VCR Picture control settings to use while capturing

[Steve(MS)]

I have been looking at the picture control settings with Panasonic 1980 and JVC SR45.
The question I suppose is whether to use edit or not.
To me, the recording from the 1980 looks better with the setting on normal rather than edit.
On the 45, there are times when the pic control set to auto seems to introduce artifacts.
I think I remember reading one of your posts where on JVC it is better to disengage calibration and set to normal?
Do you always have yours set to edit?

[admin]

The JVC models are almost always set to NORM.
The Panasonic 1980 model is almost always set to NOR.

Abbreviation note: NR = noise reduction

The normal/standard NR setting (picture setting) is truly the best one. Only if the image is obviously being damaged in some way would it be turned off.

Note that this does not included the anal-retentive idea that NR is "bad" or "softens" the image. Part of NR/restoration is trading a more serious error for a lesser one. Sometimes, on some sources, this trade-off comes in removing noise in exchange for slight loss in resolution (or "perceived" resolution*). This is easily re-corrected by the use of the 1980 sharpening slider, or by the introduction of a Vidicraft, Studio1 or SignVideo detailer / "image enhancer" unit.


* Perceived resolution is an issue where somebody incorrectly assimilates picture data in their head. The noise inherent to the image gives the illusion of "more detail" because of how the noise is dispersed in the image. A very similar concept in photography deals with soft images shot at high ISOs. The grain offsets the obviousness of the softness. Remove the grain (remove the video noise), and the true quality of the image is more apparent.

The anti-NR crowd, whom I refer to as the "detail crowd" insist that the NR is the true problem, and it is the source of the image softness. This, of course, is not correct.

The idea of restoring involves BOTH removing noise and repairing the remaining underlying image. Sometimes this will require leaving some noise for the greater good, but not as often as the "detail" crowd would lead some to believe.

In the world of cameras, softness is caused by motion when the shot was made (shaky camera), by shutter speeds that were not high enough to stop the action, by inferior quality lenses, by dirty lenses, or by out of focus lenses (be it the fault of the operator, the camera, or the lens). In the world of video, softness is most often caused by the format itself. VHS, for example, is a low resolution (lowest SD resolution) format. And copies of copies get worse at each generation.

The anti-NR crowd fails to understand some of the science involved in the format, or with video or imagery in general. This is not to say the VCR is never the cause, but it is not as common as the anti-NR crowd insists.

[Steve(MS)]

Makes perfect sense to me, an overall less noisy picture should be preferred to minor side effects.
I haven't tried the normal setting on JVC but will do that shortly.