Which format shall I use

[geohei]

Hi.

I have DV footage with 48 KHz 16 bit stereo audio. I would like to encode it to DVD.

Which format shall I give preference (space is not an issue since the DVD will only be half full)?

1. PCM
2. AC3
3. MP2

Is this the right order, quality wise speaking?

If I would encode the audio above with AC3, would 5.1 be the best option? I wonder if 5.1 would be usefull, since the source material in only stereo.

TIA

[andkiich]

I'd say that PCM would be first(because it is uncompressed), then AC3 and MP2 are about even on quality, however I would give a slight edge to AC3 if you are using NTSC.

As far as I know, there are no non-commercial AC3 encoders for 5.1. The best you could get would be 2 channel(stereo).

Also, depending on the audio system you will be using for playback(receiver), some have issues with MP2. They will most likely play(I have not found one yet that has an issue playing), but the audio might be "tinny" or "staticy". I have a buddy who has a receiver that shows the "staticy" stmptom if the ausio is played too loud. On the 5 other systems I've tried, the audio was fine.

[Martyn1980]

If space is not an issue, then go with PCM, as quality wise its better than the other two and 5.1 is pointless if your source is stereo.

[geohei]

Thanks for the replies.

What if I put (theoretically speaking) all 3 audio streams on the DVD, which does the player use as default?

Is this default audio stream defined inside the player or while authoring the DVD?

TIA

[Martyn1980]

It will use whatever you assign as the default audio track (the first track) when you author it.

So yes its when you author it and not the player.

[geohei]

Thanks.

[VideoTechMan]

Hi.

I have DV footage with 48 KHz 16 bit stereo audio. I would like to encode it to DVD.

Which format shall I give preference (space is not an issue since the DVD will only be half full)?

1. PCM
2. AC3
3. MP2

Is this the right order, quality wise speaking?

If I would encode the audio above with AC3, would 5.1 be the best option? I wonder if 5.1 would be usefull, since the source material in only stereo.

TIA

NTSC DVD discs can only contain either AC3 or PCM audio.....it cant contain MP2 audio. PAL discs are the exception.

VTM

[daamon]

NTSC DVD discs can only contain either AC3 or PCM audio.....it cant contain MP2 audio. PAL discs are the exception.

You should preceed that with "According to the NTSC DVD specs..." and then finish it with "...But, there seem to be more and more NTSC DVD players that will play MP2, though it's not guaranteed."