SVCD not working with hardware player

[sureshcjc]

Hi,

I greatly appreciate if anybody could help solving my problem.

I am using photo2vcd to create SVCD video of my still pics with FX, transitions and background songs. The output CD is working when played in the computer. But its not working with my hardware DVD player (Apex 1200, which supports VCD/MP3/PhotoCD). It says no disk.
I even created disc image from photo2vcd and used nero to burn the cd. Still I couldnt see my creative works in TV And I wasted about 50 cds trying conversions of the output video (created by photo2vcd) using tempgen, vcdgear, vcdeasy, nothing works.

Thanks in advance
Suresh

[gadgetguy]

SVCD is not the same as VCD. Re-encode your SVCD to the VCD specs and it should play ok in your player (although the quality may not be as good).

[marsmayhem]

For future reference, do all your experimenting with CDRW if you can (or rather, if your DVD will play them).

Save yourself the coaster hell... and expense.

[jman98]

Actually, VCD uses EXACTLY the same resolution for photos as SVCD, so there is really no good reason for making a photo SVCD at all. A lot of people mistakenly believe that SVCD photo slide shows have higher resolution and they do not. Both formats use 704x480 for NTSC photos and 704x576 for PAL photos.

I really could not agree more with Mars Mayhem. Why on earth did you not burn to CD-RW until you got something working? It's impossible to say what's wrong. Maybe the Apex doesn't like your media. Maybe photo2vcd is doing something really weird. I suggest this. Try making a standard photo VCD with no effects at all to CD-RW and see if it plays in your Apex. I would recommend using VCDeasy. If you can prove that your Apex will play a photo VCD, then you have to figure out if photo2vcd is doing something weird that is causing problems. If your Apex won't play a simple photo VCD created by VCDEasy, nothing you do will work.

[marsmayhem]

He said he's creating his slideshow as SVCD video, not stills, for his slideshow, since he's adding transitions and FX and music. My advice would be to reauthor the project as a VCD, instead of converting VCD to SVCD. The quality will be much better, rather than converting an already compressed format.

Alternatively, if the dvd player supports PhotoCD, forego the effects and author a proper PhotoCD. I think Nero does it. I know WinOnCD used to do this type of CD.

VCD and SVCD stills do share the same resolutions. But since they're MPEG1 and MPEG2 respectively, there might be better compression using MPEG2. I don't know for sure, haven't tested it. As far as video goes, MPEG2 compresses much better than MPEG1, especially when using anything other than CBR.

Something else to consider - when making high resolution stills, there are actually two stills in the stream - one high res, and one low res. The spec says that if a player cannot support the high res, it switches over to the low resolution stream instead. I'm not sure if this only applies to stills that are used for menus. A quick view in TMPGENC should reveal the answer though. But it means that for every high res still you have in your slideshow, there's a low res version sitting in the background. If you're space conscious, it might weigh heavily on your mind

[marsmayhem]

Suresh,

Your DVD player doesn't support SVCD, from the sound of it. Some do, some don't.

Use PhotoVCD to create a VCD from your pictures and see how that works for you. Unless you're watching on a really big screen, the quality shouldn't be too bad. I made a few VCD slideshows using DVD Pictureshow, and they were okay, and I'm a bit of a stickler about quality myself. If your source is good, and PhotoVCD is any good, you should be good to go.

HTH...

[marsmayhem]

Strange, your player is supposed to support SVCD, according to the DVD player forum.

Curiouser and curiouser...

Then again, mixed reviews on this player, and mileage seems to vary. I suggest you read the forum about your player and see if anything applies/helps:

https://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers.php?DVDname=apex+1200&Submit=Search&Search=Search&...y=Name&hits=25