Source
Digitized VHS transfer, 720x480, 29.97 interlaced, 34 minutes
Challenge
The source had tape noise, chroma crawl, unstable brightness, soft faces, and combing around motion. Pushing it straight to 4K made faces look artificial and made tracking damage more visible.
Restoration approach
The restoration plan used deinterlacing first, followed by tape-noise separation, brightness stabilization, mild color balancing, and a restrained 1080p upscale. The sample focused on a moving indoor scene because that was the hardest part of the tape.
Result
The best master target was 1080p MP4 with a natural texture. The image became calmer and easier to watch, while the operator avoided the plastic look that appeared in the aggressive upscale test.