Smoothing parameters
Kernel width.
As the smoothing is done in time, this is the width of the smoothing window in time.
Can be any odd number from 3 to 15. (Other numbers are impossible because of the
structure of the algorithm and the speed optimizations)
Smaller number saves the processing time. Higher number makes the smoothing more
accurate (from the math point of view), but it does not smooth stronger and does not
result in "motion blur". That is because this parameter means the maximal
kernel width, while the actual kernel is dynamically reduced if a high change of
intensity is detected.
So, don't worry about blurred motion even if you set 15. Such an effect will
appear if you set too high the smooth strength.
Setting 13 or 15 makes sense if used with a higher smooth strength (for high noise video).
Set 3 or 5 for faster processing or debugging with preview.
Intensity smooth strength.
The smoothing is made as the weighed average. That means, for a
current pixel in time, its intensity is compared to the intensities of all the other
pixels in the kernel. The smaller is the difference the more weight is assigned to the
corresponding pixel. If all pixels have the same intensity difference with the
current pixel then all of them are assigned the same weight.
The smoothing strength defines the effective width on intensity scale for the weights
assignment.
If you process a video with high noise (e.g. VHS source), set this parameter to 9 or
higher.
Do not set it too high, otherwise you may get the edges of
moving objects blurred, particularly in low contrast scenes.
Correction for color smooth strength.
Color components of the pixel can be smoothed with a different
strength than the intensity. I noticed that normally it is better to reduce the
smooth strength for the color. You can achieve this by making this parameter
negative.
Note that this number is not simply added to the "Intensity smooth strength".
If you use an even number for the "Intensity smooth strength" then the correction for
color smoothing can not be less than -5 (-4 for MMX_only version).
Otherwise it can not be less than -10. This condition arises from the speed optimizations.
Intensity locking
Max level to lock intensity.
After smoothing in time, the intensity is stabilized around a certain level. With
this parameter, you can lock the intensity at that level suppressing any small
variations in time. This greatly simplifies the subsequent MPEG compression resulting
in smaller size of the compressed video. This parameter sets the maximal level of
variation that allows the pixel intensity to be locked.
Set this to zero to disable this feature.
Typical range is 1...5. Too high values may blur moving objects having very
low contrast.
Max level to lock color.
Defines the maximal level of color variation that allows the color components to
become locked.
Debug locking.
If you check this option, the locked pixels will be highlighted.
Pixels with only locked intensity will have a fixed intensity of 80% (almost white) and
unchanged color.
Pixels with only locked color will have pink color and unchanged
intensity.
Fully locked pixels will be colored light pink.
This system helps finding the optimal intensity and color levels for locking and
smoothing.
If only one color channel is locked then the pink tint will have only red or
blue component respectively.