How come Quicktime converted to MPEG1(VCD) looks better than

[Alvis]

I downloaded the Lord of the Rings trailer in Quicktime and used TMPGenc to encode it to a VCD. It looks great. Not perfect, but very good. I have captured video from VHS with Virtualdub and encoded it to MPEG2(SVCD) using TMPGenc and the PicVideo codec. It looks acceptable, but not nearly as good as the Quicktime movie I downloaded. I understand the quality will not be as good as the source. But what a friend if mine, and me, want to know, is what is the reason I get an MPEG2 from VHS that doesn't look nearly as good as the Quicktime movie I encoded to MPEG1?

Thanks.

[Anonymous65]

The quality of any VCD or SVCD ALL depends on how you get to the "digital" point. Going from analog to digital is the problem. You need to have an excellent source, like broadcast video tape or DVD video. Muddy and noisy video like from a VCR will mess up the mpeg compression, and give poor reults. You need to start out with broadcast quality video to get good VCD or SVCD. Your downloded Quicktime was most likey ripped from a DVD or other high quality digital medium.

[Vejita-sama]

It's all about the source, try encoding from a DVD rip sometime

[LShultz]

VHS can only display about 230 lines of resolution at best. By lines we mean that it can, at best, resolve 230 vertical lines from multiburst test pattern. Typically you will get less resolution depending on a number of factors such as signal quality, cable quality, how clean the heads are on your VCR and so forth. Usually this means that your down to around 180 lines. Also factor in video noise, color degradation, drop outs, tearing and you have a pretty crappy format. VHS is roughly 320x240 or 320x480(interlaced) resolution. I mean roughtly because were talking about analog vs digital. You can capture a signal from a VHS VCR at any number of digital resolutions but the bottom line is that your digital recording will NEVER exceed the quality of the VHS signal. The best way to capture off a video source or video tape is to capture off the BEST quality possible. SuperVHS or Hi8 or above will give superior results. If that quicktime was created from film or hi quality video it will look better when dropped down to VCD resolution as opposed to captured VHS.

[Alvis]

How close to the VHS should I be able to get the quality with an SVCD? The SVCD I have right now pixelates and is jumpy whenever there is a lot of action in the scene. Whenever it is a scene without much movement, the picture looks pretty good, if not as good as the VHS. Also, it has problems with dark colors. Sound is great, though. Can I expect or get anything better than this?

Many thanks.

[Alvis]

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