Reading data DVD's on DVD player?

[Leo28C]

Hello everyone!

OK, let's say I have about 100 GB of video files to put on DVD's...

1. I want to learn WHY if I use DVD Video format (like the movies, with menus and stuff) it takes more space to hold files... (No way I'm gonna use DVD Video for the 100 GB videos, that's gonna take more discs than I can afford. )

So I'll just store it like data...

2. I remember one of my DVD players could list the video files and let me choose, but that one's not being used anymore because it was crappy (pausing crashed it and I had to unplug it )... My other player tells me "invalid disc", and the other just a blue screen... What's the feature I must look for on a player to do this?

If you could answer those 2 questions, I'll appreciate it. Thanks!

[guns1inger]

1. DVD Video is a specific format. It uses, for the most part, mpeg2 for video encoding, and to maintain quality, certain bitrates need to be maintained. Space = bitrate x running time. As an example - to maintain the same quality as your average downloaded Xvid avi file, you will need 3 - 4 time the bitrate, and therefore 3 - 4 times the space when you convert it to mpeg2. So a 90 minute, 700 MB avi becomes a 90 minute, 3GB DVD.

2. Some DVD players will read some video files (generally Divx/Xvid encoded in a specific way, as well as some raw mpeg files) when stored on DVD discs as data. However they will not read all formats, and may not play all formats well.

If you seriously want to put 100GB of video data onto something that will play pretty much anything, look for either a HDD based portable media player, or a Media Centre type PC.

[daamon]

Hi Leo28C,

Welcome to the forums.

1) You need to read up on info regarding compression and bitrates for different ways of storing video and audio. The bitrate and the running time are the only two things that determine the end file size.

In general, the lower the bitrate the lower the quality. Different formars are MPEG2 (used by commercial DVDs), MPEG1 (as in Video CDs or VCD's), DV AVI, WMV, MP4 etc. etc. (there's loads).

2) You're talking about a DVD player that probably recognises Divx and Xvid - yet another way (foprmat) of storing video.

I'd say do your reading to understand the basics and then look to encode (jargon for convert) your files into Xvid or Divx. The former, Xvid, is generally considered a bit better at getting better quality for lower bitrates (which means smaller files).

I'll tell you now - you will need to do plenty of reading, some trial and error, get frustrated and ask questions when you get stuck. But you will get there...