VCD distorted playback - complicated - please read

[asazel]

Hi all. Please help. I am ripping DVD to VCD using :

Smart Ripper - then
DVD to AVI - then
TMPGenc - then
Nero to burn the resulting MPEG to VCD.

Using TMPGenc I set 25 FPS (I'm in Australia, hence PAL) and variable bitrate encoding, double pass encoding for extra quality. 16 to 9 screen size.

Problem is this :

The resulting VCD plays just fine on one of my DVD players. Looks great.

BUT on the other player (which is the SAME model and make but purchased 1 year earlier) the VCD does not play properly. The image is severely shifted to the left, such that only half is visible. It flashes on and off VERY rapidly so that the resulting image appears milky white. The sound is perfect.

It seems that my older DVD player is somehow incompatible with the VCD I have recorded. The newer one, although the same model (it's a Voxon) must have different decoding software that plays OK.

In fact, although the two DVD players look exactly the same, the old one is VOXSON T172 and the newer one is T172-B. Both play VCD's just fine - it is only the older one that can't play this one VCD.

I assume the newer model has had a firmware upgrade - that's why it can play this particular VCD and the older one can't.

Has anybody encountered this problem before, and is there any suggestion how to fix it? I assume I need to adjust my TMPGenc settings, but in what way? I just want to be able to burn VCD's that will play on any DVD player without requiring the latest up-to-the-minute firmware.

Current TMPGenc settings are :
MPEG 1 Video
352 X 288 pixels
25 FPS
Aspect ratio 16:9 625 line (PAL)
2 Pass VBR
VBV Buffer Size 100K
Motion search precision - highest
Video source type : Interlace
Field order : top field first (Field A)
16:9 625 line (PAL)
Video arrange method - full screen (Keep aspect ratio)


Thanks
Gus

[yf2001usa]

I could be a difference i firmware if both players are the same model.

[Dhruv]

It could be a hardware malfunction, or simply some tweaked settings within the 2nd DVD player which makes it distorted. Firstly, check if other VCDs (pref. non-homemade ones) play on the 2nd player, if they don't the player might be broken. Next check the DVD settings screen on both and match the 2nd to the first.
Hope you resolve the problem,

[flaninacupboard]

well, 2-pass VBR makes it an XVCD not a VCD, and secondly, 16:9 aspect makes it an XVCD as well. i'm not at all suprised one of your players doesn;t like it

If you want guaranteed compatibility, then use the TMPGenc VCD template. this however will still only give you compatibility with DVD players that are VCD compliant, not all are.

[Giskard]

I have the same problem (image distorted, shifted to the left and flashing) in my Scott DVD player, but only if the VCD has a 16:9 aspect ratio.

For my Scott, there is a simple solution for this problem, first I load a DVD into the player and just after start playing I eject the DVD and load the VCD. The image and the sound now are perfect.

I guess that this strange solution works only in my Scott, but you could try.

Giskard