Will 352x480 play in standalone?

[videocheez]

I suppose i can just try it myself but I thought I would ask the question in the forum. For the last several weeks i have been trying to improve the quality of avi's encoded to dvd by using the lower resolution of 352x480. So far none of these have played on my DVD player. Each time I try to burn I get a huge green bar thats accross the bottom of the screen. The audio is fine and and they play on the computer. The only difference in the files that I have encoded lately is that i have reduced the resolution. Does any one have a suggestion as to why the end products wont play on my standalone? What other problems are typical when a DVD plays nicely on the comp and not on the standalone?

Thanks in advance,

VC

[LanEvo7]

352x480 is a valid dvd resolution. Are you sure the rest of your settings comply to standard dvd? Stuff like max gop, etc.

[adam]

Yes 352x480 complies with the DVD standard and should play fine. I use it all the time. I'm wondering, are you encoding with the 16:9 aspect ratio? If so I do not think 16:9 is supported with a resolution of 352x480. Try it with 4:3 and see if it works.

Other than that, I would just chalk it up as a problem with your dvd authoring software. Many of the lower end programs do not correctly support all resolutions, even though the DVD standard does.

[videocheez]

I have been using Spruce up to author. I know a lot of people like Maestro but without a good guide i can't figure it out. Do you know of any easy to use authoring programs. Spruce up is simple but a little buggy and is no longer supported. Also LanEvo7 mentioned max GOP. I have not adjusted any of TMPGE's or CCE's GOP settings. Could you please tell me what the DVD compliant parameters are.

Thanks in advance

[LanEvo7]

Oh your using Spruce-Up to encode? I thought you were using a standalone encoder like tmpgenc. The max gop for dvds is 18 and the audio has to be 48khz. Try using TMPGEnc to encode and Ulead DVD Moviefactory to author. I've been using that and have gotten pretty good results. They both have 30 trials.

[videocheez]

I have been using Spruceup to author and TMPGE and CCE to encode. Does Ulead movie factory allow for AC3 audio and can you choose mpeg clips as scene buttons?

Thanks in advance,

VC

[nerdboy69]

Lemme guess ... your DVD Player is a Teac?

Don't bother trying with DVD Maestro, it will have the same problem.
Get the same deal on my sisters player - full res works well, anything else (eg. 352x288) behaves exactly as you describe.

Have not had time to try burning at this res with another package and then trying on her player, but I have another mate with another model Teac, and he gets the same problem with a reduced res DVD Maestro DVD - difference is that I have tried another DVD burnt with DVD Workshop at 352x288 (MPEG1 in this case, whereas previous one was MPEG2) on that one and it works a treat.

So I haven't nutted out for sure whether it is just DVD Maestro, MPEG1 vs MPEG2 or what, but it seems to be at least partly related to the sensitivity of the player.

[adam]

352x240 and 352x288 are only supported in the DVD standard when using mpeg1. If you used them with mpeg2 than you'd run into the same problems with any authoring software.

352x480/576, 704x480/576, and 720x480/576 are only supported in the DVD standard when using mpeg2 and all players should play them correctly.

videocheez: In CCE's GOP tab make sure M=3 and N/M=4.
In TMPGenc you may want to close GOPs. This is not required for compliancy, and it actually decreases quality some, but from my experience TMPGenc does not maintain compliant GOP lengths when using open GOPs. Are you sure you are not encoding or authoring in 16:9? If you are than I am almost positive that it is what is causing your problem. I am fairly certain that you cannot use 16:9 with a 352x480/576 res.

[sammie]

I've had good luck getting 16:9 from letter-box tape sources. I crop off the bars (if they are in the captured avi) then resize to 352x360 (if you croped the file it will be pretty close already). Then use "addborders" to add 60 to the top and bottom. This results in a compliant 352x480 file with the appropriate 16x9 format with little (theoretically almost no) loss from a vhs or other composite source.

[adam]

http://www.mpeg.org/MPEG/DVD/Book_B/Video.html

The DVD specification does not support the 16:9 aspect ratio flag with a resolution of 352x480/576. As with all non-compliant disks, your results will vary according to the specific player. For maximum compatibility you should not use 16:9 and 352x480/576 together. Your dvd authoring software should not even allow you to do this, but the lower end packages are very non-compliant, from my experience.

[sammie]

...Adam's post reminded me. You set the aspect ratio to 4:3 for the workaround.

[txpharoah]

I suggest DVDit! PE (or others too, LE and SE, though they don't do AC3) for authoring. It's easy, and I've never made a bad disc. I like the firstplay options too, and the menu can have music (benefit since this program's ONLY drawback is that it cannot make motion menus).

I use 352x480 exclusively on all my VHS->DVD transfer work, and never have problems. The guide below (in my signature) has the TMPGenc settings I use. Be sure you have correct aspect and resolutions, like adam said.

[version20]

Actually one other thing that sucks about DVDit! is that you have no option to modify movie start and end points. So make sure you have captured/cropped your file exactly as you want it ahead of time. Other than that (and the lack of motion menus), it probably is the best authoring program, and just to add - I also often use 352x480 resolution. With a good encoder you would be hard pressed to notice the difference and you can add much more content to a disc that way.

-v20

[nerdboy69]

352x240 and 352x288 are only supported in the DVD standard when using mpeg1.

Actually, this is what I believed also. But, if on my Pioneer DV-525, I author and play a 352x288 in DVDWS as MPEG1 - no problem. If I author and play the same m1v stream unmodified from DVD Maestro - she no work so well.

If you used them with mpeg2 than you'd run into the same problems with any authoring software.

Not true. Software (DVDWS, DVD Maestro) allows it, and what is more almost all DVD players I have tried (Teac being the exception) play them flawlessly. In fact the only reason I started doing them as MPEG2 is because the same videos encoded as MPEG1 were misbehaving when done with DVD Maestro (but were fine for DVDWS).

Go figure.

[adam]

nerdboy69 I thought my post was pretty clear. As I said, 352x240/288 are not supported in the DVD standard except when using mpeg1. Regardless of what your dvd player plays, or what your authoring software accepts, this is a fact.

Taken from dvd demystified faq #3.4
http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html

Allowable picture resolutions are:
MPEG-2, 525/60 (NTSC): 720x480, 704x480, 352x480
MPEG-2, 625/50 (PAL): 720x576, 704x576, 352x576
MPEG-1, 525/60 (NTSC): 352x240
MPEG-1, 625/50 (PAL): 352x288

Now as with all non-standard formats, some dvd players will be able to play them better than others, but if you comply with the standard then all players should play them, assuming they can read your media. I choose to remain within the latter category and I suggest all others do as well.

As I have stated in numerous other threads, the lower end dvd authoring packages are horrible when it comes to compliancy. They don't accept things that are supported by the DVD standard, and they do support things that arent within the DVD specs. I use Sonic Scenarist, and it is the software which is used for production of nearly all commercial DVDs and it rejects mpeg2 video encoded at 352x240/288 because it is non-compliant.

If you use this combination you are deviating from the DVD standard and you can run into any number of problems. That's really all I was trying to say.

[videocheez]

This advice has been very useful, especially from nerdboy (babyface) and Adam. Right now I'm leaning towards nerdboys assumption that my standalone probably can't play 352x480 because of his sister and buddy having similar problems. The resolution is the only thing that I have changed in my encoding.
However Adam's advice will also be tested because on a couple of the encodes I did have 16:9 DAR and i don't remember if the mpeg2 encoded with that aspect ratio was one of the ones that I burned to DVD. Also Spruceup is low end and outdated.
I will also try txpharoahs advice by getting a copy of DVDit.
My standalone player is a Toshiba SD K510, it's very inexpensive and probably about as low end as you can go so I believe nerdboy has a good point but i still gotta try adams suggestions because I cant think of easier way besides a ton of filters to improve the meg2 quality.

Thanks for the help guyz,

VC