trying to get dvd quality right...

[sparks]

i'm putting DV camcorder movies onto dvd's using the pioneer A04 DVD-R, and on playback i'm finding that there is a 'distortion' in quality - a bit difficult to describe, but when the movie moves there is a 'shimmering effect'...sort of like the effect you get on a jpeg picture file when there has been a bit too much compression. i'm using tmpgenc 2.5, or the built-in converter in DVDit 2.5 PE to prepare the MPEG 2 files. I had hoped that the quality would be as good as the DV tapes on playback. am i missing something?

[dmonty]

I'm assuming that you are refering to that anoying 'basket weave' (Moiré)
effect. Where and when do you see this effect? During fast motion(action sceens)? In background objects?(like a wall). Around text?

Try...
Increasing the bitrate help address these issues. Setting the 'motion search' to the slowest setting will correct motion issues.

Hope this helps,

D

[sparks]

dmonty..thanks for the reply.the motion search setting really makes a difference..in addition, does choosing vbr over cbr make a difference, as the encoding times really go up using that option.

[rayjr13]

First you should decide wether or not you want it to be a brief process or wether you want it to look good. If you just spend the extra hours of encoding Hightet motion search/vbr/high bitrate etc. You'll be please with the output for years when watching ur video. But if it's crap everytime u play it you'll see the ghoted image or blocks that will frustrate you and embarss you if someone is watchin it with you when you were the one in control of how it looks.

I suggest taking the extra time for two-pass VBR with as high a bitrate as necessary for image quality and highet motion serch (very slow) its worth it in the end for the extra 15-60mins per video especially if your trying to archive.

Get a hobby or a second computer or something to pass the time. If you do just msg me and I'll play you in virtua tennis or Medol of honor network style to help you pass the time :P Or get a g/f b/f whichever applies they'll love the extra you'll spend with them (even though we know its really because of the encoding). Good ole quality time, encoding that is.

[dmonty]

There is a hugh debate that is still ongoing on the VBR vs CBR topic. It has at times become quite heated. I can't really comment on which one is better since both encoding methods seem to produce the same results on my 35 inch TV. (with all quality options set to max) The only way I can justify using one over the other is if you are limited with space. If you want high quality/small file size then use 2Pass VBR. If size is not an issue then I would try a good CBR method like CQ.


Hope this helps.

D

[VidGuy]

Not to fuel the debate, but CQ is NOT a CBR (constant bit rate) method - it stands for Constant Quality, and it attempts to keep the quality of the picture consistent no matter what bitrate it needs to do the job (within the confines of the Max Bitrate you set).

If you want to try a test, try CBR at xxxx vs. a CQ of 85 with a max of xxxx (you choose xxxx, doesn't matter much). I'll bet you're hard pressed to tell the difference, yet the CQ of 85 will have quite a bit lower average bitrate (meaning smaller file size) = average is usually around 70% of the max for me at this CQ level unless there's lots of motion.

However, if size is not an issue, CBR xxxx should be tough to beat, because that's using the most bits you can use, all the time.

Personally, I just use CQ anywhere from 70-90, depending on how small I want to get it vs. how good I want it to look. I've never been disappointed in the results (unless there are a lot of flashy lights and the max bitrate is low, like an SVCD, then TMPGEnc pixelates like crazy, and you need to switch to CCE using a multipass VBR to cure the pixellation)