SVCD to DVD , a couple of questions

[Athlon]

dudes

a few questions

i am converting stuff from VHS (PAL) to this format. has anyone had much luck with this ? can menus be added etc ? will re-encoding audio from 44khz to 48khz make it lose quality ?? has anyone tried this on a Pioneer 305 (i know some pioneers squash the picture with this, and it can be fixd ith the 4:3 P&S thing, and yes i did check the compatability table, for some reason the Pioneer 305 isnt there) what is "the header" trick ??

please bear in mind, i do know my way around software etc. and am quite knowledgable, although i am nowhere near the Uber people on here

many thanx

[DJRumpy]

am converting stuff from VHS (PAL) to this format. has anyone had much luck with this ? can menus be added etc ?

Yes. Your DVD can have menu's. How extensive depends entirely on your DVD authoring software. They should all allow you to create at least chapter points. Almost all support rudimentary GUI menu's like you see with store bought DVD's.

will re-encoding audio from 44khz to 48khz make it lose quality ??

Yes, re-sampling will cause a loss in quality. Will it be noticable? Probably not. Use SSRC.EXE (find it in the TOOLS section) to resample your audio. There should be no noticable change in pitch, or quality, assuming you use a good tool.

has anyone tried this on a Pioneer 305 (i know some pioneers squash the picture with this, and it can be fixd ith the 4:3 P&S thing, and yes i did check the compatability table, for some reason the Pioneer 305 isnt there)

Sorry. Can't help you here. What "4:3 P&S thing" are you talking about? As long as you resize your input to a proper NTSC resolution, and aspect ratio, the output should not appear squashed.

what is "the header" trick ??

The header trick is a trick used to fool a DVD player. You basically lie to it regarding the frame size of the mpeg it's playing. You can use this to get around MPEG types that your player doesn't support, or simply to avoid re-encoding an mpeg from one format to another (SVCD to DVD for example). It doesn't work on all players, or it may work, but with problems (like squashed output, or only half the normal size display). You should test it on a small clip first before spending alot of time with this trick. If something doesn't work, or look 'right', then your player simply doesn't work with the header trick. Many will post in here asking how to 'fix' a patched mpeg so it will work properly. This is a hack, and not a supported feature of any dvd player. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work.

[macleod]

try SVCD2MPG. It does alot of what you are wanting to do for you.

Actually, I read your subject line and "I am converting stuff from VHS...". Are you capping VHS to DVD or are you taking a SVCD file that was capped from VHS and converting it?

[ChrissyBoy]

What "4:3 P&S thing" are you talking about?

DJRumpy: at last I can shed some light on something for you!!! Athlon is referring to adding sequence display extensions to the mpeg file. Whilst these extensions are not required for mpeg2 decoders (dvd players for example) it would seem the Pioneers, in particular, used this info and screw up DVD-SVCDs otherwise.

more info: http://www.svcd2dvdmpg.com/SVCD2DVDMPG/FAQ/FAQPioneerDVDPlayers.htm

but i know you like the detail so try here also:

display_horizontal_size and display_vertical_size together define a rectangle
which may be considered as the “intended display’s” active region. If this rectangle is smaller than the
encoded frame size then the display process may be expected to display only a portion of the encoded
frame. Conversely if the display rectangle is larger than the encoded frame size then the display process
may be expected to display the reconstructed frames on a portion of the display device rather than on the
whole display device.

[Athlon]

thanx for the replies

to clarify, i have capped PAL VHS (i live in the UK) at 480*586, have encoded to SVCD standard, and want to put this on a DVD. I just thought because there will be more than one title on there a menu would be nice.

anyway, i still cant find any information if this would play ok with my Pioneer 305

any more takers ??

[ChrissyBoy]

480x576 surley? Send me a sample (use mpeg2cut or tmpgenc to split a sample) and read http://www.svcd2dvdmpg.com/SVCD2DVDMPG/FAQ/FAQ20.htm to find out how to send me a sample. I will wack it through svcd2dvdmpg with pan & scan. Then see if it plays ok on your system.

[DJRumpy]

Sounds like a nasty bug. From the description, it almost sounds like the pioneer ignores the aspect ratio for SVCD. The Pan & Scan setting would just force it to stretch fullscreen. I wonder what one does with a 16:9 TV?

[Athlon]

I can asure you DJRumpy, that DVD's and SVCD's play just fine on my 28" Widescreen, with the DVD set to 16:9

it only affects some Pioneers, not all of them.