SVCD

[nfoxall]

Right, I've been reading (and posting) a few threads and I need to ask a real dumb ass question. What are the benefits of SVCD over VCD, if I have an MPEG and burnt it onto VCD and SVCD would the SVCD be much better quality? and do you need specialist (hardware / software) to play SVCD's.

Cheers.

[nightwing7]

VCD uses MPEG 1
SVCD uses MPEG 2

they uses different MPEG files so u cant burn the same type of MPEG file for both VCD and SVCD.

SVCD looks way better than VCD, but it usually depends on the source, if high quality like DVD, it looks amazing, if cheap source like old VHS, both VCD and SVCD will look similar

[Truman]

SVCD support interlaced MPEG-2, multiple audio and multiple subtitles. SVCD use a higher resolution and a higher bitrate, that's why SVCD looks way better than VCD.
As nightwing7 said, it depends on the source. If you have a crappy VHS source or a heavily compressed avi file (like downloaded divx), you better make a low resolution (X)VCD.

[Yeshi]

hmm, heres my experience.

at the same resolution and bitrate, MPEG1 is the same as MPEG2. SVCD standard uses a higher resolution, and is ONLY a good choice if ripping DVD -> SVCD or converting a file of high resolution (divX) say 640x400 to SVCD. It is bad for converting 352x240 to 480x480. Thats useless. At standard resolution there is a BIG difference in quality between SVCD & VCD. SVCD kills VCD by a long margin. The drawback with SVCD is that it requires more CD's, and there can be instances where block noise becomes a problem because of the sharpness of the picture, and the resolution. After heaps of tweaking and research though, ive managed to create a 2 CD SVCD with no block noise, and sweet quality.