What's the highest quality audio that DVD players support?

[RNCSerge]

Okay, I'm thinking of buying a DVD Player with MPEG-4 support. And when I encode my movies (Probably Divx 5, good reviews. By the way is WMV9 considered MPEG-4, and will it play in DVD players?) which audio should I use? I heard that MPEG-4 AAC audio isn't supported, so that leaves AC3, which is better than MP3. But will MPEG-4 video and AC3 audio co-exist in the same file container together? (be it avi or mp4). Can someone give me a link that has some info about MPEG4 elementary streams and file containers? I've always been doing MPEG-2, and want to upgrade to MPEG-4. Any info you can give me is appreciated.

[muskgrave]

wow this post is all over the place. You may want to regroup and find a definite question to ask. The title says whats the best audio and the post itself is all about video.

First of all, mpeg-4 is NOT an upgrade from mpeg2. If anything the quality is actually worse. The advantage of it is smaller file sizes. WMV9 I believe can do high definition video which IS an upgrade but I'm not sure of any DVD players currently that will play it. If it really is audio you are asking about the highest quality audio right now would be 24-bit 192khz stereo or 96khz surround for dvd audio/sacd.

[teegee420]

I believe the best audio that the average person can put on DVD is LPCM wav. It's uncompressed so there's no loss.

[Suntan]

If you are asking for a practical solution to encoding dvds with an Mpeg-4 video stream and good audio, it all depends on the player. Most players do not require that you use the .MP4 container. Most will accept .AVI and some will accept .OGM files. Further, some players will support .AVIs with either AC3 or MP3 audio. I would look for a player that supports .OGM if I were you as you can encode less important (read: chick flicks for her) with Vorbis audio while leaving the AC3 stream for action movies.

Also, both Divx and Xvid can handle Hi Def just fine, although it is not compliant to even the Advanced Simple Profile that some of the newer standalone players are starting to support so the ability to play it back on any of the exisitng players on the market is improbable.

You could look into an HTPC, in which case every format/configuration will be supported.

-Suntan

[freestyler]

highest spec-complaint audio I know of for dvd-video is 24/96 pcm

[teegee420]

Most players do not require that you use the .MP4 container.

Do you know of any that recognize .mp4? I have yet to see one.

[RNCSerge]

I'm sorry, I must have asked the question incorrectly. When I meant best quality, I meant comparative to file size. AC3 looks good. I'm not interested in HD, just regular DVD resolutions. If I understood correctly, an avi file with AC3 audio and MPEG4 video would play in some DVD players and offer the best combination for me. Thank You for your responses.

[Suntan]

@teegee

No, I don't. All the ones I have seen say they will play .AVI and some will play .OGM although I haven't looked at them all that closely as I use an HTPC. Don't know of any that say they support .MKV either.

-Suntan