Answers.Body: <p>h.264.</p>
  
  <p>For DV the default settings will probably be fine:</p>
  
  <pre><code>ffmpeg -i 'dvgrab-001.dv' output.mp4
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>If the footage is interlaced (the ffprobe says it isn't, but if you see combing artefacts then use this):</p>
  
  <pre><code>ffmpeg -i 'dvgrab-001.dv' -vf yadif output.mp4
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>The original video is anamorphic NTSC 4:3, meaning that it's stretched slightly out when played back, this should be fine with the TV, but if not you can re-sample to make square pixels:</p>
  
  <pre><code>ffmpeg -i 'dvgrab-001.dv' -vf scale=728:540,setsar=1:1 output.mp4
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>If the video is supposed to be 16:9 but is playing back squashed you can set the Display Aspect Ratio thus:</p>
  
  <pre><code>ffmpeg -i 'dvgrab-001.dv' -vf setdar=16:9 output.mp4
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Or resample for square pixels thus:</p>
  
  <pre><code>ffmpeg -i 'dvgrab-001.dv' -vf scale=960:540,setsar=1:1 output.mp4
  </code></pre>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2020-06-09T02:00:13.170Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2020-06-09T02:00:13.170Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: stib
Body: <p>I have many tapes that I want to encode with some current, compact codec. this is the output from ffprobe:</p>
  
  <pre><code>[dv @ 0x5642a174c5a0] Estimating duration from bitrate, this may be inaccurate
  Input #0, dv, from 'dvgrab-001.dv':
    Metadata:
      timecode        : 00:15:14;26
    Duration: 00:00:46.88, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 28771 kb/s
      Stream #0:0: Video: dvvideo, yuv411p, 720x480 [SAR 8:9 DAR 4:3], 25000 kb/s, 29.97 fps, 29.97 tbr, 29.97 tbn, 29.97 tbc
      Stream #0:1: Audio: pcm_s16le, 32000 Hz, stereo, s16, 1024 kb/s
      Stream #0:2: Audio: pcm_s16le, 32000 Hz, stereo, s16, 1024 kb/s
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>which video codec from ffmpeg is recommended? output should be watched on a smart TV with 16:9 physical, but I do not expect result will be wide.</p>
  
Tags: <ffmpeg><mini-dv>
Title: what is the best digital output format for miniDV tapes
UserDisplayName: Stephen
ThreadText: # what is the best digital output format for miniDV tapes
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2020-06-07)
  
  I have many tapes that I want to encode with some current, compact codec. this is the output from ffprobe:
  
  ```
  [dv @ 0x5642a174c5a0] Estimating duration from bitrate, this may be inaccurate
  Input #0, dv, from 'dvgrab-001.dv':
    Metadata:
      timecode        : 00:15:14;26
    Duration: 00:00:46.88, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 28771 kb/s
      Stream #0:0: Video: dvvideo, yuv411p, 720x480 [SAR 8:9 DAR 4:3], 25000 kb/s, 29.97 fps, 29.97 tbr, 29.97 tbn, 29.97 tbc
      Stream #0:1: Audio: pcm_s16le, 32000 Hz, stereo, s16, 1024 kb/s
      Stream #0:2: Audio: pcm_s16le, 32000 Hz, stereo, s16, 1024 kb/s
  
  ```
  
  which video codec from ffmpeg is recommended? output should be watched on a smart TV with 16:9 physical, but I do not expect result will be wide.
  
  **Tags:** ffmpeg, mini-dv
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2020-06-09. Score: 2
  
  h.264.
  
  For DV the default settings will probably be fine:
  
  ```
  ffmpeg -i 'dvgrab-001.dv' output.mp4
  
  ```
  
  If the footage is interlaced (the ffprobe says it isn't, but if you see combing artefacts then use this):
  
  ```
  ffmpeg -i 'dvgrab-001.dv' -vf yadif output.mp4
  
  ```
  
  The original video is anamorphic NTSC 4:3, meaning that it's stretched slightly out when played back, this should be fine with the TV, but if not you can re-sample to make square pixels:
  
  ```
  ffmpeg -i 'dvgrab-001.dv' -vf scale=728:540,setsar=1:1 output.mp4
  
  ```
  
  If the video is supposed to be 16:9 but is playing back squashed you can set the Display Aspect Ratio thus:
  
  ```
  ffmpeg -i 'dvgrab-001.dv' -vf setdar=16:9 output.mp4
  
  ```
  
  Or resample for square pixels thus:
  
  ```
  ffmpeg -i 'dvgrab-001.dv' -vf scale=960:540,setsar=1:1 output.mp4
  
  ```
  
  
  ---
  
  