Differences between HQ, SP, SEP, etc?

[Drahken]

I have searched all over the web and this forum, and can find precious little info regarding the actual differences (aside from length of time) and visible quality differences between the various settings on standalone DVD recorders, what little I can find conflicts with each other. I suspect that each brand uses different settings to achieve the same goal, and that this is the source of the confusion. I have done some experiments with my recorder (daewoo DVR06) and found some interesting results. Any further input would be appreciated. (btw Is there a freeware prog I can use to determine the bitrate of these recordings?)

The Daewoo DVR06 model has 4 speed settings:
HQ-1hr
SP-2hr
EP-4hr
SEP-8hr
HQ and SP both use 640x480 resoultion. I assume that the bitrate is the difference between the 2, but when looking at screencaps I can't see any noticeable difference (it could perhaps be sound quality instead of video quality).
EP squishes the video horizontally into 312*x480 resolution.
SEP uses 312*x240 resolution.
*VLCplayer produces screenshots that are 312, but winDVD produces screenshots that are 320, I don't know which (if either) is correct.

I assume that HQ, SP, and EP use MPEG2 compression and that SEP uses MPEG1, but I don't know how to check to be certain.



(On a side note, be wary of this recorder. The first one I got kept shutting down in the middle of playback. I returned it and haven't had problems with the second one yet, but suspect that I will sooner or later.)

[Andrey /MAG/]

Some information about DVD recorders and its record modes setting is placed here: http://mag.irk.ru/compare_en.html
Also you can find there a pictures, recorded in different modes to compare.

[energy80s]

Very odd resolutions as none are actually DVD compliant!

The only ones used SHOULD be 720 x 576 (480) 704 x 576 (480) 352 x 576 (480) 352 x 288 (240). The difference between frame sizes and bitrates will correspond to the various SP / LP recorders settings. If you are transferring VHS (or similar quality material) use 352 x 576 (480) at about 3 - 4Mbps. Check out your manual to see which setting corresponds to this on your DVD recorder.