NTSC DVD with AC3 audio or PCM audio

[mallen]

I am using TMPGEnc to take my mpeg file and create an Mpeg2 file. When I authored it in Encore I had a .m2v file and a sound file. I was having some sync issues. So I change the settings in TMPGEnc to output CBR-Linear PCM Audio. It generated a single .m2v file. When I made the disc in Encore it gave me a warning "NTSC DVD requires at least one AC3 or PCM audio track for every title set". I continued anyway and the DVD played fine in my DVD player. What is the diffrence between CBR Mpeg-1 Layer II audio(mp2) and CBR Linear PCM?

[thecoalman]

Mpeg audio is not a standard format for NTSC DVD but will play in most standalone players If it works for you it's fine, but if you send that disc to someone there's a possibility it won't work on there player.

So that leaves you with a choice of AC3 or PCM. AC3 is the better choice because it's in a compressed format which leaves more space for video. If you have the option for AC3 that's the one to choose.

Look in the glossary to the left for more detailed defininitions.

[FulciLives]

Use TMGPEnc to output LPCM WAV audio. You can then convert that to AC-3 format using a variety of tools. I think Adobe Encore has a built-in AC-3 encoder if not then your freeware options are BeSweet or ffmepg.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
If you use LPCM WAV audio in TMGPEnc then you cannot rely on the built-in bitrate calculator. In that case use another bitrate calculator this this one HERE

[reboot]

ffmpeggui works much better (and easier) than besweet (imho).