Does BluRay mean I've wasted my money?

[LAJ_26]

Hi all,

I've just spent a lot of money on a DVD-RW DL and software to write to DVDs so that I can store my home videos on the non-deteriorating format. However, I've just heard that BluRay isn't far from the future, and so am I right to believe that I have completely wasted my money, or should I stop worrying?

Thanks.

[canadateck]

stop worrying!

[yoda313]

Hello,

Yeah candateck is right, don't sweat it..... The next gen dvd format war is JUST heating up....

Kevin


{VHS is still USABLE even though DVD is the mainstay, the same will be true several years down the road for DVD}

[LAJ_26]

k thanks

The main thing I was worried about is that I'll have to use lossy compression to fit my home videos onto DVD, which I wouldn't have to do as much with BluRay. I haven't managed to encode any of my AVIs into mpeg2 using TMPGEnc that don't end up looking only a bit better than rubbishy internet streams

However, when I get it right will loss from DVD compression be minimal?

[lenti_75]

k thanks

I haven't managed to encode any of my AVIs into mpeg2 using TMPGEnc that don't end up looking only a bit better than rubbishy internet streams

the video should be the same. I think you're converting wrong, check the bitrate, don't go below 4000 if you want the same quality

[handyguy]

They are going to be backwards compatible so you can still use your dvds.

[TheFamilyMan]

Your money was not wasted, once you get down how to compress your footage.

The nature of the source footage has a major impact on the quality of the MPEG2 compression. If you footage is analog (VHS), analog noise can really mess up the compression quality. You may not notice this noise when you play the tapes, but it's there. TMPGEnc's video noise filters do a great job at removing this noise. I use 13-1-13 setting for this. Also as mentioned, bit rate should be 6000 to 8000. I use CQ VBR bit rate at 8000/90 with all spoilage set to 0. My finished home video projects look great on my TV, but you can see compression artifacts when they are viewed full screen on the computer monitor. Patience and experimentation is a must with this hobby, good thing there are rewriteable DVDs that set top players can play. Good Luck.

[bazooka]

No, you have not wasted your money.

You will be ok for awhile.

[LAJ_26]

k thanks all Phew! *wipes sweat from brow*

I'm using a high bitrate and all the highest and slowest settings, but I think I put 'soften block noise' on. Could that be a culprit for the poor, blurry, mpeg1 type quality?

[raffie]

Philips is bringing out a Blu-ray/DVD/CD writer half 2005. http://news.designtechnica.com/article6217.html

I was planning on buying a new DVD-burner, but I'm not shure now. I'll be bying the blu-ray drive as soon as it comes out anyway...

edit: there's no competition for next-gen discs IMO, blu-ray has all the advantages; more capacity, more corporate back-up AND Playstation3.
it's a no-brainer, HD-DVD was dead born

[Capmaster]

They've been promising DVD-R DL all last year, but all we see is isolated incidents of hardware, and no media that I've been able to find.

Blu-ray is all well and good, but without media it's useless. Look at DVD+R DL and how it's still too expensive in spite of being out for 6 months

Don't worry .....you'll probably wear out your current unit before Blu-ray hits the mainstream

[FootballNutz]

Blue Ray is a long way off. The dual layer disk is just coming down the road. If you are trying to sqeeze a large amount of video on a single layer disk, waiting for dual layer to drop the price of the disks might be an option. The people in this forum represent the cutting edge in new technology purchases. But the fact is, I know alot of people that just got their first DVD player for Xmas & are not going to invest in a new format for a long while.

[LAJ_26]

I suppose in a way it is better for me to use current 4GB DVDs over the future much higher density mediums. After all, my purpose is to preserve priceless home videos and so if I stored them with BluRay then I'd fit much more data onto a single disc and effectively be putting more eggs in one basket. If something were to happen to the disc then I'd lose quite a bit of archive!

Also I suppose in a paranoid sense my tapes are deteriorating all the time, and the longer I leave it the worse they'll get. Time is of the essence and BluRay will still take a few years.

[Lem Motlow]

However, when I get it right will loss from DVD compression be minimal?

I am a newbie to all this as well. I have been trying different ways of capturing old 8mm video to digital. So far I have tried the following on the same footage:

1) Captured directly to MPG using ATI AIW card with the MMC software.

2) Captured AVI with the same and then encode to MPG using TMPGEnc.

3) Recorded direct to DVD using Pioneer DVD Recorder (on highest quality setting).

Results: I see virtually no difference in the three once they have been burned to DVD. Compared to the source, I have what I would consider to be about 90%+ of the original quality, but I'm pretty picky. Like you, I am trying to get all I can out of this process and I'm beginning to think this is about the best that can be done.

[TheFamilyMan]

This is going a bit off the original topic, but on the DVD quality issue...

I've converted all of my home video from VHS/8mm to DVD. I would consider my results at about 97%. Home analog footage suffers from two problem: hand held camera shooting and analog noise. The first problem makes MPEG2 conversion problematic, since compression is done by analyzing and saving motion changes between the frames. The more motion detected, the more bitrate required. My solution to this was to capture/encode at 352/480 resolution and use VBR at excessively high bit rates (8000 max). The lower resolution is not noticably different from the originals on my standard 27" TV. Analog noise introduces the same problem, though can be fixed (somewhat) by using filters before the compression. Sure, there is a tiny loss in detail (and I mean tiny) in doing all this, but it better than doing nothing to perserve this footage. It would be interesting to see how well a "professional" conversion service would fare.