Converting mpeg to use in dvd

[demonwarrior]

i got mpegs,mostly mpeg-1's that were ripped from dvd's,or dvd's that were ripped to divx mpeg 1's,what is the best way and best program to use to re-encode them and increase the quality? as i do see a loss of quality when i play them,i want to use these mpegs to built dvd's

[redwudz]

DVDs are almost always MPEG-2 format. But if you have a MPEG-1 format, you may be able to use that in a DVD by only changing the audio sampling rate. VCD MPEG-1 video is already DVD compliant.

VCD uses 44.1Khz audio sampling rate, while DVD needs 48Khz sampling rate. If you look to the upper left for 'WHAT IS' DVD, you will see the DVD format and the specifications for DVDs. If your MPEG-1 video format is DVD compliant, you can avoid re-encoding of the video and further quality loss. Just convert the audio, author and burn to a DVD. TMPGEnc DVD Author will convert the audio automatically to DVD format. Or you can do it with a audio editor.

And you will never 'increase' the quality by re-encoding. The best you can hope for is to minimize the loses. So you want to avoid re-encoding if possible.

[demonwarrior]

damn ,anyway the mpegs are not dvd compliant

[redwudz]

If they are not DVD compliant, then they will have to be re-encoded. But if you encode at a bitrate of maybe 6000 - 9000Kbps, you should be able to minimize the losses. The actual bitrate needed for preservation of quality depends mostly on the source quality.

But generally you want two hours or less video length to keep the quality. You would just have to expirement to see how it looks. I would use a short, maybe 5 minute, representative clip and try different bitrates to see how it looks. Some light filtering may also make it look a bit better, but that's a whole different subject.

[demonwarrior]

ok now u mention light filtering,care to elborate

[redwudz]

MPEG format is a little limiting for filter use, but sometimes a little noise reduction and fine tuning of the color, brightness, contrast can make a video look a little better. Most encoders like TMPGEnc should have a few settings. Too much filtering will make it look worse. I was also thinking of a deblocking filter to clean up the dark areas, but I don't know how you do that with MPEG video.

This all depends on the quality of the source video. If it's good quality, it probably doesn't need any help. If it's not, then you may make it look a little better, but never expect miracles.

And I should mention that almost any filtering will add to the encoding time, sometimes a lot of time.

[demonwarrior]

ok which program will be best for re-encoding?