Buying a VCD movie

[jmsrickland]

There's a movie on Ebay I would like to purchase but the seller says it is a VCD. I am not familiar with this format.

I have a Panasonic DMR-ES15 standalone player/recorder and a Sony DVP-NS300 standalone player only. I also have a Sony DRU-820A burner for the PC.

Will these machines play this format and exactly what is a VCD?

[vico1]

My brother got a VCD movie (import) from eBay, a while back.

Don't know about the one you're lookin' at...But the one he got was,
Well...let's just say, it was a whole lotta' clicks under DVD quality. (IMHO)

[Shocker Milwaukee]

https://www.videohelp.com/vcd

NTSC/NTSC Film


Video:
1150 kbit/sec MPEG-1
352 x 240 pixels
29,97 frames/second
23,976 frames/second NTSC Film

Audio:
44100 Hz
224 kbit/sec MPEG-1 Layer2

Extra:
Menus and chapters
Still pictures in 704x480,352x240

[thecoalman]

It should play in your standalone providing it's a standard VCD and will most definitely play on your computer. You can look your standalone up to the left to see if it's VCD compativble or look int the manual but very few are not VCD compatible. As mentioned it's pretty low quality, about 1/4 the resolution of your average DVD.

[CobraPilot]

https://www.videohelp.com/vcd

VCD visual quality is FAR lower than DVD. Since there are numerous software programs which will convert a DVD to VCD, I would think you would need a very good reason to actually buy a VCD unless it is the only way to get a particular title you seek. VCDs are watchable, but just barely in too many cases.

For comparison to VHS: The difference between the 2-hour mode and 6-hour mode of VHS recording can be quite noticeable. If there were an equivalent "VCD-quality" mode for VHS, it would probably be something like a "12-hour" mode visually, which may give you a hint of the dropoff in video quality.

[Cornucopia]

You've just never seen a good VCD then.

Scott

[AlanHK]

If VCD is the only format you can find, then go for it. They generally give better quality than the broadcast TV where I live.

Most DVD players seem to be able to play VCDs. (Though possibly if you're in an NTSC country and the VCD is PAL you might have a problem.) But you can easily play it on your PC.

If you have a DVD burner, it's pretty easy to convert a VCD to a DVD. I've done a few, for the convenience of not having to change discs (most VCDs are less than 1 hour of video, so movies are two or even three discs); also I could add a subtitle to Japanese movies with no English.

You can use SVCD2DVDMPG or VCDGear to extract MPEGS from the VCDs and reauthor to DVD.

[AlanHK]

For comparison to VHS: The difference between the 2-hour mode and 6-hour mode of VHS recording can be quite noticeable. If there were an equivalent "VCD-quality" mode for VHS, it would probably be something like a "12-hour" mode visually, which may give you a hint of the dropoff in video quality.

You've either got a really wonderful VCR, or some terrible VCDs.

[jmsrickland]

The title is "She" staring Ursala Andress. I'm not sure of the movie length but I think it's got to be anywhere from 90 minutes to 120 minutes. The VCD is just about the only choise I have (other than a R2 DVD which I couldn't play on my equiptment). I think I read somewhere on one of the Ebay listings that the quality of a VCD is about the same as VHS. The movie is in B&W so there will be no loss of color.

[stantheman1976]

The quality depends on the way it was made. VCD will never be as good as DVD. It is not possible. However, if the right time and effort was put into it then VCD can produce a very worthwhile result. I don't know if anyone has seen the movie "Cradle Of Fear" or not. I bought a VCD copy off eBay several years ago and it was perfectly clear.

I wouldn't buy it unless it's unavailable in any other format. If you can get it in a different region format on DVD then go that method and use a ripping program to remove the region code. Would some others agree with that?

[Barnabas]

jmsrickland,

If it's a commercial VCD offering, like those made by WB, you will be please with the quality, which will probably be like a good video tape. I bought a couple of commercial VCD's off of ebay, and the only complaint I had about the quality was that they just cut the movie at the 74 minute point, no matter what. Keep in mind that the source the VCD was made from is usually VERY good if made by a commercial studio.

As others have said, it won't be DVD quality, but should still be about like decent video tape.

[AlanHK]

The title is "She" staring Ursala Andress. I'm not sure of the movie length but I think it's got to be anywhere from 90 minutes to 120 minutes. The VCD is just about the only choise I have (other than a R2 DVD which I couldn't play on my equiptment). I think I read somewhere on one of the Ebay listings that the quality of a VCD is about the same as VHS. The movie is in B&W so there will be no loss of color.

According to IMDB, it's colour, 106 minutes.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059710/

If you have a DVD burner, it's easy to rip the DVD and make a region free copy.
And often possible to hack the player to make it region free.

But looking on eBay now, I see some guy in Texas with a region 1 DVD for about $20.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Ursula-Andress-in-SHE-1965-Hammer-Film_W0QQitemZ230075291342QQihZ0...QQcmdZViewItem

[jmsrickland]

That's what bothers me; that they might cut the length down and I'll be missing alot of the original movie.

Maybe what stantheman said about buying an R2 (PAL) DVD and ripping out the region 2 code. I have never done that so If I go that route I'll be back asking questions about doing that. If I do buy an R2 I won't be able to return it so I better be sure that I will be able to convert it from PAL to NTSC.

[jmsrickland]

But looking on eBay now, I see some guy in Texas with a region 1 DVD for about $20.

Great! I didn't see that one. I'll buy that one and avoid all this mess. Thanks for the link.

[AlanHK]

That's what bothers me; that they might cut the length down and I'll be missing alot of the original movie.

Unlikely. Almost all VCD movies are 2 CDs. "She" is only 104 minutes, easily fits on 2 discs.

[thecoalman]

IMO, VCD done correctly ---------> Very high quality source such as from a prosumer mini-DV camcorder will give you results on par with regular VHS, maybe a little less.