Is low bit rate mpeg2 (1200kbps) compatible with all DVD players?

[jimdagys]

I've been trying to get an answer for quite a while on this question. Is low bit rate mpeg2 (about 1200kbps) compatible with all DVD players? The reason I ask is that I thought erroneously that low bit rate always had to be mpeg1. I didn't realize it was possible to have low bit rate mpeg2 and play on DVD players. I did an interesting experiment. I used TMPGEnc DVD Author3 and inputed low bit rate mpeg1 files and after 6 hours of chugging, the resulting DVD had low bit rate mpeg2 files. I couldn't figure out why TMPGEnc DVD Author3 converted the files from mpeg1 to mpeg2. Since TMPGEnc DVD Author3 is high quality Japanese software, I can only conclude (since TMPGEnc DVD Author3 decided to convert the files to mpep2) that low bit rate mpeg2 is indeed compatible with all DVD players. Is my reasoning correct?

[aedipuss]

if you check the dvd specs in the upper left corner you'll see there is no lower bitrate for dvd. only an upper limit. BUT most people find 3000 to be about the lowest they are willing to watch in an average movie type encode.

[AlanHK]

I've been trying to get an answer for quite a while on this question. Is low bit rate mpeg2 (about 1200kbps) compatible with all DVD players?

I've made some down to 1100 just as an experiment. Worked fine, but rather fuzzy, of course.

On the other hand, low rate MPEG1 (i.e., lower than 1150kb, or variable) is not standard and may not work.

Since TMPGEnc DVD Author3 is high quality Japanese software, I can only conclude (since TMPGEnc DVD Author3 decided to convert the files to mpep2) that low bit rate mpeg2 is indeed compatible with all DVD players. Is my reasoning correct?

Many converters will insist on reencoding perfectly valid files for no good reason, wasting a lot of time and often producing a larger, lower-quality file.

So while the result may be compatible, it doesn't necessarily mean the input was not.

Though in this case, if you were using non-standard-rate MPEG1, it might be.

I hope all this equivocation makes sense.

[TJohns]

At the same LOW bitrate, MPEG1 is better (hence it's use on VCD). At higher rates, MPEG2 gives better results (and so is used on DVD). Technically, either could be used for both purposes, but you'll start to make comprimises somewhere.

[guns1inger]

mpeg-1 for VCD is up to 1150 kbps, although most tools set it as a CBR rate. Strictly speaking, it can be less.

When you start authoring mpeg-1 for DVD, the bitrate can be up to 1856 kbps, however you are restricted to VCD resolutions.

[ronnylov]

I have one DVD player that accepts MPEG-1 at VCD-resolution on DVD, but not MPEG-2 at VCD resolution on DVD. The lowest resolution that worked in MPEG-2 on this player was 352x576 (when using PAL format). However the bitrate at 1200 kbit/s at 352x576 resolution is a little bit too low to get acceptable MPEG-2quality in my opinion. But then I can use MPEG-1 instead of MPEG-2 and get VCD-like quality at VCD resolution, but still the VCD-like quality is not good either...

I have made some VCD-DVD discs by copying the MPEG-1 stream from old VCDs I had, reencoded the audio to 48 kHz and authored to DVD without any problems. The quality is exactly the same as VCD but I don't need to switch discs on longer movies that did not fit on one CD.

If the DVD player can play divx or xvid then you can get much better results by using that instead of MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 at a bitrate of 1200 kbit/s, but then you can defenitely not play it on all DVD-players...

[guns1inger]

but not MPEG-2 at VCD resolution on DVD

Support for this is required by the DVD specification. If it cannot, then it should not carry the DVD Video logo.

[jman98]

As guns1inger states, MPEG-1 is completely valid for DVD. I have some, butmMost of them I had to author with Scenarist though. The video bit rate can't be higher than 1856 Kbps as he says and again he is 100% correct in saying that any MPEG-1 video MUST be at VCD resolutions. Scenarist just refused to accept any audio with MPEG-1 video unless it was AC3. I tried PCM and it refused to accept it. I have found Scenarist to be pretty good at adhering to DVD standards, so if won't take PCM audio with MPEG-1 video for DVD, there's probably a valid reason.

MPEG-2 video can be as low as you want for the bit rate. Smaller resolutions are better for lower bit rates. TMPGenc DVD Author is a fine product, but it's not perfect. The conversion of MPEG-1 to MPEG-2 was wrong, assuming that your video source was below 1856 Kbps. I have noticed that many DVD authoring programs refuse to author DVDs if the video is MPEG-1 and may insist on converting it to MPEG-2. This is wrong according to the standards, but the software writers have just made things easy on themselves by insisting on MPEG-2 video only for DVDs, even though the DVD specs do allow for MPEG-1 with some limitations.