is already the size of the screen,

 

Gid, my apologies, I have just re-read your explanation and taken a proper look at that last screenshot. Yeah, I understand what you mean now.

In regards to the other TV set that has a native resolution of 1366x768, what would your advice be? In the past I have attempted to encode videos in 1366x768 but the result would always be a completely distorted picture.

@jak.willis

Jak, you don't appear to understand what we're doing with the 1920x1080 export. The video being exported from MEP is 1920x1080, so it will fill your TV screen with no upscaling (it can't be upscaled because it's already at the TV resolution). Your "Drama" show is not being upscaled: it is placed in the middle of the 1920x1080 frame at it's original size, being 544x576 at 4:3. So, on your TV, your "Drama" show will appear as Gid shows in the last video he posted above: black sides all around with your smaller 544x576 video in the middle.

I have another much smaller TV that has a native resolution of 1366x768. How would it work for this?

It would achieve your aim of reducing the physical size of the show as you look at it, which will make things sharper, as I explained above.

Hiya, yeah I have just re read Gid’s explanation and now I understand what you are both saying. So when exporting the 544x576 video in 1920x1080, MEP won’t be upscaling it to that resolution during the encoding process?

@AAProds
 

This is the video on my TV & Panasonic Recorder. When the picture’s size is reduced, like you see in the attached image, the video quality looks much sharper and more like the original. But when you play it like normal with it filling the screen then it looks soft and fuzzy.

@jak.willis

So when exporting the 544x576 video in 1920x1080, MEP won’t be upscaling it to that resolution during the encoding process?

Only if you do as I described earlier: create a 1920x1080 movie, then import your video. Use the Size and Position effect to reduce the size of your video show so it's, say, half the size of your movie ie the black area in the Preview monitor.

Then, export the movie as 1920x1080, and your video show will be smaller, in the middle. On the TV, it will be the same: lots of black screen surrounding your video show, which will be clearer because it is smaller ie not full-TV-screen.

To get around this issue, I'd try to record it at higher resolution or at least at better quality.

@jak.willis

So when exporting the 544x576 video in 1920x1080, MEP won’t be upscaling it to that resolution during the encoding process?

Only if you do as I described earlier: create a 1920x1080 movie, then import your video. Use the Size and Position effect to reduce the size of your video show so it's, say, half the size of your movie ie the black area in the Preview monitor.

Then, export the movie as 1920x1080, and your video show will be smaller, in the middle. On the TV, it will be the same: lots of black screen surrounding your video show, which will be clearer because it is smaller ie not full-TV-screen.

To get around this issue, I'd try to record it at higher resolution or at least at better quality.

@AAProds

Okay. And when exporting, which codec should I use? MPEG-2, H.264, etc. And also what bitrate? Because if the video is getting re-encoded then it will lose some quality won’t it?

@jak.willis

For export, I'd use the MPEG-4 menu (which will give you H.264/MP4). MP4 will be the most compatible format.

Set the export up for:

- 1920x1080 (should already be there for your lovie parameters)

- Frame Rate 25fps

- Ratio 16:9

Like this:

Then go to the Advanced screen and set up like this:

Note the bitrates I've put in; try those to start but ramp them up if you see any degradation. Most of your frame will be black so you'll won't need a lot of bitrate, unlike if you had a full moving video over the whole 1920x1080 screen.

Also choose Coding Quality "Best" and tick "Streamable" just in case you want to stream them later.

I'd suggest just exporting a short range of a couple of minutes so you can check what it looks like on your TV.

Here's an example I did:

@AAProds

Thanks so much for guiding me through this. The screenshots you provided were also helpful. In my bedroom I have a Panasonic LCD TV with a resolution of 1366x768. If I try to follow the same procedure but export in 1366x768 instead of 1920x1080, it doesn’t seem to allow it. So if I try to enter 1366x768 it changes to 1364x768 instead. Is there a particular reason for this? Would it be best to export in 1280x720 seeing as that is fairly close to 1366x768?

@jak.willis Hi, 1366x768 isn't 16:9 so -

In the Movie settings put the size 1366 x 768 but also in the Ratio put 1366:768 click OK

If you open up Movie settings again it will have worked it out for you, rather than 16:9 it will show 1.778646 in the Ratio box

On the timeline add your media & change using Size/Position/Rotation to 544 x 576

Export as MPEG-4 should have those sizes already added, use the same Bitrate as @AAProds suggested.

PS you'll get this warning saying the movie & export settings are different, click Continue to ignore that warning, I don't know why it thinks that the export is set to 16:9 when the box clearly says 1.778646,

MediaInfo says that exported movie is 1366 x 768 but it also says it's 16:9 🤷‍♂️

& if i create a new project, drag that exported clip on, click Adjust so Magix makes the project the size of the media it shows 1366 x 768 Ratio 1.778646

@jak.willis

There is no need to re-export. 1366x768 is essentially 16:9 (1.779:1 verses 1.77777:1), the same "shape" or ratio of your 1920x1080 video, so your movie will look exactly the same on the 1366 TV. Your encoded movie, sitting in the centre of your project, will look exactly the same, proportions-wise. What will be different is if, and only if, the TV is a smaller physical size, your movie will be smaller and therefore sharper.

@Former user @AAProds

Thanks, I will try this all out later. So will there be no difference in quality if I use the bitrate that you and AAProds suggested? And does the Aspect Ratio matter that much?

@jak.willis

There is no need to re-export. 1366x768 is essentially 16:9 (1.779:1 verses 1.77777:1), the same "shape" or ratio of your 1920x1080 video, so your movie will look exactly the same on the 1366 TV. Your encoded movie, sitting in the centre of your project, will look exactly the same, proportions-wise. What will be different is if, and only if, the TV is a smaller physical size, your movie will be smaller and therefore sharper.

@AAProds

When you say there is no need to re-export, how do I go about this?

@jak.willis

So will there be no difference in quality if I use the bitrate that you and AAProds suggested?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder! I estimate the answer would be No, but only you will tell for sure. If it is poorer quality, increase the bitrate.

And does the Aspect Ratio matter that much?

I only suggested a 16:9 ratio (and 1366x768 will do for that) because that is what your TVs are built for. You won't potentially get stretching and therefore distortion at that exported ratio.

When you say there is no need to re-export, how do I go about this?

Just take the 1920x1080 MP4 and play it on your 1366 TV.