Digital Movies and Resolution

[mjbart]

I have been trying to create DVDs or VCDs for viewing on my TV. I have a digital camcorder and capture the video, but the DVDs or CDs have a terrible look in a TV (36"). I don't know the correct term, but large blocks or jagged edges, and everything in between.

If I view the tape directly from the camcorder it looks great. Even if I make a VHS tape it looks better than a DVD. What am I doing wrong or am I expecting too much?

Thank you,

Mike

[bugster]

This sounds like it may be an interlacing issue. DV is interlaced and you shouldn't expect interlaced source to look very good on a PC unless you use a software player capable of good de-interlacing. PowerDVD is the one I have often seen reccomended in this respect. A few things to try:

Change the field order in your encoder when converting to mpeg. I think DV is bottom field first but could be wrong. Ensure you are encoding to an interlaced destination or use a good de-interlace filter if encoding to mpeg-1.

Hope this helps