VCD as good as SVCD ?

[bwa]

I now have created a 16:9 SVCD and it looks better, but now I have a green line in the bottom of the movie. The bottom is also 'shacky'. The TV is a 4:3 screen.

Is the output still 480 x 576 when widescreen?

I'm looking for some info about encoding to widescreen (16:9)

[SatStorm]

Well...
SVCD is good, but at higher bitrates. Beyond 1800.
With a Svcd with CBR 2100kb/s and 480X576 picture, you got very good results. With 2 pass VBR even better. But, only 35 min on a CD... When you move beyond standards, you need luck for good results. Bitrate makes the difference
you can create a xsvcd with lower resolution better bitrate but why?
If you play with mpeg 1 and VBR, you got better results at lower bitrates.
For example, a (x)vcd with bitrate 1450kb/s and 480X576 with 2 Pass VBR is way better than the same at SVCD...
Of course that is my opinion...
Use SeVCD template, unlock it and tweak a bit the options... You will find that the results are really good...
Or, stay with standard SVCD. With 2 pass VBR you get amazing picture. And only 35 min on a CD...

[rnusser]

There are big differences between DV and DV. Since recently I had a SONY TRV-20e (PAL) 1 CCD. With the advice at
http://www.supervideo.com/dvnews.htm
I bought the PANASONIC MX300 (PAL; MX3000 for NTSC)that has 3 CCD. The results obtained with TMPGEnc improved dramaticaly. With the PANASONIC I get the results I always wanted to achieve.

[miguelos_net]

I had the same impression that bwa.

I'm going back to VCD @ 2400 CBR + 128k audio 352x240 (I've made "millons" of test with SVCD @ 2550 2pass VBR 128K audio 480x480 and TMPGEnc 12h, NERO 5.5 , VCDIMager, VirtualDUB ) but now I'd prefer to sacrifice "definition" in order to get better blockiness on fast (fast?) movement video.

SVCD at 352x480 is pretty good too. But it doesn't play on many DVD players.

My source it is a Sony DCR-TVR9 (miniDV), capture with Studio DV, MSP6 and Pure Motion. Playing in Pioneer DV-343 and WEGA 34" 4:3 TV.

I think that the DVD player may be is a big factor.

[bwa]

Hey, guys

VCD still has almost no blockingness, but is too unsharp. Tried VCD with higher bitrates, and it played well on my Pioneer 525.

But now I has 16:9 captured miniDV movies from my Sony PC100 playing betther than the old 4:3 movies. I', not shure why, but could it be cause the same bitrate is used to 'cover' a smaller part of the TV screen ? I now used MPEG2 CBR 2400 SVCD. Should I try 2pass VBR?

My only problem now is that there is a few green lines at the bottom for my movie. How can I get rid of them ?

35 min pr. CD is not bad, my homevideos is clipped down to 5-15 minutes tracks, so this is not a problem at all.

Satstorm, which encoder do you use? I use TMPGEnc

[Anonymous65]

I have also made several test with VCD and SVCD, and there is not much difference in quality. Yes, the SVCD is a bit sharper, but the VCD look almost the same when sitting away from the TV set (like I normally watch TV) and on a 21 inch TV. So, I have decided to make the best possible VCDs I can make, and not bother with SVCD. Also, I can easily burn 90 min of VCD on a single disk, not easy with SVCD!

The ultimate VCD quality I make by using Virtualdub in 352x480 24 bit 29.94 frames with qubic 2:1 vertical reduction for capture (important!!).
Then, simply use Tmpeg with the default VCD template. Excellent VCD quality!

SK

[bwa]

If I understood you, should I use Virtualdub to resize ?

Is there a site with som startupinfo. I'm very unfamiliar with this product.

I have tried to capture old VHS movies with my Sony PC100, but the result after encoding to VCD or SVCD with TMPEnc gives very unsharp/diffuse result

[SatStorm]

@bwa: I use tmpegenc like all of as
Also, 35 min on a CD is really bad! Just grabb your favorites shows and see!
I use a tweak version of sefy's SeVCD template, and I just finished "scary movie", with joint stereo 192/44100. It is 768MB (all credits included!)AMAZING quality, only a few blocks, and looks much better VHS!
I also grab daily "babylon 5" episodes, and I encode them with the same settings except the audio (this time Stereo/160/44100 - keeps amazing the souround!)and I have 2 42 min episodes on a CD 74 min!
When I tried SVCD, then I had better sharpness, the same blocks, less good motion than (x)vcd and only 35 min! (Sound was the same)
Then I use the cvd format (352x480)which is somehow better than the typical svcd format (480X576). But again, for good results (and with mpeg 2 in general), you have to stay with the standards... So again: 35-40 min on a CD...
Also Tmpegenc ain't the better solution for svcd (cvd) creating, but is the only free solution we got.
For better SVCD/CVD results, most of the times, you have to use the "soften block noise" feature, for less blocks. But when you use it, (with "detect scene change" off)you loose that sharpness SVCD gives you.
So you have a result like to xVCD, with VBR...
But with xVCD you got more min on a CD...
Those has to do with the current encoders. I saw real comercial CVDs and SVCD and the quality is like 85% of DVD, so my only guess is that the encoders ain't good yet for home made SVCDs
So, till encoders get better, Long live (X)VCD!

[bwa]

Thanks for your opinion. Have you some more advices to get the VCD's not so unsharp?. Shoud I use another resize tool?

Help me please!

[wcb4]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-07-17 04:20:56, SatStorm wrote:
Those has to do with the current encoders. I saw real comercial CVDs and SVCD and the quality is like 85% of DVD, so my only guess is that the encoders ain't good yet for home made SVCDs
So, till encoders get better, Long live (X)VCD!
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

I have to disagree here. I encoded an svcd of Wizard of Oz from my brother's DVD (I'm helping him convert all of his children's movied from dvd to vcd or svcd so that his son can watch them on his computer without having to play with the original dvds, which is a great idea, the kid can watch them whenever he wants and the dvds stay in their sleeves) Just for the heck of it, we popped the svcd into his apex 660 and then watched the same section from dvd, both using a 35" Sharp television connected via s-video. The results were incredible. Neither of us could tell the difference between the dvd and the svcd, even on his television, which in spite of sharp's reputation, has an amazingly crisp and vibrant picture. It makes me want to use svcd for everything, which would be great since I have a Apex AD703 (3 disc changers) and would not mind 40 minutes per CD. The only problem with this is that even though TMPGenc did a fantastic job at encoding. It is not a good tool for cutting mpeg2's, as you cannot step through second by second using the controls in thempeg tools like you can with mpeg1. When trying to do mpeg2, you can adjust using the slider, but when you click the second up or down, the picture will only update once, then the picture freezes, so you are cutting blind. I eventually ended up cutting the movie in thirds by using the MMC file player and adding up the times of each individual vob file (I always rip by chapters) until I was close to 1/3 of the total length and then ecoding in seperate parts (so I actually encoded twice).

Anyone out there found a REALLY easy to use, frame accurate cutting tool for svcd that leaves you with a compliant mpeg2 file? A link would be greatly appreciated.

[Anonymous65]

If you "love" sharpness in your video's, then use Tmpeg for encoding, and turn on the Sharpen Edge enhance option plus Noise Reduction. The edge enhance will make the video look sharper and crisper than normal, but you will not get more detail. But, this is a trick to use if you want sharper "looking" VCD's. Also, the capture card has an effect on video crispness. The Cybermail card has the best crispness of all the capture cards I have tried.

SK

[patricia3470]

Im using Dazzle Movie Star to capture SVCD and the quality is excellent,I have got 48 min on a 80min disc cutting the bit rate to2250000 and the sound to 192k.and there isnt really any differance between this and the standard bit rate of 252000000,
Dropping the settings down to 2000000 you can get about 55min per disc ,more than enough for a two disc set for any movie up to 110min.
Regards Paul.

[Braindrain]

I don't know about you guys but I always encode my DV avi's using SVCD, CBR 2500, 480x480 and I get crisp detail without any blockiness. For people who want the resulting MPG to look like the original tape, SVCD is usually the only route to go.

[VidGuy]

wcb4 - I've not found any frame-accurate editor that will edit a 1.5 GB file without screwing up audio sync. The only thing that has worked for me is BBMPeg, but it works every time. It's only downside is that you have to cut twice - once at 790MB to get the largest chunk that will fit on the first disk - then view it to find a coupld of seconds near the end that's a good place to cut, and then cut it by using the seconds. It's a little bit of a pain, but I get better video than by encoding the first half separate from the 2nd half (if for no other reason than that today, credits are 5-10 minutes of the movie, and don't need much bandwidth).

[SatStorm]

@wcb4: Well, you have an apex with a changer, in Europe we don't have them! Also you stay with the Standards, that's why you have amazing quality. Just go bellow 1800 Kb/s....
If you stay with the standards, then SVCD is the solution for quality.

Anyway, I own a 29" Nokia television and a Sharp LCD projector (3-6 meter screen ). So, I know how XVCDs and SVCDs looks like in big screens. I also saw my XVCDs and SVCDs to many TV sets (all beyond 28": Philips, Sharp, Thompson,Sabba, AIWA, Telefunken, Comet, Sony, Sanyo (!), Panasonic...)
XVCD VS SVCD?
Xvcd: whole movie on one cd, compatibility, great motion
Svcd: Sharp, great picture quality, 2-3 Cds for a movie.
Choose for your needs!

@bwa: The best results I made for sharper picture, was with cartoons. I still testing for results with real movies...
Most of the times, as skittelsen wrote, with real movies you loose the detail. That also can happen to SVCD.
Filters beyond a point ain't the solution...
The good "cook" of filters maybe, but that needs test!!!!!

[bwa]

Hi Guys!

I have now created a lot of VCD/SVCD from my 16:9 home movies.

It really looks that SVCD CBR 2400-2500 gives BEST result. I got sharp picture with almost no blockiness. I'm aware that I can only create 30-40 minutes SVCD, but that's okay for my home made DV-movies. And it looks that widescreen movies gives less blockiness.

Bjørn-Willy

[incognito]

I've had good results using both bbmpeg and tmpg to
splice movies. I have never used either of these programs
and gotten audio synch problems when there wasn't
already an audio synch problem in the pre-split file.

Maybe I've just been lucky.

I notice small differences in quality between vcd and svcd.
The cvd-type templates (352x480 w/3:2 pulldown) seem
to be a bit sharper/higher quality than the standard
vcd/svcd or even Sefy's templates (though you can't
fit as much on a disc). Your milage may vary.