Bitrate.... Major problem for SVCD?

[dhany]

I know that bitrate will decide the quality of the svcd. But from what i read in the forum, i found many trouble regarding this bitrate.
Is it true that high bitrate sometimes can backfire in terms of compatibility?
As I believe that i'm not intend using the same standalone for the rest of my life, so i think it's necessary to reconsider about compatibility!!!
So, based on your experience, what bitrate served the compatibility for as many standalone...

I think it's an interesting question to discuss...

[DVWannaB]

Well to be on the safe side, just stick with the standard 2500 video bitrate. If one wants to go higher, then I suggest doing a small clip test, like 5 minutes and see if your player can handle it. In the test, go as high with the bitrate and then test player again.

My .02 worth.

[epo]

There is nothing such as "standard 2500". There is 2748 combined (audio + video). But as audio most often is 224, video also most often comes out 2500 or 2520.

[DVWannaB]

There is nothing such as "standard 2500". There is 2748 combined (audio + video). But as audio most often is 224, video also most often comes out 2500 or 2520.

THANKS epo YOU ARE RIGHT..............AS USUAL!!!!!

[dhany]

how about the problem? from the forum i can read that some have trouble when playing on standalone, some say picture is not smooth, sometimes too fast played, sometimes to slow, and sometimes also give some stopped motion. is there problem with the bitrate setting? or perhaps it's a matter of compatibility with standalone?
i read once that the standalone did not give the correct time for the movie, what's the problem actually?
is bitrate kinda tricky?

[gll99]

Bitrate is not tricky. The player may be though. Many players say they support vcd but incidently support svcd. epo gave you a pretty good explanation. You can reduce the audio bitrate and increase the video up to the total allowable and still be in spec for svcd. Some players accept variations above that and we call those xsvcd but you can also go lower and stay in spec thats ok up to a point where it affects your video.

Framesize or resolution as some call it is important too. The standard NTSC is 480x480 but some players accept 720x480,704x480,352x480 or even 352x240. The framerate can affect some players. Some accept film 24fps, or 23.97 while others stutter and give all kinds of audio problems unless it is 29.97. If your video breaks up it could also the encoder you used or the quality of your source file.

There are lots of variables that make a good svcd and many of them are decisions made during the encoding process. That's why we use templates which have been tested in programs like tmpgenc to avoid repeating errors that others have already overcome.