Quality Loss Problem

[Troncano]

I have some XviD files and tried to convert them to Mpeg1 format using Tmpgenc. Everything went smooth but I did notice there's a significant video quality loss compare with the XviD sources.

Is there any other conversion method or settings that can overcome this problem?

[flaninacupboard]

*sigh*
what is the end format? VCD? XVCD? DVD? for your PC?
and yes, if you uncheck the box in TMPGenc that says "check me for bad video quality!" then it's much better. how do i know if there are possible improvements if you don't include your method?

[Conquest10]

that's what i'm saying. you're gonna have to provide some details. vcd? xvcd? svcd? dvd? what is the resolution? what is the bitrate?

[puertorican138]

and yes, if you uncheck the box in TMPGenc that says "check me for bad video quality!" then it's much better.

LOL!!!

[Troncano]

Well I'm going to burn it to VCD, sorry I didn't mention earlier.

After did some testings, I figured out that the low bitrate rate(1150k) causes the quality loss problem. So I put a higher bitrate value(1800k) and I got significant quality improved.

How about frameserving?

[Conquest10]

frameserving is not going to do anything to better the quality if you going to encode it at 352x240.

[Troncano]

Sounds like I'll not get any better quality if I encode it at 352x240, even with higher bitrate rate?

So what's the best solution if I want the highest quality possible at 352x240?

[DivXExpert]

He said Mpeg-1. DVD and SVCD are Mpeg-2. So its either xvcd or vcd, either format don't matter, same thing. xvcd just a lower or higher bitrate. his problem is mpeg-1 or mpeg-2 just don't match up with mpeg-4. you really don't need that much information to figure that out.

[DivXExpert]

and if you go from a high res movie to a low res movie your gonna get blurrieness. duh.

[Conquest10]

well, newbies don't know that.

[Troncano]

Lol, isn't this a newbie forum?

Anyway, I don't expect the quality will match up with the original source after the conversion, I just need some inputs for the best quality method or setting.

How about higher the res to 640x480? But I heard most VCD/DVD player will only support up to 352x240 max, am I right?

[Conquest10]

you could go with 480x480 at a higher bitrate. you will get quality pretty close to the divx. but compatibility might be a problem. some dvd players don't like xvcds.

[flaninacupboard]

DivxExpert,
MPEG-1 is fully compatible with the DVD spec, so he could have been using DVD, or indeed CVD, or just for PC playback through an MPEG out board. and i wouldn't say MPEG1 and 2 don't match up to 4, in fact if you use an encoding template such as Kwags, which emulate the behaviour of MPEG4 (i.e. long gops and lots of bi directional frames) you get a very comparable result.

[mats.hogberg]

If you want a NTSC VCD, then you're pretty stuck: It's 352X240 at 1150 kbps video. That's it. Only way to improve matters is trying to experiment with different GOP structures and high motion search precision. If your current player supports out of specs VCD (=XVCD), you can try raising the bit rate and/or use VBR, but the day you buy a new player, there's no guarantee that it will play your XVCDs. For better quality, and still standard, try SVCD or (not so standard, but at least easily transfered to DVD if done right) CVD.

/Mats

[Troncano]

Thanks you guys for all the inputs. But would it be risky if I convert it to XVCD and the VCD will become a consumer product?

Somebody told me that the max bitrate of 1856k (max allowable by VCD or DVD-MPEG1) and then the resolution of 352x240 is also the max allowed by VCD or DVD. Someone plz verify this.

[mats.hogberg]

Even tho I haven't read of a MPEG1 max DVD bitrate, I've heard it's so. 352*240 is the only allowed resolution. For VCD, 1150 kbps is the only bitrate. VCD is a (declining) consumer product.

/Mats

[Gazorgan]

Just do it in SVCD and be done with it. VCD is low-res, so you can't expect 'stunning results' from low res. Unless you have a bigscreen/digital TV, SVCD is just fine. The Alternative is XVCD, but it's still low-res, jsut cleaner for having a higher bitrate.

You can go to DVD and use 1/2 D1 resolution, which is pretty similiar to SVCD in resolution, just higher bitrates.

[Anonymoususer]

Interesting, aruguments, I was kinda having similar thoughts...If anyone has read my posts before, you should know by now that I HAD an exteremly slow PC, BUT I got a HUUUUUUUUUUGE upgrade...and now I doesn't seem to matter because it's time to move up without any sorrows...now Considering that Mpeg-1's ARE good for lower resolution, and Mpeg-2's are usually superior except in lower res, depending on your material, now I just got the Legend of Drunken Master.AVI, and was thinking that if it would be beneficial to convert it to VCD so my other friends could watch it as well because most don't have an SVCD Player, YET quality might be lost...now due to the many fast fight scenes and high action scenes, I will be using 2 Pass VBR for the 1st time actually and could I be able to convert without any quality loss ?...I am using TMPGEnc, and I broke the movie in 2, 50 Minutes each...I'm gonna try it out anyway...jus to see how it would look like, anyone got any suggestions please tell me so...looking forward to some suggestions*