Telecide Filter for VirtualDub

This filter acts on telecined progressive source and attempts to recreate progressive frames. The filter automatically adjusts to different capture patterns and telecining methods (as described in the help file for Smart Deinterlacer). It reacts instantly to changes of telecining method that occur in the source clip.

If this filter is run on 3:2 pulldown material, it will work correctly but each original group of five frames will produce five output frames, one of which will be duplicated (i.e., the frame rate will remain the same as the input clip). Similarly, other telecine methods that insert extra frames or fields will cause Telecide to ouput extra progressive frames. Some telecining methods, however, do not result in extra frames, for example, film at 24fps that is simply sped up to 25fps for PAL transmission. The Decimate filter, also available at this site, can be used to automatically remove the extra frames. Thus, Telecide and Decimate together make up an effective adaptive 3:2 pulldown remover.

Please note that this filter is not intended to act as a general-purpose deinterlacer and is therefore not intended for use on real interlaced source material. Use the Smart Deinterlacer for such material.

Note that the filter must buffer frames to work properly. Therefore, stepping backwards on the time line will produce undefined results. Also, due to the technicalities of the buffering, the last frame is lost, and the first frame is repeated as well as deinterlaced by throwing away its bottom field. All frames after the first two will be recreated progressive frames.

NOTE 1: Due to the frame buffering this filter does, it is recommended to step or scrub only forward on the player timeline. NOTE 2: Before stepping or scrubbing the timeline, it is recommended to hit the rewind button first after loading the clip. This will avoid losing frame number 0 from the output sequence.

Please note that this filter is not perfect; occasional interlaced frames may pass through. Efforts are ongoing to reduce false frame output.

Refer to the help file for descriptions of the configuration options.

Thanks to Aaron Bentley, who conceived the clever algorithm used in this filter. Simon Walters conceived the idea of an adaptive PAL de-telecining filter and was the first to implement one.

Version 1.3.0 [Source code]

Version 1.3.0 adds the 'fast' parameter and corrects incorrect field matching in some circumstances.

Version 1.2 beta 4 now uses bicubic interpolation for generating the first two frames.

Version 1.2 beta 3: 1) makes the desperation mode threshold more usable as its value is now independent of the frame size, 2) desperation mode is disabled by default, and 3) the executable size is reduced by half.

Version1.2 beta 2 fixed a flaw in the previous version. The low-quality mode was also removed. Please read the help file for a description of the changes.

Version 1.2 beta 1 was an attempt to significantly improve Telecide's ability to avoid false frame output, at the expense of being slower. Given the purpose of this filter, this is considered an advantageous tradeoff. The new algorithm makes the interpolate threshold unnecessary and it has been removed. Most users will find this version to be a major improvement. Frank Stollar provided a "torture clip" and ideas that inspired me to revise the algorithm for this version.

Version 1.1 beta 1 added an "interpolate threshold" that eliminates false frame output due to dropped frames and/or bad edit cuts.

Version 1.0 beta 3 added a high-quality mode that significantly reduces false frames.

[up to home page]