What player should I use to view my AVI to MPEG conversions?

[franco]

I have been encoding from AVI to MPEG2 in Canopus Procoder and trying different bitrates then testing the results in Windows Media Player. I was getting decent quality but some lines were still visible when more action was happening in the footage.

However when I tried even the worst MPEGs with the lowest bitrate in my Inter Video WinDVD player the lines were barely visible and the quality looked good on all the encoded MPEGs.

Which is the best player to use to give me a good impression of what the footage will look like to Joe Public on his DVD player?? I am very confused now and I've barely started.

I hope to eventually put my footage on DVD-R discs and sell some of them.

[teegee420]

You've already answered your own question. Mpeg-2 video is always better viewed by a DVD software player. For one thing, they de-interlace the video(if it's actually interlaced) plus they have the ability to utilize any hardware acceleration your graphics card is capable of. My favorite DVD software is Sonic Cineplayer.

[franco]

Thanks for that. Is it best to make sure the interlaced footage looks good to be sure of good quality??

If I judge my MPEG2 quality based on good DVD software that might be a lot different to what Joe Public sees when he watches my TV.

[teegee420]

I'm not sure I understand what you're asking. The bottom line is that using a software DVD player will give you a better representation of what interlaced video will look like on your TV/DVD Player. Hope that helps.

[duhmez]

If you are going to want to be selling these dvd's, you had better watch them on an interlaced tv too, to make sure you got the field order right. If it's wrong you cannot tell by watching on your computer with dvd software.

[franco]

I'll look up the field order thing, but does a standalone DVD player connected to a TV deinterlace footage as well??