Encoding Lagarith AVI files to MPEG2 using HandBrake?
 

I have captured my PAL and NTSC VHS tapes at 25 and 29.97 fps using amaRecTV and VirtualDub (Lagarith compression) respectively to a hard drive. Now, I want to encode them to MPEG2 using HandBrake and have some questions:
1) in the summary tab, should I select MP4 or MKV or webm?
2) in the dimensions tab, should I crop the video to get rid of the black sides or leave them?
3) in the filters tab, should I select
3a) Detelecine
3b) Interlace Detection
3c) Deinterlace
3d) Denoise
3e) Sharpen
3f) Deblock
4) in the video tab, should I set the FPS to Same as source or something else? Do selections in 3 affect the FPS I select here?
5) should I use constant or variable framerate?

My goal is to preserve the quality as much as possible and improve the picture quality with the filters. The encoded files will be uploaded to cloud and then mainly watched on TV and sometimes on computer.

Thanks

I don't think HandBrake is one of the preferred encoders by this board, and it's definitely not at all one of the preferred restoration programs. I didn't like how preset happy it was. Avisynth/VirtualDub should be used for restoration and deinterlacing (if necessary). For MPEG-2 encoding I use Tsunami MPEG Encoder (a.k.a. TMPGEnc). For H.264 I use either Hybrid or if I'm working out of Premiere I'll use Adobe Media Encoder, but that's really only because I pay for it and it seems to do a decent job.

I read in another thread that @lordsmurf is using avidemux for encoding. could @lordsmurf or @sanlyn post instructions on which options to select in avidemux? There are many settings under "Configure" and "Filters" there.

Guide: http://www.digitalFAQ.com/guides/vid...idemux-pt1.htm

- Avidemux 2.6 using mpeg2/ff
- or Avidemux 2.5 using mpeg2enc
- not sure about 2.7, but probably same as / close to 2.6

Appreciate it. The tutorial doesn't go in depth and says to leave a lot of the settings on default w/o explanation of their function. Avidemux documentation and google search also seem to be lacking when it comes to explanations. I would like the following:
1) settings for absolute best quality for mpeg2 for dvd or blueray. If blueray provides better quality I'd write to blueray. (My PAL AVI files are ~25GB each and my NTSC ones are ~65GB each)
2) settings for absolute best quality with decently small file size for mpeg4 for storing in the cloud and later casting to tv.