[MEncoder-users] Deinterlacing or iVTC and "best settings"

[Justin Randall]

Hi everyone,

I apologize as I'm sure this question has been asked hundreds of times
before, but I had trouble finding a good answer in the archives. I'm
trying to use mencoder for all of my encodes now (trying to free
myself from windows, for which I use Avisynth for encoding). Anyway
I'm having trouble determining the best method for deinterlacing my
captures, which are in MPEG-2 format captured from a Hauppauge PVR-250
at 720x480 from analog NTSC-M.  The settings I use to re-encode are
the following:

# for pure interleaved NTSC @ 29.97 fps
mencoder -oac copy -ovc xvid -xvidencopts
fixed_quant=4:chroma_opt:vhq=4:bvhq=1:quant_type=mpeg -vf
hqdn3d=3:2:3:3,yadif=3:1,mcdeint=2:1:10,framestep=2,filmdint=dint_thres=256,crop=704:480:0:0,scale=640:480
-ofps 24000/1001 -o test.avi capture000.mpg

# for teleclined NTSC @ 29.97 fps
mencoder -oac copy -ovc xvid -xvidencopts
fixed_quant=4:chroma_opt:vhq=4:bvhq=1:quant_type=mpeg -vf
hqdn3d=3:2:3:3,pullup,softskip,pp=lb,crop=704:480:0:0,scale=640:480
-ofps 24000/1001 -o test.avi capture000.mpg

Sometimes the first method gives better results (jitter free) and
sometimes the second method gives better results (jitter free). It
seems to be about a 50-50 toss up with the shows that I have captured.
My question to the community is twofold. Is there a way (script?) to
detect the format of the video (i.e. interlaced or teleclined) and
then chose the appropriate encoding method based off that detection?
Also, do my encoding options look correct for these types of video?
I'm new to mencoder and I'm trying to go through the docs but there is
a lot of info and I'm sure I'm missing something. I want to make sure
that I have my filters and options in the appropriate order, and they
make sense. Any help or advice is appreciated.

Sincerely,
Justin