what to choose...svcd/header trick, vcd, xvcd???

[big]

up to now i used to make my avi files in vcd format and it was ok to watch in dvd player...i am reading a lot and found svcd and xvcd and i am beginning to be confused...my dvd will not play svcd...i have to apply the header trick to play svcd in my machine...which format is better vcd, svcd with header trick or xvcd???

please help...

[twodogs]

Best to worst, in this order:
1) miniDVD (DVD content on CD)
2) XSVCD (high bitrate and/or resolution SVCD)
3) SVCD
4) XVCD (high bitrate and/or resolution VCD)
5) VCD

Some might argue that 4 is better than 3 - depends on settings for XVCD.

Basically it comes down to what your DVD player can play. Almost all will play VCD thru to very few play miniDVD.

VCD header trick is where you create SVCD content, then give it a VCD header so the DVD player thinks it is playing VCD when in fact it is playing SVCD (therefore quality = SVCD)

You could purchase the official VCDHELP VCD testing CD to test what your DVD player can do:
http://www.michaeltam.com/demovcd.html

or burn some CDs and test for yourself.
It all depends on your DVD player.

[big]

up to now i used to make my avi files in vcd format and it was ok to watch in dvd player...i am reading a lot and found svcd and xvcd and i am beginning to be confused...my dvd will not play svcd...i have to apply the header trick to play svcd in my machine...which format is better vcd, svcd with header trick or xvcd???

forgot to ask if we lose quality for video and audio with those settigns?

please help...

[twodogs]

Quality loss will depend on the quality of your source AVI.

Quality is also ordered same as above 1=best, 5=worst.

Try converting your AVI to SVCD and VCD and compare the results - pick one that suits your eyes - you only learn if you experiment a little.

Generally, you'll probably find that SVCD is as good, and VCD maybe slightly lower quality than your DivX - but again, I generalise cos I don't know your source's quality