Help with conversion of VCD to DVD.

[jtommyj]

Ok- Here is what i do. I download VCD's and convert them to DVD compliant Mpeg 2 using the following method and I'm looking for advice on improving the quality.
1. I load the VCD into Virtualdub and adjust the resize to 720x480 using Lanczos3.
2. I frameserve to Tmpgenc from the Virualdub file and use my settings as listed in the quality guide here on the site.

My question is ? Since I'm going from 352x240 to 720x480, are there any other methods or filters I can use to make the resulting MPEG-2 file less blocky ? I see many guides but haven't noticed too much on the resizing to a larger size and keeping quality. Should I resize to even a larger size in the frameserver like 800x560 so it shrinks it down to 720x480 ?

Thanks.

[nerdboy69]

Whatever you decide to convert to, you are only going to lose quality by reconverting (and you would need a higher bit-rate to increase the resolution).

My advice is don't convert it at all. VCD is a valid DVD resolution, you just have to convert the audio from 44.1KHz to 48KHz.

Allowable DVD picture resolutions are:
MPEG-2, 525/60 (NTSC): 720x480, 704x480, 352x480
MPEG-2, 625/50 (PAL): 720x576, 704x576, 352x576
MPEG-1, 525/60 (NTSC): 352x240
MPEG-1, 625/50 (PAL): 352x288

(Taken from http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html#3.4)

I take my VCD MPG's (which I extract with VCDeasy/ISObuster or whatever, but no need if you downloaded them) and bring them straight into something like DVD Workshop. Provided my project settings are correct, when I finish authoring and want to create a image, it will only convert the audio, leaving the video stream untouched.

Of course programs like SVCD2DVD are another option.

[jtommyj]

So you think that 352x240 will give me a better final DVD result than frameserved 720x480 ? I know I loose quality with a redo, but doesn't the half-resolution shoot the quality down alos ? I will give that a shot and see. Thanks for your input.