'Highly compliant' audio on DVD-R for set-top DVD playback

[LetsRip]

I'm looking to create 'highly compliant' DVD-Rs for playback in set-top DVD players. These are home-video DVDs that I will be giving to family & friends, and I want as few as problems as possible, even if some quality has to be sacrificed.

I think I've got a good handle on the video portion using CCE Basic to encode to MPEG-2, 720x480, NTSC 29.97 fps (though any pointers are appreciated).

My biggest concern (and point of confusion) is in regard to the audio portion. So to the heart of my question:

- What is the most 'compliant' audio format I can put on a DVD-R?
- When the term LPCM is used in regard to DVD-R, is this referring to WAV or some other format?

My first priority is compliance, with the second priority being 90 min per DVD-R. Your feedback is appreciated.

[HAGGARD]

Hi,

U can either use LPCM or AC3 for compliant audio-encoding for DVD...
If I were you, I would use AC3 because it is an compressed format (though high quality). LPCM is NOT compressed, so takes more space on DVD!!!
Most Motion Picture DVD incorporate AC3 audio-encoding which in fact can be 2 channel stereo or even 5.1 Dolby Digital or even DTS. AC3 is just a method of encoding audio like MPEG audio but IS the standard for DVD...
I make DVD's from DV videocamera, capture/edit with Pinnacle Studio 8 (firewire), extract wav audio with virtualdub, encode wav audio to AC3 with besweet, encode video to MPEG2 with TMPGEnc and author with DVDMaestro with fantastic results!!!

'HAG

[maduser74]

Hi Haggard,

Could you tell me what DVD media you are using ? I am doing exactly the same procedure but my settop player (Pioneer 525) pauses every second. I tried to use sony DVD+RW media and Meritline DVD-RW 1x media.

Appreciate your help.
Thanks

[K2]

The DVD standard require at least one audio of AC3 (Dolby) or PCM. Other audio formats are optional.

Players support many, like MPA, but do not have to.

It takes me one extra step to use AC3 but it is worth it in disk space.

[BJ_M]

Hi,

U can either use LPCM or AC3 for compliant audio-encoding for DVD...
If I were you, I would use AC3 because it is an compressed format (though high quality). LPCM is NOT compressed, so takes more space on DVD!!!
Most Motion Picture DVD incorporate AC3 audio-encoding which in fact can be 2 channel stereo or even 5.1 Dolby Digital or even DTS. AC3 is just a method of encoding audio like MPEG audio but IS the standard for DVD...
I make DVD's from DV videocamera, capture/edit with Pinnacle Studio 8 (firewire), extract wav audio with virtualdub, encode wav audio to AC3 with besweet, encode video to MPEG2 with TMPGEnc and author with DVDMaestro with fantastic results!!!

'HAG

DTS is a seperate competing format to ac3 and is optional on a dvd .. you are supposed to have a ac3 stream if you have DTS , but as many noted , not having the ac3 stream also works fine .

[LetsRip]

Thanks for all the feedback.

One follow-up question -- I've seen posts regarding the encoding of AC3 at 192Kbps and 224Kbps. Using BeSweet GUI, I got the impression that 384Kbps is the default. The posts I viewed also indicate audio playback problems when encoded at 192 that clear up at the higher-encoded bitrates.

Anyone know what the DVD standard bitrate (and other specs) for AC3 should be?

Thanks again.

[BJ_M]

Thanks for all the feedback.

One follow-up question -- I've seen posts regarding the encoding of AC3 at 192Kbps and 224Kbps. Using BeSweet GUI, I got the impression that 384Kbps is the default. The posts I viewed also indicate audio playback problems when encoded at 192 that clear up at the higher-encoded bitrates.

Anyone know what the DVD standard bitrate (and other specs) for AC3 should be?

Thanks again.

there is not any per say in terms of bit rate .... 192 or 224 is normal for stereo and 448 or so is normal for 5:1

there are specs in terms of settings though .. dolby has some good guides on their web site

[LetsRip]

Thanks, BJ_M. After taking a look at Dolby's site, I captured the following info:

http://www.dolby.com/tech/L.mn.0002.DDPEG1prt.pdf

When encoding audio content for DVD-Video authoring a few guidelines must be kept in mind:

• Always have at least two seconds of digital black silence at the beginning of the bitstream. This gives the large amount of digital circuitry in playback systems time to lock and start decoding before the real material starts playing. It is not necessary to leave digital black at the end of the file.

• Always encode at 448 kb/s data rate for multichannel material and at 192 kb/s for two-channel stereo material.
• Make sure the source material has a sample rate of 48 kHz, otherwise the sample rate of the material must be converted before the encoding begins. This is a necessary step since the specifications for the DVD-Video format allow only a 48 kHz sample rate."

So, that answers my bitrate question for 2-channel material -- unfortunately, nothing is mentioned regarding a higher bitrate to address audio playback problems.

[BJ_M]

they failed to mention that 96khz is also a valid sample rate - though not used