DVD file on CD?

[jrp]

I have a small video that will fit on a cd using dvd compresion. I currentlly distribute it on dvds so my clients can see it on their dvd players.

My question is : Can the small dvd data be saved on regular cd so it can be played as it it was a dvd on standard players?

[rvl123]

it's called miniDVD.

Doesnt work on most DVD players.

Take a look at the guides.

[Nelson37]

Have wrestled much with this issue.

MiniDVD (MPEG-2) plays on about 5% (or less) of Standalones, or a PC, IF it has an MPEG-2 player installed. Same video quality as DVD, much cheaper. Note that 'IF'. Many PC's do NOT have the necessary software, though most do have the hardware.

CVD or SVCD (MPEG-2) play on 60-80% of Standalones, PC same as MiniDVD. Video quality slightly lower, perhaps unnoticeably so.

VCD (MPEG-1) plays on almost all Standalones, and virtually ANY PC, with no additional software required. Guess what? It looks like crap, although some video can be made to look fairly decent, basically with blurring filters.

If a high percentage of your target market has PC's, AND you need higher quality than VCD can deliver, consider a HI-bitrate, Hi-resolution MPEG-1 video, which will play with built-in software on anything with Win95 or better installed. You can even make it autorun. Beware complex menus, these can be problematic on PC playback. These disks will play in a fair number of Standalones, as well.

SVCD with an on-disk, freeware, no-installation-necessary player would be a good option, I never found workable software. There are some that will work, but an installation is required, typically with reboot. Too invasive for my needs. I ended up using 720x480 MPEG-1 @ 3500 bitrate, tweaked the autoplay for 98 and NT, worked well.