Video UP-SCALING to HD

Up-scaling your video to HD is a wise option to consider when digitizing your old video tapes. Professionally up-scaled footage results in a much nicer image when viewed on a large TV or computer monitor! We think you'll be surprised.

Our FilmFix up-scaling differs in that we perform steps 3, 4, and 5 (detailed below), and other companies don't.

For "computer geeks": If you're comfortable using command lines in a terminal, here is how to go about doing the up-scaling yourself.

FilmFix's up-scaling - benefits and extras:

1. The upscaled file is an MP4 file and can be viewed on any modern device.  While a "Smart TV" has its limitations, it knows what to do with an MP4 file. To note: .avi and .mov files will not play on each and every device.
2. Your up-scaled image quality will be superior to your original capture in SD, when viewed on an HD monitor. Up-scaling strongly reduces the typical jagged edges on diagonal sharp lines -- which you'll notice in SD sort of look like jagged "stair-case" edges.
   without upscaling
   with upscaling
3. Our up-scaling is a two step process. First, we correct (as much as possible) for overexposed whites and underexposed blacks. And then ...
   no overexposure correction
   with overexposure correction
4. In the second step of up-scaling, the standard all-black side bars on either side of the frame, get replaced by blurred side-bars, which is common place in today videos on the Internet or on TV. You've probably seen it -- they are colored, side-extension "bars" and are a blurrier and diluted version of whatever frame we're on.
   no upscaling
   with upscaling
5. And finally, during the up-scale process, we crop off just the messy looking first and last couple of lines (on the top and bottom of image) as well as a minimal amount on the left and right of the image to present a cleaner looking view.

NOTE: Some of the more advanced TVs offer an 'internal up-scaling' option, but the quality does not compare to ours. Ours is far superior and it's not only because we add steps 3, 4 and 5! The algorithm our computer uses is far more sophisticated and processor intensive than the quick on-the-spot TV upscale feature. (Sample images to follow, as soon as a particular customer gives us their approval.)

Author: Nathaniel Courtens