How to get 352x240 Mpeg-2 to play in Philips 642

[LisaB]

I have some VCD-resolution MPEG-2 files. It seems that the Philips 642 is unable to properly play these....the video is all squished into the upper half of the screen!

I have tried remuxing in TMPGEnc, using all the different package types (mpeg-1 vbr, mpeg-2 vbr, mpeg-1 vcd, etc...)....in other words, I was hoping a "vcd header" trick might work, but it didn't...

I'm getting ready to try making VOB's out of the mpeg's. I'll use IfoEdit, since I don't know of any other way to easily make vob's.

Is there any other trick one could try? ....like patching sequence headers or something?

Has anyone successfully gotten half-res MPEG-2 to play properly in their 642?

[Heywould3]

i havent tried.. but have you tried to convert to divx. at half res mpg it might go pretty fast.. if you have it burnt already try going into setup of the dvd player and change the display settings from 4:3 to 16:9 and back.. also try 4:3 pan and 4:3 wide.. see if that helps at all..

GL

[wulf109]

Have you tried making SVCD's out these mpeg2 files. I've never seen a DVD player that would not play 352x240 SVCD's. 352x240 is a standard DVD compatible resolution. You could also author them as miniDVD if your DVD player is miniDVD compatible.

[LisaB]

Hi, the point of my question is to avoid re-encoding.

Yes I know it is easy to convert to xvid. And yes, one could convert to SVCD, though that would be a bad idea since it would mean upsampling the resolution.

If I were going to re-encode the video, I'd just convert to xvid....But both conversions mentioned involve re-encoding, which takes considerable time, and a necessary quality loss.

So...anyone know of a way to get 352x240 Mpeg-2 to play correctly on a Philips 642?

[pjcwu256]

Some older DVD players will not play VCD nor SVCD, no matter what recoding you do to the VCD, which, by definition, is MPEG1:

https://www.videohelp.com/vcd

and mpeg1 files can only have CBR coding, not VBR.

Try playing the disc at another DVD player to confirm that the problem is the player, no the disc. I have several DVD players of different ages. Some just don't play VCD nor SVCD.

I bought a $29.95 DVD player (Cyberhome) from Best Buy a year ago, and it plays just about anything.

[LisaB]

Well, you pointed me to the VCD page, so I'll point you to the DVD page:

https://www.videohelp.com/dvd

352x240 Mpeg-2 is a valid DVD resolution....and that is what I have.

This mpeg plays okay in my other 2 DVD players (and one of those is another Philips!)

[Heywould3]

Lisa,

Did you try my other ideas? not the xvid/divx im refering to the 4:3pan 4:3 wide 16:9.. the dvd player has as setup, maybe that will improve the issue..

[jman98]

I'm going to take a shot at this. Yes, what you have is valid for DVD, but not for SVCD, as I'm sure you know. Have you tried to make a miniDVD (DVD format on CD-R) out of it? The DVP642 can play miniDVD, but the bit rate needs to be below 4500 Kbps or the drive will have problems with it (it won't spin it fast enoguh for the audio to play correctly). miniDVD will play without audio, but you can cycle through the audio options with the remote control until you find your audio track (probably 0xc0, but it could be another location).

[pjcwu256]

Yes, I see that 352 x 240 is listed as a valid MPEG2. Strange! Perhaps it has 48000 Hz audio instead of 44100.

If each of your files is not too large, you could pack them into one disc. I put several old Mary Tyler Moore show episodes of about 110-130 MB into one VCD by dragging them in Nero VCD burn, and the VCD plays all of them with a simple menu or sequentially.

I also packed 9 episodes of VCD mpeg files of 450 MB each into one DVD by authoring them in MyDVD Studio Suite, and they play nicely with moving menu.

Other authoring tools would probably work too. Hope it works for you.

[LisaB]

Well, pjcwu256, any resolution is a valid MPEG2 resolution. MPEG2 is just a type of encoding, and you can encode MPEG2's with any resolution you want. But it just so happens that 352x240 MPEG2 with 48k audio conforms to DVD specifications, and so should playable on any DVD player, even ones that don't support (S)VCD.

352x240 MPEG2 is *not* however conforming with either VCD or SVCD standards.

Still, your idea of trying to author to non-standard VCD is not a bad one, and I may end up trying that!

Now, something else interesting I discovered! If you use DVD Patcher to patch the horizontal resolution to 720, then the MPEG will play with correct aspect ratio IN THE UPPER LEFT QUADRANT OF THE SCREEN! Patching the vertical resolution had no effect...

This is still not acceptable behavior though....

[vcd4ever]

Is the mpeg2 file by any chance 29.970 with 3:2 pulldown.

vcd4ever.

[mats.hogberg]

I might have missed something in this long thread, but have you authored your "VCD mpeg2"s as DVD? If not, try with TMPGEnc DVD Author or DVDLab Pro... I got the impression you've tried playing them as "raw mpegs" (data).

/Mats

[jman98]

It may just be the player. This player does not support multiple audio channels on SVCD or multiple subtitle streams, both of which are valid. Why? Who knows? I would suggest in the future that you make 352x480 MPEG-2 files instead of 352x240. I can't think of a good reason why you would really want 352x240 anyway when 352x480 is also valid for DVD and a lot less likely to make the Philips player unhappy.

[mats.hogberg]

This player does not support multiple audio channels on SVCD or multiple subtitle streams

Actually, not many players do, unfortunately.

/Mats

[LisaB]

No, this is a not a telecined mpg...it is pure interlace at 29.97..

No, authoring did not work, I had already tried that, too.

[junkmalle]

I know it's not really of any help to you but I can play 352x240 MPEG2 files on ISO disks on the two players I have (neither a Philips 642) without any problems.

BTW: 352x240 isn't interlaced.

[sugarshine]

Lisa try the ifo patch trick that DJ Rumpy came up with. It may or may not work but you have nothing to lose. You don't even have to convert or re encode. Just use ifo edit to change the resolutions in your vobs to try & fool your dvd player. I use this trick all the time & it works for me. If you wanna try it. I'll try & find the guide for it or you could do a forum/guide search. Dj Rumpy is the author i think the guide title is ntsc to pal using ifoedit. Or i could be wrong but it's in here trust me..

[sugarshine]

Here's the link : https://www.videohelp.com/forum/archive/t221928.html
Dvd patcher won't work either trust me . Give this a shot & if it works let us know.

[lordsmurf]

Author to DVD.

[vcd4ever]

No, this is a not a telecined mpg...it is pure interlace at 29.97..

That's strange because if the mpeg2 is true 29.97 then it should work, but I'm only assuming this because both my philips dvdplayers (711 and 722) has problems playing a DVD that has been authored with a mpeg2 352x240 that is not true 29.97 fps.

vcd4ever.