Marketing
Memo


Date:

 July
17th,
2006
From: Tom
Lattie
Distribution:



Sales,
Customer
Support,
DV
Product
Marketing,
Solutions
Subject: Recommended
Filter
Settings
for
MPEG‐2
Standard
Definition
encoders

This
memo
covers
the
recommended
filter
settings
for
MPEG‐2
SD
encoders.

In
particular,
this

document
refers
specifically
to
MediaView
50/100,
Ion
and
Electra
1000/5000.

The
settings
discussed
in

this
document
should
be
used
as
a
“starting
point”
for
filter
settings
when
configuring
a
DiviCom

encoder.

These
settings
are
not
guaranteed
to
be
the
optimal
settings
as
the
type
and
source
quality
of

various
content
will
require
modification
to
the
settings
provided.

The
second
half
of
this
memo

provides
an
explanation
of
each
of
the
filters
and
what
should
be
expected
by
modifying
the
settings
for

a
given
filter.

Recommended
Filter
Settings
The
following
table
lists
filter
settings
by
product
for
an
aggressive
encoding
configuration
(2
Mb/s
per

channel
for
VBR,
2.6
Mb/s
for
CBR):

Suggested
Default Suggested
Default
MV50,
Ion,
ELC‐1000 MV100,
ELC‐5000
MCTF Normal Normal
Temporal
Low
Pass
Filter Very
Weak Very
Weak
Impulse
Filter Normal Normal
Texture
Filter Disabled Weak
Nonlinear
Spatial
Filter Disabled Normal

Horizontal
Filter Soft Soft

Border
Processing Medium Medium

Harmonic
Inc.
Proprietary
and
Confidential
2006

Page

1
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4
 The
following
table
lists
filter
settings
by
product
for
an
easier
encoding
configuration
(2.6
Mb/s
per

channel
for
VBR,
3.3
Mb/s
for
CBR):

Suggested
Default Suggested
Default
MV50,
Ion,
ELC‐1000 MV100,
ELC‐5000
MCTF Normal Normal
Temporal
Low
Pass
Filter Disabled Disabled
Impulse
Filter Normal Normal
Texture
Filter Disabled Disabled
Nonlinear
Spatial
Filter Disabled Very
Weak

Horizontal
Filter Flat Flat

Border
Processing Weak Weak

Filter
settings
are
subjective
—
some
users
prefer
sharp
pictures
with
some
quantization
noise
while

others
prefer
softer
pictures
with
less
noise.
Finding
the
most
appropriate
compromise
requires
time
for

you
to
evaluate
the
options
and
select
the
filter
parameters
that
match
the
needs
of
the
application.
The

use
of
noise
reduction
and
preprocessing
is
a
compromise.
The
previous
table
lists
recommended

settings
for
the
filters.

Using
the
recommended
settings
as
a
starting
point
it
may
be
useful
to
increase

(or
decrease)
filter
strengths
based
on
the
specific
content.
It
is
important
to
remember
that
more
is
not

better.
Over‐filtering
will
have
an
adverse
effect
on
video
quality
usually
most
visible
in
skin
textures.

MCTF
The
motion
compensated
temporal
lowpass
filter
(MCTF)
remedies
the
tendency
of
ordinary
Temporal

Lowpass
Filtering
(TLPF)
to
introduce
trailing
artifacts
in
motion
areas
of
a
video
scene.
The
filter

incorporates
technology
for
removing
noise
while
retaining
a
high
degree
of
picture
sharpness.

Although

the
“Normal”
setting
is
a
good
and
measured
application
of
this
filter,
this
filter
strength
should
be

lowered
to
Weak
when
possible.

Increasing
the
strength
of
the
MCTF
filter
is
appropriate
for
very
noisy

video
or
for
very
low
bit‐rates,
but
settings
stronger
than
Normal
will
cause
visible
softening.

Temporal
lowpass
Filter
As
explained
above,
this
NON‐motion‐compensated
temporal
filter
causes
more
softening
and

“smearing”
than
the
MCTF.

This
filter
should
be
used
only
with
aggressive
encoding
configurations,

when
the
softening
is
preferable
to
the
coding
artifacts
it
eliminates.

Temporal
filtering
should
be
used

sparingly;
going
above
“Very
Weak”
should
be
done
with
caution.
When
set
too
high
the
output
of
the

video
can
exhibit
ghost‐like
shadows
or
“smearing”.


Harmonic
Inc.
Proprietary
and
Confidential
2006

Page

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of
4
Impulse
Filter
(INR)
The
INR
filter
removes
impulse
effects
from
the
video.
Impulse
noise
appears
as
sparkly
or
dot
effects

on
the
screen,
such
as
would
be
seen
with
film
dropouts
or
severe
film
grain.
The
INR
is
able
to

discriminate
between
picture
content
and
noise
with
a
high
degree
of
reliability.
This
filter,
along
with

MCTF,
is
one
of
the
user’s
best
weapons
against
noise.
The
“Normal”
setting
is
an
appropriate
base
line

for
INR,
an
increase
in
strength
may
cause
some
artifacts
if
used
with
video‐originated
content.
The

strongest
settings
are
intended
for
very
noisy
film‐originated
content
or
archive
material.

Texture
Filter
This
filter
discriminates
between
regions
of
texture
and
image
edge
structure
to
soften
texture
and

allow
the
encoder
to
spend
fewer
bits
on
encoding.
Because
this
filter
is
“always
on”
when
applied
to

MV50,
Ion
and
Electra
1000
encoders
it
will
soften
the
picture
in
all
situations.
It
is
recommended
that
it

be
“Disabled”
except
when
encoding
high
motion
content
at
very
low
bitrates.
On
the
MV100
and
Electra
5000,
the
texture
filter
is
adaptive
and
recognizes
sections
of
texture
and

image
edge
structure
in
the
picture
that
will
be
difficult
to
encode
well,
and
then
filters
(softens)
them
to

reduce
compression
artifacts.
Although
adaptive,
based
on
bitrate
and
complexity,
this
filter
will
still

soften
the
picture
and
should
not
be
increased
beyond
the
recommended
“Weak”
setting
unless

warranted
in
specific
very
low
bitrate
applications
with
high
motion
potential.

Nonlinear
Spatial
Filter
(NLSF)
The
NLSF
removes
spatial
Gaussian
noise
that
cannot
be
predicted
well
by
motion
analysis.

While
this

filter
works
to
remove
random
noise
it
will
still
soften
the
overall
picture.
Because
this
filter
is
“always

on”
when
applied
to
MV50,
Ion
and
Electra
1000
encoders,
it
is
recommend
that
it
be
“Disabled”
except

when
encoding
high
motion
content
at
very
low
bitrates.
On
the
MV100
and
Electra
5000
NLSF
is
adaptive
and
for
typical
video,
this
filter
has
no
effect.

In
cases

of
high
motion,
complex
video,
the
NLSF
adaptively
“kicks
in”
working
to
reduce
artifacts
at
very
low
bit‐
rates
preserving
edge
detail
while
removing
random
noise.

Although
adaptive,
based
on
bitrate
and

complexity,
this
filter
should
only
be
increased
beyond
the
recommended
“Normal”
setting
when
the

content
is
consistently
very
complex.

Horizontal
Filter
Also
referred
to
as
the
“Luma
Chroma
Filter”
in
some
HTTP
GUI’s,

this
filter
determines
the
amount
of

high‐frequency
information
(detail)
removed
prior
to
the
encoding
process.
For
sharper
detail,
“Flat”
or

“Soft”
is
the
recommended
setting
of
the
horizontal
filter.

The
“Flat”
setting
in
fact
performs
a
small

amount
of
picture
Enhancement.

As
this
filter
strength
is
increased
the
amount
of
high‐frequency

information
removed
from
the
picture
is
also
increased.

While
the
loss
of
detail
can
result
in
a
softer

picture,
it
will
lower
the
complexity
of
the
picture
giving
the
user
less
compression
artifacts
at
lower

bitrates.

The
filter
strength
can
be
raised
to
increase
softness
for
extremely
low
bit‐rate
encoding
or
if

the
source
material
is
of
low
quality.
The
user
can
experiment
by
increasing
the
horizontal
filter
until


Harmonic
Inc.
Proprietary
and
Confidential
2006

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3
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4
artifacts
have
been
reduced
to
an
acceptable
level.

With
some
material,
even
on
the
Extra
Soft
setting,

there
may
be
no
noticeable
difference
in
sharpness,
but
better
overall
video
quality
can
be
achieved
due

to
fewer
compression
artifacts.

Border
Processing
Reduces
the
number
of
bits
that
are
spent
coding
the
outer
rows
and
columns
of
macroblocks
(closest

to
the
picture
edge)
that
are
normally
not
seen
because
of
television
CRT
overscan.
It
is
recommended

that
this
filter
be
set
to
“Soft”
or
“Medium”
for
all
four
sides
(Top,
Bottom,
Left,
and
Right).

While
this

allows
the
encoder
to
save
bits
on
“unseen”
portions
of
picture,
it
is
important
to
note
that
newer
16:9

displays
(plasma,
LCD)
lack
the
overscan
effect
of
CRT’s
and
the
picture
edges
will
be
visible
to
the
end

user.

Harmonic
Inc.
Proprietary
and
Confidential
2006

Page

4
of
4