My First XVCD experience

[Blacklotus]

Hi Folks,

Just wanted to tell ya about my first XVCD and how it went. Also, I'm fishing for tips, tricks, and settings for those of you who do this alot.

Source: Pitch Black DivX, ~700meg file, NTSC film fps

Target: Mpeg-1 1550 Kbps, standard VCD audio

Template: TiBros' NTSC Film template, unlocked, bitrate to 1550 and Blocknoise filter DOWN to 25 25

Rationale: Well I wanted to try making a XVCD to see how my Pioneer Dvd-343 would handle it. I decided that i would take this 104 min movie and fill 2 80 min CDs. Thus the 1550 k bit rate - Not too high, but 34% more than a standard VCD. I hope that this moderately sooped-up VCD will pay on most VCD players. I turned down the blocknoise softner because i figgered the added bitrate would compensate without having to soften the movie more than necessary

Result: Except for the noise in the source, the XVCD looked pretty darn good. No additional block noise that i can see. Also, Pitch Black is VERY DARK and thus i was concerned about blockiness in the "black" areas - NONE.

Any tips? I used the CBR and the standard 65 quality - has anyone tinkered with these?

Also, what do yo think th chances are that most DVD players would play this XVCD @ 1550, no other modifications.

[GUTB]

My el-cheapo GE1101P for $129 at Walmart plays MPEG-1 @ 2000 bit just fine. Haven't tested higher. It can handle at least 3500 bit MPEG-2 just fine, though.

[Blacklotus]

Oh, i forgot to add, that one of the most noticable improvements was the absense of what i might call "color cycling" What i mean by this is, often i can see mild distortions in the color of a VCD when the motion is still. For example, if there was a wall in the back ground and there was little motion, parts of the wall would be changing color ever so slightly, like it was shimmering every few seconds - all VCDs that i've converted have this to a greater or less degree - I found that the XVCD got rid of this completely.