Canopus ProCoder: DC Precision setting?

[hiptune]

Making DVDs in mpg2, I am getting used to this encoder, and I have been testing all settings at their max'd out settings.

Bit Rate: 9000
Audio rate: 384 kbps
Master Quality = long encode times
2-Pass VBR

So far everything has been coming out super high quality. But in the advanced video tab, I found a new setting that I have no idea what it does? But I figured that since I have jacked everything up to its maximum settings for the best I can get, I might want to know what this "DC Precision" setting does. It can be set at 8, 9, or 10.

It says something like: "determins how many bits are used for the coefficients of the Discrete Cosine Transform".

The default is 9, but gee...if 10 gets me better quality, I'll take it. Anyone able to explain this setting to me in plain english?

Thanks in advance,
Jeff

[lordsmurf]

The best you should even think about is 9. But most home users can easily get away with 8. Higher means more CPU and longer encode times. The 10 settings serves no real value for home use, and in fact many commercial movies tend to use 9 as the DC.

It's part of the equation that determines the varying algebraic factors of the MPEG encode process. Though not always true, higher DC can yield better quality. Inversely, choosing the wrong DC can negatively affect quality. And the needs of the DC can change throughout the MPEG. So 9 is a good average.

At least this is how it was explained to me. And it made sense.