What bitrate setting in tmpgenc is equivalent to VHS??

[sikki_nixx]

Hi!

I'm transfering a couple of VHS tapes to DVD and I came to think of a thing today...

I use tmpgenc plus, and so far I've only ripped videos that are maximum about 30-40 minutes so I've always used the maximum bitrate.

But then I might wanna rip videos that are longer, let's say 80 minutes. With maximum bitrate it won't fit to a DVD (At least not when I use Linear PCM audio wich I always plan to do).

I guess it's not necessary to put this video on 2 dvd's, as the VHS source itself isn't in that very good quality compared to DVD standard.

So, what is the lowest bitrate I can use WITHOUT losing quality from the VHS? In other words, what bitrate setting is equivalent to VHS?

Would be greatful for some help.

[daamon]

Hi sikki_nixx,

Not sure about the bitrate as I've not needed to do VHS to DVD, but you may also want to look into "1/2 D1" = 352 x 480/576 as opposed to full D1 = 720 x 480/576 (NTSC = 480, PAL = 576).

The reasons are:
1. 1/2 D1 is still better resolution than VHS, so no loss
2. 1/2 D1 is a legal resolution in the DVD specs, so will (should) play on stand-alone DVD players.
3. Because it's a lower resolution, you can use a lower bitrate but not compromise on quality (much) - Put another way, full D1 can be considered as "way over the top" for VHS, whereas "1/2 D1" is just a little over the top.
4. Considering 3, a lower bitrate means smaller files which means more per DVD disc.

SVCD is 480 x 480 / 576, and the max is 2,778 kbps (for both audio and video in total with video max = 2,600), a max bitrate of around 1,200 kbps would do the trick with PCM audio - Not sure what the video quality would be like though. Use the DVDRHelp Bitrate Calculator to see how much you could fit on a single disc.

That said, if you converted your audio to MP2 (for PAL-land and probably NTSC-land) or AC3 (for both) @ around 192 kbps (very comparable in terms of audio quality, honestly), you could have a much better video bitrate (say 2,500 kbps) @ 352 x 480/576.

Disclaimer ( ): I'm repeating this from what I know about bitrates and resolutions, as well as what I've seen in posts and threads that have caught my eye.

If I'm slightly off the mark, please feel free to correct me and avoid the temptation to flame me (too much).

Hope that helps...

[edsmith77]

sikki_nixx,
I am not exactly sure what you mean by "vhs equivalent bit rate." Transferring VHS material to optical media either as VCD, SVCD or DVD involves a different recording bitrate (to maintain parity with the published standard). That is, you can record VHS material to a VCD standard at 1150 bit rate or 2520 bit rate for SVCD and ~9000 something for DVD. In each of these cases you can and most likely will see a difference in quality when compared to the original VHS source. Since each is recorded at a different bit rate for the same VHS source, I do not understand the "vhs equivalent bit rate" question.
The point to keep in mind is that the higher the recording bit rate, the more likely you are to accurately reproduce the source quality. There is nothing that says you cannot make non standard recordings, you just have to be sure your player(s) will play these non standard items.

What is a good bit rate? You can start by using any of the bit rate calculators on this site and enter the desired bit rate you want, plug in the audio size and in general if the sum of the two are less than the capacity of the media, then you are home free. I personally would not make any final committements until after I had reveiwed the recording (i.e., use RW media)

So what is the lowest bit rate for recording VHS material? Hmmmm opinions will vary, but I have made VHS recordings as low at 950 and I justified this rate since my source was very poor. But on the whole, recommending this rate to anyone for any reasonable quality VHS source would NOT give IMO very good results. If you insist on keeping LPCM audio, I would suggest trying some bit rates of 4000-6000 (assuming DVD media) and adjust accordingly per quality tastes (remember to use RW media).

The point to keep in mind is that quality is in the eye of the beholder. What you call good, I might call adequate or even poor.

[daamon]

Hi sikki_nixx,

Parallel thread, similar topic...

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=206798&highlight=

Just in case anything comes up in that one and not yours...

[indolikaa]

That is one of the better questions I've seen asked on this forum. I'd like to see if any of our resident experts (trevlac, LordSmurf, SatStorm, FOO, etc.) could quantify that. It would make for interesting reading...

[ktnwin]

I have captured VHS video and convert them to half-D1 at 3500kbits/sec and the resulting DVD look GREAT (just like the tapes).

[Leoslocks]

I have created some DVD's form SVhs tapes and the 60 to 70 minutes of video are much easier to watch after converting to DVD that the origional tapes. The highest bitrate you can use to get your time slot to fit on a DVD would be worth using.

Work through a "half-D1 at 3500kbits/sec " DVD and see how it looks.
Try a 2 pass VBR at full 704 x 480 and see how that looks also.

[lordsmurf]

352x480 at 2.5 VBR is equiv to EP VHS
... 352x480 at 3.5 VBR is equiv to SP VHS

This is with perfect source. Many factors affect video.

[edsmith77]

There LordSmurf has spoken.