VCD quality and aspect ratio??

[RickyGKp]

I've created a VCD using VCDeasy, but when played through a DVD player the quality is average, like there's not enough detail to fill the screen.
The imported MPEG file is 352x258 25fps PAL.
Is there something to do with aspect ratio that avoids the image being streched?

[teegee420]

A PAL VCD mpeg should be 352x288.

[Vejita-sama]

LOTS of potential cauese/problems. First how did you encode the MPEG, what was the source, etc. As stated a PAL VCD should have MPEG1 data at 352x288. VCDs only have a DAR of 4:3.

A VCD can have up to, or even better than, VHS quaility. But that's only with an excellent source. If you take the average d/loaded divx crap and covert it VCD its still going to look like crap. GIGO

So we need more info to help you.

[ronnylov]

VCD has half the vertical resolution as VHS (a captured PAL VHS source has full 576 lines if vertical resolution but VCD has only 288 lines). So I can't agree that VCD can have better quality than VHS (unless the VHS was very bad, like a recording from a VCD source). However the horisontal resolution may be better on VCD compared to VHS.

If you have a decent TV you can see the difference. Translated to pixels I would say PAL VHS has maximum 320x576 resolution compared to VCD which is 352x288.

But resolution i not everything. VCD has a limited bitrate which is a little bit too low to get good full screen picture. So even if you make the very best of the VCD format you still get a picture with very low resolution and lack of details. I suggest making CVD, SVCD or DVD to get better results. Alternatively watch VCD in a small picture format like in a window on the PC or a small 14 inch TV from a far distance and not on a normal 28 inch TV.

[RickyGKp]

The MPEG was created from an uncompressed AVI file at 720x576 captured from a digital camera. I don't think there are any issues with the source.
I encoded it using AVI2VCD.
I think the bitrate is one problem, when there's too much movement the image breaks up. And you can notice most shots have been taken by holding the camera. The scenes where a tripod has been used are ok.
I've made a SVCD from the same source and works great, stereo sound, clear picture....Success.
Thanks for your help people.

[duhmez]

For your resizing technique, I must recommend "discard every odd field" as a deinterlacing technique, instead of just resizingt he video directly.

Discard every second field, (Which will make a 720x288 file) THEN resize to 352,288 . This will get you a progressive stream with richer details than a basic resize which blends the fields together, it won't be jittery, and it will encode faster.