Straight Reauthoring SP versus Shrunk Reauthoring HQ

[moviebuff2]

Hi everyone:

Please pardon me for my strange title. I thought about it and could not come up with anything better. :P

OK, here's my story.

I want to transfer my 3-hr opera laserdisc onto ONE double-layer DVD.

Naturally, I have to record the opera on separate DVDs since there is not yet a dependable stand-alone double-layer DVD recorder. Philips introduced one which got such bad reviews that I am persuaded to stay away from these double-layer recorders.

If I record at SP speed, the entire opera will have the total size of +7-GB and can be reauthored directly, without any compression, and be burnt onto a double-layer DVD disc in one step.

If I record at HQ speed, the 3-hr opera will have a total size of approximately +9GB. This would mean that I have to compress approximately 20% of it, in order to fit it onto a +8-GB DVD disc.

Would someone please tell me which method I should employ? SP recording & no-compression reauthoring or HQ recording & 20% compression?

Thanks

[moviebuff2]

No reply! I must have stated my question so badly!

Let me try again.

Should I transfer my 3-hr opera at SP speed then reauthor it - uncompressed - onto a double-layer DVD? Or, should I record it at HQ speed then compress ( approximately 20%) and reauthor it, also onto a double-layer DVD?

Which method will yield better video and audio qualities?

After I posted my 1st question, I did some diggings on the Net. Here are what I found, so far.

HQ recording is supposed to be the equal of SuperBit DVDs. SuperBit DVDs are encoded at 2X the normal bit rate, with the audio part at 385 kbps compared to 256 kbps in other recording modes, like SP.

A 20% compression will still give me more than a normal bit rate, with an audio part at 308 kbps, approximately.

So, it seems to me if I record my opera at HQ and later compress it at 20%, I will still have a better version than a straight, non-compressed SP version.

Am I correct?

Thanks

[mats.hogberg]

Generally, the fewer steps (encoding/transcoding) from A to B the better. Here, the situation is more complex, as you can do one step to 7 GB, or 2 steps to 9 GB. This is one of the reasons I don't value DVD recorders much - Settings like SP or HQ is simply too coarse to do anything serious with.
I really think you'll have to try both ways, and decide for yourself. My guess would be that the transcoded HQ version will be better.

/Mats

[moviebuff2]

Thanks, Mats.