Burning a DVD

[liamchaworth]

I hope someone can help me here, I'm after copying some avi file films on to DVD but every time i copy it on to DVD the quality isn't as good as when i put it on a usb stick and play it through my ps3. Why is this? Also every time i copy them on to DVD i pick 16:9 but doesn't even fill the tv like it would when i put the same file on usb.

I've been using windows DVD maker to burn them, is this why the quality is bad?

Any programs that are about that i can download to solve these problems?

thanks for any answers.

[Kerry56]

If you are just trying to burn them as data, you can go straight to the disc using ImgBurn. Your player has to be able to recognize the codecs used in the avi file however. If it plays from the usb stick, I would think it would do so from a disc.

If you are trying to convert to dvd-video, you can use AVStoDVD, and make a menu to select each one. DVD-video will be standard definition, no high def, so if your files are higher resolution they will be re-encoded to a smaller resolution compatible with dvd-video.

[jman98]

I've been using windows DVD maker to burn them, is this why the quality is bad?

Yes. Windows DVD Maker was designed to be easy to use, not to produce high quality output. It's re-encoding your files.

[liamchaworth]

If you are just trying to burn them as data, you can go straight to the disc using ImgBurn. Your player has to be able to recognize the codecs used in the avi file however. If it plays from the usb stick, I would think it would do so from a disc.

If you are trying to convert to dvd-video, you can use AVStoDVD, and make a menu to select each one. DVD-video will be standard definition, no high def, so if your files are higher resolution they will be re-encoded to a smaller resolution compatible with dvd-video.

Hi, thanks for the reply. Yes I'm trying to convert to dvd video so maybe that program could help, but is there any program that I can keep the high def?

[Baldrick]

Not if you want a standard dvd video. It's limited to 720x576/480 pixels.

[manono]

Since you want DVD video and since DVD is, by definition, Standard-Def, the answer to your question is 'no'.

[Hoser Rob]

If you're comparing win dvd maker to just playing the original file, unconverted, via a usb stick, you are going to lose quality. Even if the source is not hd.

It's true that windows dvd maker isn't all that good. But there aren't any other dvd encoding programs that will do the job without losing quality either. On SD or HD. It's just impossible. All encoding loses it unless you're converting to a lossless codec. Which does not apply here.

[theewizard]

what resolution, and how long does it play

i use avs2dvd and have been quite happy with the results, by using Qenc encoder at 5000kb CBR "constant bit rate"

depending on movie length you end up with 120mintues '2hr' that will just fit on a single layer 4.7 gb disc

any longer and it must be a double layer disc or lower quality like 4000>4500kb

again this is DVD res max frame height 480, width DAR display aspect depends on original

the only way to retain Hi-Res/Hi-Def is with blue ray

[yoda313]

the only way to retain Hi-Res/Hi-Def is with blue ray

That's not entirely correct. You can do avchd on dvdr assuming your bluray player supports avchd on dvd media - most should however.

Also you can do high def with the likes of h264 in an mp4 or mkv container. Of course file size will be a limitation of dvd media but still doable.

Now granted these of course won't be dvd standard but to say bluray is the only way to do high def is not factually correct.

If you want it to be fully readable as a normal dvd than yes high def is not allowed. Just wanted to point out the difference.

or lower quality like 4000>4500kb

Like anything lower the bitrate to get more on the disc. I don't know what the bottom number is for dvd but if you don't care about the quality you can fit more than two hours for sure on a single layer disc. But generally speaking you probably shouldn't so its watchable - ie not horrible.