Is it possible to improve resolution?

**JBB3** · May 2nd, 2013, 09:51 PM

I am wondering if it is possible to improve the resolution of a 320X240 video? I know there was a poster in the Devon Daniels thread who somehow increased the quality of her old VHS tapes. If possible, what program do I need? Ideally, I would like to increase the video to DVD quality.

**NIN** · May 2nd, 2013, 09:55 PM

Probably not

but fingers crossed for ya JBB3 , someone might have a trick

hovhaness · May 2nd, 2013, 11:25 PM

There are programs that can give the illusion of doing so.
However we substitute one thing for another.
Think of it this way
If you have 76,800 pixels to work with & a small canvas
Everything fits compact into that canvas.
As the canvas size increases there are spaces in between.
So what do we fill that space with to trick our eyes into seeing it full?
There is a lot of guesswork.
There could be a program that does this but I have not seen any yet that are free at least lol

**CARLTON BROWN** · May 2nd, 2013, 11:47 PM

In practice, it's not actually possible to add missing quality to video. As Hovhaness mentions, there are programmes that give the impression of improved quality and if you are running Windows, you might want to try out Movie Maker, which you may already have.

HD TVs give the impression of providing better quality from lower resolution progs by upscaling, but they do not really stand up to close inspection when compared to a proper HD image.

It's the same with digital photography. You can't lift a small image off the Internet and alter it to provide high resolution repro quality as this simply isn't there.

**BondJmsBond** · May 3rd, 2013, 07:01 PM

You can do things to try and improve the look of source material -denoising, different filters etc. There are some tutorials about I think. Denaniel or Jenny could point you right. However these things are only to remove interference and improve lighting etc and do not actually improve quality.

Increasing resolution, while a favorite trick by cash posters to post an 'upgrade' does nothing for quality. You just get a larger file. Playing a low res vid in fullscreen gives the same result.

The quality of the image is dependent on the source.

**CARLTON BROWN** · May 6th, 2013, 10:58 PM

I should add to my previous comments that in the case of MS Movie Maker, it is possible to add various effects to improve the look of your videos that adjust contrast, sharpness, allow cropping, etc. I have seen some of these marked "blainesville" which would be worth checking out on Google. I think they are free.

~~bigbobnobody~~ · May 11th, 2013, 05:28 AM

Windows movie maker is in the bottom rung of video editing programs to
try improve upon the appearance of a video in my opinion. Not saying that
there's not things you can't do with it......but there's much easier, better,
and just as free as Movie Maker. Virtualdub is always a very good stand-by,
as is Avidemux. As most if not all that have replied to the OP's original question
has said already.....when you start out with a 320x240 video to work with,
you're basically trying to turn a postage stamp into the Mona Lisa. One can
definitely improve the "appearance" of some videos, but you're basically masking
more than anything.

**deepsepia** · May 18th, 2013, 10:58 PM

Its a frontier of image processing. Essentially, by combining data from multiple frames, you can get some statistical leverage on what something looked like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdK5-gNf4Wg

There are some commercial applications -- not terribly good, but I do think that at some reasonably near point it will be possble to do what you're asking

May 2nd, 2013, 09:51 PM	#1
JBB3 Vintage Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 684 Thanks: 12,403 Thanked 23,312 Times in 696 Posts	Is it possible to improve resolution? I am wondering if it is possible to improve the resolution of a 320X240 video? I know there was a poster in the Devon Daniels thread who somehow increased the quality of her old VHS tapes. If possible, what program do I need? Ideally, I would like to increase the video to DVD quality.

May 2nd, 2013, 09:55 PM	#2
NIN Banned Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 8,823 Thanks: 200,569 Thanked 131,967 Times in 9,045 Posts	Probably not but fingers crossed for ya JBB3 , someone might have a trick

May 2nd, 2013, 11:25 PM	#3
hovhaness Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 62 Thanks: 93 Thanked 649 Times in 58 Posts	There are programs that can give the illusion of doing so. However we substitute one thing for another. Think of it this way If you have 76,800 pixels to work with & a small canvas Everything fits compact into that canvas. As the canvas size increases there are spaces in between. So what do we fill that space with to trick our eyes into seeing it full? There is a lot of guesswork. There could be a program that does this but I have not seen any yet that are free at least lol

May 2nd, 2013, 11:47 PM	#4
CARLTON BROWN Grand Vizier Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Ruraltania Posts: 3,219 Thanks: 35,669 Thanked 35,618 Times in 3,211 Posts	In practice, it's not actually possible to add missing quality to video. As Hovhaness mentions, there are programmes that give the impression of improved quality and if you are running Windows, you might want to try out Movie Maker, which you may already have. HD TVs give the impression of providing better quality from lower resolution progs by upscaling, but they do not really stand up to close inspection when compared to a proper HD image. It's the same with digital photography. You can't lift a small image off the Internet and alter it to provide high resolution repro quality as this simply isn't there.

May 3rd, 2013, 07:01 PM	#5
BondJmsBond Vintage Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 3,059 Thanks: 28,076 Thanked 27,274 Times in 3,004 Posts	You can do things to try and improve the look of source material -denoising, different filters etc. There are some tutorials about I think. Denaniel or Jenny could point you right. However these things are only to remove interference and improve lighting etc and do not actually improve quality. Increasing resolution, while a favorite trick by cash posters to post an 'upgrade' does nothing for quality. You just get a larger file. Playing a low res vid in fullscreen gives the same result. The quality of the image is dependent on the source.

May 6th, 2013, 10:58 PM	#6
CARLTON BROWN Grand Vizier Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Ruraltania Posts: 3,219 Thanks: 35,669 Thanked 35,618 Times in 3,211 Posts	I should add to my previous comments that in the case of MS Movie Maker, it is possible to add various effects to improve the look of your videos that adjust contrast, sharpness, allow cropping, etc. I have seen some of these marked "blainesville" which would be worth checking out on Google. I think they are free.

May 11th, 2013, 05:28 AM	#7
~~bigbobnobody~~ Banned! Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: not here Posts: 3,018 Thanks: 4,467 Thanked 94,236 Times in 3,111 Posts	Windows movie maker is in the bottom rung of video editing programs to try improve upon the appearance of a video in my opinion. Not saying that there's not things you can't do with it......but there's much easier, better, and just as free as Movie Maker. Virtualdub is always a very good stand-by, as is Avidemux. As most if not all that have replied to the OP's original question has said already.....when you start out with a 320x240 video to work with, you're basically trying to turn a postage stamp into the Mona Lisa. One can definitely improve the "appearance" of some videos, but you're basically masking more than anything.

May 18th, 2013, 10:58 PM	#8
deepsepia Moderator Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Upper left corner Posts: 7,205 Thanks: 47,957 Thanked 83,444 Times in 7,199 Posts	Its a frontier of image processing. Essentially, by combining data from multiple frames, you can get some statistical leverage on what something looked like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdK5-gNf4Wg There are some commercial applications -- not terribly good, but I do think that at some reasonably near point it will be possble to do what you're asking