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VideoCleaner can natively open a wide range of image and video files, including some that normally
require a proprietary player. For all other cases, VideoCleaner includes an optional screen capture
utility (CamStudio) that can dub videos as they play within their proprietary player.
ABOUT:
VideoCleaner is the world's most relied upon forensic video enhancement software because it:
Meets the highest evidentiary scientific standards validated by courts and experts worldwide.
Automatically maintains an audit trail of all filters and settings, and generates a metadata log.
Preserves evidence by applying industry accepted filters without altering the original recording.
Opens its source code for scientific scrutiny and is supported by hundreds of programmers.
Provides free unlimited updates and support, and is licensed for any legal purpose.
Is cost-free, ad-free, allows unlimited usage, and never collects any personal information.
With VideoCleaner, you can recover license plates and facial details, illuminate poorly lit scenes,
increase detail clarity, correct the viewing perspective, reverse lens distortion, repair VHS recordings,
improve color contrast, isolate channels, and so much more. VideoCleaner is created under the belief
that clear evidence should be available to all those who need it.
VideoCleaner can be redistributed and/or modified under the terms of each component's relevant
GNU General Public License, available in the VideoCleaner Support folder. VideoCleaner is provided
"as is" without any warranties or guarantees, and VideoCleaner installation or usage constitutes a
unilateral unlimited release of any and all related risks, damages and liability, actual or implied.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Topic Page
Once VideoCleaner loads, press the computer's F5 key (or Ctrl-O) to load an image or video file.
DO NOT USE THE OPEN OPTION OF THE FILE MENU, AS THAT IS NOT FOR VIDEO FILES.
NOTE: VideoCleaner may not be able to open files who's name contains non-English characters.
Adjust the program sliders rightward to activate filters/features and immediately apply their effect.
Each filters/features group includes an OFF/ON slider to independently activate/deactivate that filter
group. The check boxes at the top of VideoCleaner toggle on/off additional filter/feature sections.
Once optimal video clarity is achieved, use the computer's F6 key to export the enhanced results to
VirtualDub. Within VirtualDub, press the computer's F7 key to save that video as a computer file.
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NOTES:
If the user's computer configuration prevents a specific VideoCleaner feature from working, an
on-screen message will denote that fact. All other VideoCleaner features will work as expected.
The program shortcut, VideoCleaner fix, resets VideoCleaner back to its installation defaults.
For technical support or feature requests, visit http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2461639
KNOWN ISSUES:
The playback controls can cause viewing/usage glitches if your computer cannot keep up with the
processing demands. Use the right/left arrow keys or navigation bar to jump to a specific frame.
Sometimes, pressing the "F5" (or ctrl-O) key can cause multiple file open windows to appear. This
occurs when Windows thinks that it hasn't yet offered the VideoCleaner file open selection window. If
this occurs, use the "Cancel" button (or the "ESC" key) to close the extraneous file selection windows.
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USAGE HINTS
Need a fast solution to a video enhancement and restoration problem? Here are a few examples,
along with their corresponding VideoCleaner solution (denoted as feature group - specific feature).
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UNDERSTANDING THE VIDEOCLEANER INTERFACE:
Script code area: No need to Preview window: Shows the Section toggles: Check a toggle
examine this area unless you video in its current state. Apply box to activate and display the
want to modify or understand filters to make changes. features of that section. The
the VideoCleaner code. program automatically reloads.
Total number of video frames Video resolution and aspect Playback frames per second
PLAYBACK CONTROLS
The playback bar is located immediately above the status bar, and includes basic playback controls.
However, video playback requires an exceptionally powerful computer and should not be attempted.
Instead, use the computer keyboard right arrow to moves forward a single frame, and the left arrow
moves back one frame. Use the frame navigation bar to move quickly through the video to locate a
specific scene.
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SAVING YOUR WORK
Each time VideoCleaner is closed, your VideoCleaner settings are automatically saved in a file
ending in "VideoCleaner_settings.txt" located in the video's file folder and again in c:\VideoCleaner.
You can open this file using any text editor or the "Fileinfo" slider in VideoCleaner. Each time you
start VideoCleaner, all settings and sliders will be automatically reset to their defaults.
There are additional free VirtualDub features and filters available through the internet. Unless the
user activates additional filters inside of VirtualDub (located under the "Video" menu), the side-by-side
before-after views of the video will be exact duplicates of the finished VideoCleaner results.
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VIRTUALDUB
When a video is open within VirtualDub, use the keyboard's right and left arrow keys to move forward
and backward frame-by-frame through the video, just like what can be done with VideoCleaner.
Unless additional filters are activated within VirtualDub, by pressing CTRL-F (hold down the CTRL
key while touching the letter "F") or selecting "Filters" under the "Video" menu, the side-by-side
before-after views of the video will simply be duplicate views of the open video.
VirtualDub includes dozens of built-in filters. A few specialty filters were installed as part of the
VideoCleaner installation. These include:
Deshaker v3.0
This filter can stabilize the shakiest video
from a handheld camera. The range of
setting options are beyond the scope of
this tutorial, but the user can accept the
defaults and "run video analysis pass"
(located under the VirtualDub File menu)
to allow the filter to auto-calibrate. Then
use CTRL-F to change this filter to
PASS2, and then simply save the now
stabilized video using the "F7" key. As
the file saves, the before and after views
of Virtualdub should show impressive
differences. The rightmost arrows identify
the PASS2 option to automatically fill the
missing visual data using data from adjacent video frames.
xsharpen
This sharpening filter emphasizes the
luminosity difference between adjacent
pixels. Also available as "Sharpening" in
VideoCleaner's TOOLS feature group.
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CAMSTUDIO
CamStudio can record videos while they are being viewed on a computer screen. This is a simple
method to convert a proprietary recording, as it plays, into a video that can then be saved, and later
enhanced in VideoCleaner. A low-resource using, ad-free version of CamStudio is ready to install
(Choose "Install - Camstudio screen capture", located in the VideoCleaner program shortcuts folder).
Once installed, follow these usage instructions:
Once the user presses the CamStudio Stop button, they will be asked for a file name and save
location for the newly created recording. The recommended name is "Screen.avi" since that matches
the default input of VideoCleaner. Be aware that screen captured recordings, while typically much
larger than the originating video file, they will not contain any additional details.
Once the newly dubbed video has been saved, it can be opened directly in VideoCleaner without the
use of any special viewing software. VideoCleaner can then be used to remove any duplicate
frames, thus creating a more accurate and compact dubbed video.
NOTE: If the CamStudio frame rate is set too fast, you may acquire blended frames (hybrids of two
sequential moments in time) that will compromise file accuracy, and VideoCleaner enhancements.
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MEDIAINFO
The first time a video is loaded, VideoCleaner will create one or two new files in the same folder as
that video. One of those files may have a name extension that ends in ".ffindex". If this file exists, it
is a temporary index created by FFDSHOW (the tool that opens most of VideoCleaner's files) to help
locate frames, and speed up future load times for that same video. The other file has a name
extension ending in ".Mediainfo.txt" and contains detailed video metadata and facts useful for creating
reports and analysis. The Mediainfo file may include GPS coordinates, camera settings, date/time,
the creating software name/version, and other identifying information. This file can be loaded directly
using VideoCleaner, or using a text editor. Below is a simple Mediainfo.txt file for example purposes.
NOTES:
Be sure to be on the video's first
frame prior to using the rightmost
position of the "File information"
slider. Then use the computer's right
arrow key to scroll through the
metadata file. If you attempt to use
the left arrow, you may get a seek
error (because VideoCleaner has
converted this text file into a video
file). Simply press the computer
keyboard's "F5" key to reload the
metadata file.
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SLIDERS AND SETTINGS
Within each VideoCleaner section, are groups of features. Each feature is controlled by sliders. On
the left is the slider's description and its default (inactive) value shown in brackets. To the right of the
slider's name is the actual slider control. The number on the left edge of the slider is the lowest
allowed value. The highest allowed value is listed to the right of the slider. The farthest right number
is the current value of the slider. Mouse clicking on this current value will reset the slider to the value
it had the last time the user pressed their computer's F5 key.
This is a group of sliders and NOT the
MAIN SECTION program's "Tools" drop down menu.
All frames / mid frames / subtract Although the filter's name is misleading,
When the slider is set to "0", all of the video unsharpening not only sharpens the video,
frames are available. A setting of "1" supports but can provide pseudo-focus correction
faster filter testing by trimming the video to the without causing any focus ringing artifacts.
middle 25 frames or, if you press ctrl-B, the 25
frames surrounding that bookmarked frame. A Sharpening Strength (0=off)
setting of "2" subtracts the enhanced version Any value above zero (0) applies a sharpening
from the original to highlight what has changed. filter. Be mindful to not over-sharpen.
NOTE: Lens Deblur is extremely effective NOTE: In the TOOLS filter group, if either
when details are different distances from the the Denoise or Deblur filter respond with
camera's view. However, this filter has a "Feature not available", just go to the
minor risk of causing in-focus objects to lose VideoCleaner shortcut folder and RIGHT
focus. This feature should be used by itself click on the option for "VideoCleaner fix".
to test its effectiveness, especially since it Choose "Run as administrator" to allow the
can require significant processing time. solution. Since this process is only copying
two files to Windows, it will be instantaneous
and will never need to be repeated.
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CURVE (lighting balance) Deblock
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FORENSIC (iFrame can be slow) simply fades away. This filter is only intended
for use with fixed position cameras.
Apply FORENSIC settings (0=no)
A value of zero (0) disables all features in this Frame Averaging Radius (0=off)
filter group. A value of one (1) activates them. A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. A
larger value blends that number of preceding
Canny Edge Strength (0=off) and following frames together to produce a low
Any value above zero (0) applies Canny edge noise image for every video frame. Not
filtering in an ever increasing hysteresis range compatible with the other Forensic filters.
for the gradient threshold magnitudes.
iFrame isolation (0=no)
Canny Noise Sensitivity (0=min) A value of zero (0) leaves the video alone. A
The higher the value, the less Gaussian value of (1) removes any frames that are not
blurring that is applied, and thus the greater the iFrames. If the frame count does not change,
filter's sensitivity to image noise and artifacts. A then all of the video frames are iFrames, or
value of nine (9) disables Guassian blurring. iFrame extraction is not supported for the
current video. iFrame isolation is time
Sobel Edge (off/Luma/Chroma/both) consuming, and thus the resulting file should
A value of one (1) applies Sobel edge filtering be saved, to then be re-opened in a new
on only the Luma channel. Two (2) uses the VideoCleaner session to then apply any
Chroma channels. Three (3) uses all channels. additional filters.
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PROPERTIES SECTION
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DESEQUENCE CHANNELS selector
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SPECIALTY FEATURES SECTION
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VIEW Perspective changer
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FINALIZING FEATURES
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NUMBER Frame Numbers
TEXT Annotate
Apply NUMBER settings (0=no)
Apply TEXT settings (0=no) This feature places an incrementally increasing
A value of zero (0) disables annotation while a frame number on the left edge of each video
value of one (1) activates this filter group. frame. A value of zero (0) disables all features
in this filter group. A value of one (1) allows the
This feature annotates the video with the
addition of frame numbers.
exact text listed in the file named
'VideoCleaner.txt' located in
Percent From Top_(0)
C:\VideoCleaner folder. The default
The value defines the percentage from the top
annotation word is "Target".
edge to place the frame numbers. The default
is zero (0) the top left corner of the video.
Relative Size (0=smallest)
The larger the value, the larger the relative size Starting Number (0)
of the text annotation. Depending on the size of The value is the starting frame number to be
the target video, the default value of zero (0) used. This is especially useful if the current
may make the text too small to even see. video is a brief continuous portion of a much
longer video.
Percent From Top (0)
This value defines the percentage from the top
edge of the video that the annotation is to be
placed. The default is zero (0) the top edge of
the video.
Angle (0=horizontal)
A value of zero (0) leaves the text horizontal. A
positive value rotates the annotation text
clockwise, while negative is counter-clockwise.
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Add a TIMEstamp
FINAL ColorSpace
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FORENSIC - ANALYSIS (off/Noise/Motion/VELA)
Since surveillance video is always first saved with destructive compression, which results in
compression artifacts, the continual absence or inconsistency of noise and motion vectors (the first
two tests of the Analysis slider) over any portion of a video is a strong indicator of post-production
editing or blurring at that portion of the video. If both of these tests have validated the existence of
compression artifacts, then the results of the rightmost slider position "VELA" become meaningful.
Since the Noise and Motion tests prove prior destructive compression of the video, if the file being
tested is currently destructively compressed, then we can expect any post-production manipulations
(including cropping) to have undergone one fewer total iterations of destructive compression. VELA
(at the rightmost slider value of 3) stands to Video Error Level Analysis. The logic is to destructively
compress the test file, and then subtract that result from the test file.
VELA results depicting scene manipulations will appear as a different brightness and/or color, when
compared to other scene areas of similar contrast. The color patterns of the VELA results can also
provide some guidance as to the software that performed these manipulations, but that library has not
matured enough to serve as reliable evidence. If a file has been heavily compressed, and/or
compressed multiple times after tampering, it may be impossible for VELA to be effective. Keep in
mind that none of these ANALYSIS tests are designed to be definitive, and they should only be used
as compelling evidence. Being trained in Noise, Motion and VELA analysis is strongly recommended.
Open your video within VideoCleaner and, without using any sliders, press F6 to transfer the video to
VirtualDub. Do not close VideoCleaner. In VirtualDub, press CTRL-P and select the XVID Codec,
and now to the right you will see a "Configure" button. Select that and, in the third box down labeled
"Target quantizer" enter the number "8". Select OK to save your selection, and click OK to commit
the XVID Codec. Now press F7 to save the video. Use the default name of "VideoCleaner.avi" and
save the video in the C:\VideoCleaner folder. Using any other file name or folder will prevent the
VELA slider setting from working as expected. Close VirtualDub once the file save is complete.
Move the VideoCleaner ANALYSIS slider to value three (VELA). If it was already on 3, then move
the "Apply FORENSIC settings" slider to the left (0) position and then back to the right (1) position.
Be aware that any saved VideoCelaner.avi file will be automatically deleted the next time you start
the VideoCleaner program. As such, you should save or review your VELA results before exiting.
Analysis tests are based upon prior public domain research: NOISE (Niabot, Djembayz, and Waithamai), MOTION
(Laurent de Soras and pavelsx2), and VELA (kastn, George Chernilevsky, Dr. Neal Krawetz, and Doug Carner).
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TUTORIAL (Enhancing sample files)
The "VideoCleaner" folder on the user's computer includes a sub-folder named "Samples" which has
three practice files. Each file is listed below along with the recommended enhancement steps to
apply. First, use the desktop icon to launch the VideoCleaner program. When VideoCleaner loads,
the user presses their computer's "F5" key to load the desired file to work with.
Remember that, if more than one "OPEN" sub-window appears, only the last one remaining will have
any effect. The user can now close any extra sub-windows by selecting the "Cancel" button or
pressing their computer's "ESC" key.
Also, it is recommended that the user install the Xvid Codec and Lagareth Codec, both of which are
listed as links in the VideoCleaner program shortcut menu on their computer.
Dark.jpg
Open the image file named "Dark" (or "Dark.jpg" depending on the computer configuration). It is so
dark that it is almost impossible to see anything, so first activate the TOOLS filter group by moving
the slider named "Apply TOOLS settings" rightward.
This is a very dark scene, so first lets balance the lighting and color levels. To do this, activate the
HISTOGRAM filter by moving its slider to the right. Since the text appears faint, move the Video
contrast Strength slider rightward to about "14" to emphasize the luminosity differences between
adjacent pixels (screen dots). Next, you make subtle improvements by moving the Backlight,
UnSharpen, or Deblur sliders all the way rightward to improve clarity. We suggest applying them all.
NOTE: The Deblur filter can take minutes or even hours to process a video (which is why you should
always test it with the "MID FRAMES" mode setting, see the top sliders). Since "Dark.jpg" is just an
image (a one frame video), the Deblur results will be nearly instantaneous.
Turn ON the FORENSIC filter group (by moving Apply Forensic settings slider to the right) and set
Sobel to position "2". This filter will automatically locate and emphasize edges. Since position 2 is
for Chroma, and the image is nearly black/white, the resulting image takes on a green hue. To
remove the color, you need only turn ON the CHANNELS filter group and move the Convert to
Grayscale slider to the right.
Now let's save the finished result. Under the "Video" menu option (or simply right clicking on the
enhanced image), select either "Save image as" (which saves the image as a lossless BMP or TIF
file) or "Copy image to clipboard". Alternatively, the user can press their computer keyboard's "F6"
key to send this image into VirtualDub, where it can be saved in a wider range of image (FILE -->
EXPORT --> IMAGE SEQUENCE) or video file formats.
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XVID.avi
The "XVID.avi" video demonstrates an extremely dark video from a stationary camera. For this video,
you will need to have previously installed the XVID Codec. If this was never done, there is an
installation shortcut in the VideoCleaner program shortcut folder to resolve this issue now.
Load the "XVID.avi" video, which is located in the Samples folder of VideoCleaner on your
computer's C drive. As you play or scroll through this video you will see nothing except darkness.
We can fix this by turning ON the TOOLS filter group (by moving the slider named "Apply TOOLS
settings" rightward) and move the "Automatic Histogram " slider to the right to activate the feature.
Now moving through the video we see a license plate, but each frame is not very readable due to
noise.
Since this noise is random, we can average the video frames to suppress their effect. To do this, turn
ON the FORENSIC filter group (by moving the slider named "Apply FORENSIC settings" rightward),
and then move the "Frame Averaging Radius" slider to its rightmost position, "50". Immediately the
random noise is suppressed. Since this setting will average the prior and succeeding 50 frames,
advancing the video to frame number 50 will maximize the effect.
You will find that additional VideoCleaner settings will provide even greater results. For example, just
turning ON the DEBLOCK filter group (by moving the slider named "Apply DEBLOCKING settings"
rightward) will apply a subtle effect that leads to a clearer result.
You can also move the "Video Contrast Strength" slider, located in the TOOLS filter group, to a
position of "10" to gain additional subtle improvements, and move "Color Contrast Strength" to a
position of "10" to give the image a more visually pleasing appearance. That is the power of having
access to such an extensive toolbox.
Now let's save the finished result. Under the "Video" menu option (or simply right clicking on the
enhanced image), select either "Save image as" (which saves the image as a lossless BMP or TIF
file) or "Copy image to clipboard". Alternatively, the user can press their computer keyboard's "F6"
key to send this video into VirtualDub, where you can use the "F7" key to save your enhanced video.
If you use the Control-P (or "Compression" option under "Video" menu) before the F7 Save, you can
choose a compression option to save file size..
There is a slider named Deactivate all enhancements located above the Tools filter group. Move
that slider to the right to see what the image looked like prior to the applied enhancements.
Alternatively, the user can use the transparency slider located at the bottom, or the OFF / Side /
Atop / Sweep near the top to compare the before and after results.
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Noise.avi
Open the "Noise" video file. We can see that there is a lot of distracting noise in the Red and Green
color channels. Before we turn off color channels, we will need to ensure that the luminosity levels
will remain balanced. Turn ON the TOOLS section (by moving the slider named "Apply TOOLS
settings" rightward) and activating the Histogram feature (by moving its slider rightward).
Move down several filter groups to locate and turn ON the Channels filter group (Apply CHANNELS
settings) and within that group turn OFF (move the slider rightward) both the Red and Green
channels, leaving a blue channel image. In this same filter group, activate Convert to a grayscale
by moving that slider Rightward. The image should appear much clearer but upside down.
In the Properties section is the ANGLE filter group. Turn this group on (Move the Apply ANGLE
settings slider rightward) and then change the Rotate video angle to a setting of "180". The image
has a pattern noise created by the scanner. Change the rotation value to "181" and notice how the
resulting interpolation reduces this patterns effect. We can clean this up further by adjusting the
image's resolution using the RESIZE filter group. Turn ON that group (also in the Properties section)
and adjust the Width to "1024" and Height to "692". This can be improved upon setting Denoise
(located in the TOOLS group) to setting "1" (large) to remove the remaining large noise.
At the top of all the sliders, mouse click a check mark to activate the Toggle "Finalizing" Section and
be patient while the new feature groups load. Turn ON the COLORize feature group and set Filter
strength to "12", Low tones strength to "9", Add/Subtract red to "5", Add/Subtract green to "-3",
Add/Subtract blue to "5". These settings restore a more natural color to the image.
We can use the ACCENT filter group to define an area for highlighting (set the Use an oval to "1",
Highlight inner to "9", Highlight outer remains at "0", percent from_top to "60", percent
from_bottom to "24", percent from_left to "33, and percent from_right to "37") and the TEXT filter
group to place the word "Target" on the image (set the Relative size to "6", Percent from top to "55",
Percent from left to "27", Text color to "4", and Angle to "-18"). The actual text word (defaults to
"Target") is stored in the "VideoCleaner.txt" file located in the C:/VideoCleaner folder.
Just to familiarize yourself with VideoCleaner's power, you might wish to go to the top of all the sliders
and mouse click a check mark to activate the Toggle "Specialty" Section. Move down to the LENS
Fish Eye Barrel Correction section and use the top slider to turn this filter group ON. Now play with
the settings to see their effect. You can also try the VIEW section to change the perspective (set the
Top left (x) to "2", Top left (y) remains at "0", Top right (x) remains at "100", Top right (y) to "4",
and all other settings remain at their default).
You may wish to experiment with additional effects to see if the final results can be further improved.
Since this video is only one image long, as with the prior sample, the user can "Save image as" listed
under the "Video" menu or simply right clicking on the enhanced image.
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REFERENCES
Legend
A. Anil. K. Jain, Fundamentals of Digital Image Processing, Prentice Hall, 1989
(isbn:0133325784)
B. Marcus Weise & Diana Weynand, How Video Works, 2nd edition, Focal Press, 2007
(isbn:0240809335)
C. Vlado Damjanovski, CCTV Networking and Digital Technology, 2nd edition, Elsevier
Butterworth-Heinemann, 2005 (isbn:0750678003)
D. Bernard Grob & Charles E. Herndon, Basic Television and Video Systems, 6th edition,
McGraw-Hill, 1999 (isbn:0071163093)
E. Nosratinia, Enhancement of JPEG-Compressed images by re-application of JPEG, Journal of
VLSI Signal Processing, vol. 27, 2007 (issn:0922-5773)
F. J. Canny, A Computational Approach to Edge Detection, in IEEE Transactions on Pattern
Analysis and Machine Intelligence, vol. 8, no. 6, 1986 (issn: 0162-8828)
*The development team of VideoCleaner is not compensated in any manner for the inclusion of filters
with a demo license. These filters do not include any advertising or tracking, are fully functional in
demo mode, and are included solely because they deliver proven superior results.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
VideoCleaner would not be possible without the selfless open source efforts of others. If you
appreciate their work, consider donating to the respective programmers (see the SCIENCE, MATH
and CODE sections above). Doug Carner and Forensic Protection are not financially compensated,
and do not accept donations or pay, for any aspect of VideoCleaner, but gladly accept accolades.
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GLOSSARY (definition of terms)
Codec - An abbreviation of the words Compression Decompression, and it defines (in computer
code) how a given video is to be saved and later reconstituted. Nearly all Codecs are lossy;
meaning that details are irreversibly discarded to reduce file size. These losses can appear as
muted brightness, an out-of-focus appearance, strange artifacts, and tiling (when the video looks
like a mosaic of tiny rectangles). VideoCleaner provides the option to save files uncompressed,
which preserves the available file details, thus creating very large file sizes. The noted defects can
be suppressed using VideoCleaner's Tools and Deblocking sliders.
Color space - There are different standards to record visual luminosity and color values. The
color wheel is based upon RGB (Red, Green, Blue) where each value is that color's contribution to
a given pixel. If all the RGB values are zero, the pixel appears black. If all the RGB values are at
their maximum, then the pixel appears white. Television, and thus nearly all security cameras, use
a planar color space, where pixel brightness is one value, and the color values are often shared
with their neighboring pixels. YV12 is the most common planar color space used with surveillance
video. The 2nd to last VideoCleaner slider transforms the enhanced video into YV12 color space.
Contrast - Linearly expand or contract the value difference between adjacent pixel. If the critical
details blend together, then VideoCleaner's video contrast (luminosity) and color contrast
adjustments can expand the subtle differences to make the visual details easier to recognize.
Adjust contrast with caution because, as contrast is increased, details located in the darkest or
brightest areas of the video can become clipped as they try to exceed the allowed values. Videos
that lack both very bright and very dark areas will benefit the most from contrast adjustments.
Histogram equalization - Non-destructively increases the global contrast of the entire video by
more evenly distributing the intensity differences between adjacent and overall pixel values.
Videos that are extremely bright (e.g. details are washed out) or extremely dark (e.g. a nighttime
video with insufficient lighting) will benefit the most from this process.
iFrames - Frames that contain the entire scene and thus are the truest to what the camera saw.
All other types of video frames are composites made by adding or subtracting pixels from the
closest iFrames. Depending on the video Codec, non-iFrames can introduce additional visual
defects. VideoCleaner's Forensic tools includes an option to isolate iFrames.
Interlaced - When video broadcasting was invented (over 70 years ago), images from two
consecutive but independent moments in time (called fields) where simultaneously displayed as
one frame by interlacing these fields in a vertical weaving pattern. While newer systems use
progressive systems that avoid this (e.g. 1080i for interlaced and 1080p for progressive), most
security systems still record interlaced video. When those systems use proprietary playing
software, that software will often deinterlace (undo the interlacing) by blending both moments in
time, which creates distortion and a false set of facts. VideoCleaner's Field filters (located in the
Properties section) can isolate the interlaced fields and correct for their proper alignment.
Pixel - A video or image is actually displayed as a grid of dots called pixels. Each pixel is denoted
by values that, depending on its format, may include details about luminosity (brightness), color
and transparency. VideoCleaner uses 32-bit RGBa color space to retain maximum pixel details,
and the status bar seen below the video displays the relevant values for the pixel located under
the current computer mouse pointer position.
Document version: September, 2016 Page 29 of 29