352x240 > PAL tv - what quality results?

[garys390]

Hi all,

I have 20 or so seemingly very high quality MPEG (1, i believe) files that are 352x240 , roughly 45 minutes long and each 450mb. Roughly, its 10mb per minute of video.

I would like to make these into VCD for playback on PAL TV, but have never gone the VCD road before. I have one question:

Is 352x240 going to give good visual results on the TV after all is said and done?

Any tips or ideas for a newbie appreciated

TIA,

Gary

[uxbridge]

VHS resolution is roughly 320 lines, but that is not always achieved.

If properly re-encoded your videos will result in quality slightly inferior to a good VHS tape, but you'll get a big value in having stable colors, no deterioration, really still standing picture and fast forward-rewind. The audio will also be better assuming it is stereo Hi-fi coded at 224kbps.

If you watch your TV from a proper distance (3to4 meters for a 29"") you'll not notice any difference, but if you go 20 cm. away from the screen (that is the best way to get a tan, not to watch TV) you'll notice blockyness most likely.

I would suggest you to re-encode your material at 352x288, that is the VCD standard definition for PAL. You'll obviously not get all of the resolution possible through PAL, but it should not be too much of a problem. TMPGenc should be able to do it for you.
Regards