DVD TMPGEnc Standards and compatibility?

[Causality]

I've given up on VCD. To assure compatibility, you must stick to 1150 kbps. Even with spending 5 minutes in TMPGEnc for every 1 minute of video converting hi-res images down to VCD at "Highest Quality" and "Reduce Noise" you still end up with shite. So, my question is; will most/all DVD players play DVD's at lower resolution? For instance, TMPGEnc's 352X240@1850 CBR. Or do all the problems associated with VCD compatibility (anything other than 1150kbps causes improper playback on 80% of players) apply to DVD?

[VB]

dude for u have an ideia
that depends 90% of the dvd player by exemple
in my old dvd plyaer i could play only standard vcds /svcds
in the new one i got i never reencode nothin, make svcd wit mpg1 vcd, mpeg2 svcd, mpeg2 dvd, all kinda mpg in a svcd and he plays perfect independent of bitrate, definition, vbv buffer...
so u should spend a lil on cd-r to discover till where ur dvd pkayer goes =p

[Bel]

I have a few problems with the 1850 kb/s template in TMPGenc. My dvd player (apex 1500) will play it, but at least once or twice with the disc you lose audio synchronization for a few seconds. I tend to stick with the 2000 kb/s when I can, but I do still use the 1850 kb/s on occasion (example to get 6 45 min episodes on a dvd, 5 at 2000, 1 at 1850). The 2000 kb/s tend to only be 100 megs bigger per 45 minutes. Also notice that the template is mpeg1 and not mpeg2 so I think that is what causes the synch problems with my player.

[Causality]

I've gone through almost an entire spindle of CD-R's and gone into 5 or 6 electronic stores and discovered that the only way to be compatible for the long term is to stay with the crappy 1150 kbps VCD standard. I'd hate to encode the irreplaceable videos of my kids for a specific DVD player only to have it die in a few years and leave me stuck with useless discs. I'll still be wanting to watch these discs when CD is forgotten and DVD is as old-fashioned and irrelevant as a floppy disc is to us. So, the only way to go is standard and since even crappy compliant 1150kbps VCD was never really used in the U.S., I figure DVD it the safest bet. But it seems a waste to encode camcorder VHS into 740X480 let alone at 3Mbps. But, I do want to make sure I'm observing a DVD standard so that I stand the best chance of being able to somehow use these discs in the future. VCD has a 1 bitrate standard and DVD (according to TMPGEnc) has 5 NTSC standards. So I guess my real question is: Is bitrate a set-in-stone standard in DVD? Can I encode MPEG1 or 2 at some relatively low bitrate and stay covered by an observed DVD standard?