Play SVCD's on your VCD Player!

[-Elder-]

Excuse me if this is old news.

I have a Sony DVP-NS400 which does *NOT* play SVCD's. However, I just read a few things on some other boards, and guess what... Now you *CAN* watch SVCD's on your player *WITHOUT* a hack and *WITHOUT* re-encoding!

I just did this and it worked on my Sony DVP-NS400 which does *NOT* support SVCDs. Basically, you are tricking Nero and your DVD player into thinking it's playing a VCD file, but in actuality, it's playing a SVCD MPG file.

This process takes about 5 minutes depending on CPU and hard drive speed. Make sure you have enough hard drive space as well.

Download and install TMPGEnc (can find link on this site).

Run TMPGEnc

1 Immediately select FILE -> MPEG tools.
2 Select 'Simple Multiplex'
3 Select type 'MPEG-1 Video-CD' in the drop down menu of the MPEG tools window.
4 Video input 'YOUR MPEG FILE' - browse to the AVSEQ01.MPG file (or whatever your SVCD MPG file is). MAKE sure when you insert your file into "video input", that the select type doesn't revert back to 'MPEG2 program'. If it does (which is does to me everytime) then make sure you click 'MPEG-1 Video-CD' again.
5 Output 'DESTINATION FOR YOUR FINISHED FILE'
6 Look everything over, making sure it's MPEG-1 Video-CD is selected.
7 Hit Run.

This may take anywhere from 3 - 7 minutes depending on your system. Highly suggest having ALL other programs closed, and don't do anything with your computer. I've only tested one disc so far, and the audio is very slightly off.

You might get an error message at the end, OK it's not a problem (so far anyway).

Note: Again, Make sure that when you insert your file into the 'video input' that the select type option doesn't spring to 'MPEG2 program'. If it does (which is does to me everytime, then make sure you click 'MPEG-1 Video-CD' again.

Next step:

Start NERO (tested with version 5.4.4.0) using template Video-cd (maybe you need to turn off the standard compliant option, but as all your files have now a VCD header they should be able to fool NERO into thinking they are really VCD files), add files and then burn. Again, you may have to turn off standard compliance.

Once burning is done, pop it into your DVD and see how it looks. Supposed to be no loss in audio or video, as you aren't re-encoding the file. Apparently, you are simply changing the file headers to MPEG-1 to trick NERO and your DVD player to play the thing. Looked fantastic on my DVD/CD-R/RW/VCD (No SVCD) Sony NS400 player!

Not gaurenteed to work on any players. Not gaurenteed at all. I don't know if this can cause any damage to your DVD player, but I don't see how it could.

My guess is, all "newer" DVD players, even if they don't support SVCD files, actually have the capability to decode the SVCD MPG files, but, manufacturers are probably lazy to enable the option due to cost and time. Either that, or they fear the SVCD.

Anyway, good luck :)

Reference for information:

http://www.long-distance-longdistance.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?topic=486&forum=4&10

http://forum.sharereactor.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12327&perpage=15&pagenumber=1

[KaBoNG]

Uh huh, well, I have a Sony DVP-NS400D and have been messing with this remux trick for some time now.

You WILL find out that with SOME downloaded SVCD's, audio sync problems crop up (try CD3 of a recent and well known 4 CD set to see what I mean). The usual result is that there is up to a 500ms audio delay when played back on the above noted player.

A couple of ideas...

Demux the SVCD stream to elementary video and audio streams. Mux the elementary streams as an MPEG-2 program stream. Then remux the program stream as a standard MPEG-1 VCD. This gets rid of any trace of the SVCD headers and greatly reduces the audio delay on the Sony 400.

You may still find that some adjustment is necessary on some SVCD's as there are still delays ranging from 75 to 200 ms which is enough to be noticeable. The only reliable audio sync fix I have found is the fix using Goldwave that is detailed elsewhere on VCDHelp. I did try the bbmpeg muxer which allows you to set different delays for audio and video but the delays get reset when you do the final MPEG-1 mux in TMPGEnc.

It can be trial and error to dtermine the exact amount of audio to chop out of the beginning to fix te sync but I've been doing it for a while now and am getting pretty good at estimating how much is needed.

Good luck.

[-Elder-]

Demux the SVCD stream to elementary video and audio streams. Mux the elementary streams as an MPEG-2 program stream. Then remux the program stream as a standard MPEG-1 VCD. This gets rid of any trace of the SVCD headers and greatly reduces the audio delay on the Sony 400.

LoL - I still have a lot to learn. Have no idea what you are talking about let alone how to do it :) Very new to all this. I do have Goldwave, but clueless how to use it. :)

[ElTopo]

Hey, I tried this method with really skeptically, and it turned out to work REALLY good! Although when I multiplexed the MPEG2 file with the Video-CD (Standard) heading, I did get a message from TMPGEnc saying that there were buffer underruns and that the file may have problems when playing, and the file size of the remuxed file was less than the original although I wasn't really changing anything. Also you HAVE to disable standard compliancy in Nero for it to accept your file. But my Sony DVP-NS400D played it just fine.

I still wanted to know if there was any negative side to this method, as it seems almost too good up to now. Does the audio sync always presents problems? Does this method have any other side-effects?

Thanks.

El Topo.

[thxkid]

Tried this workd great for Panasonics also but toshiba's are a wash, no picture at all only sound.

[xoRFa]

Tried this with the sample svcd on this site and it played perfectly on a Denon DVD-2500 (panasonic internals)... But when trying to multiplex the new SVCD Oceans11 release, it said it was an invalid mpg stream. I've tried extracting using isobuster and burning to cd and just copying the .mpg...

any ideas anyone?

[KaBoNG]

Just wanted to bump this because I have updated my post above a bit for those that may be following this thread.

[-Elder-]

My first disc I burned using this method.. couple of things.

As I said, played fine on my Sony NS400. Well, got to the end of the disc, and started getting a lot of garbage. However, the file may have been corrupted during download before I converted and burned it. I still need to view the original mpg and see if the problem existed before using this process.

I took the disc to work and put it in our Panasonic Multi DVD/Receiver (forget model). And while it did play, it sort of shrunk the screen width wise, and shifted the picture to the left side of the screen. The regular SVCD version filled the entire screen.

So obviously, as some people have replied, this won't work for everyone. As I said, guess is, many of the newer machines, even if they say they don't play SVCD's, have the capability to display the SVCD MPG file.. for whatever reason, they didn't implement it.

I can't see how this would damage anything in the DVD player. Just can't see it.. either it reads it, or it doesn't. I could be wrong though.

Glad to see a lot of people read this. Perhaps someone will perfect the method. I too got underrun errors.. wondering if doing it on a dual cpu machine at work would help. *shrug*

/still a newb

[cladmore]

Hi,

my DVD Player is a Pioneer 717, and after checking the compatibility list here on vcdhelp, i´m not able to play svcd :(
So that´s why i tried this method.
Everything went right following the instructions, but when i tired to play back the (s)vcd on my standalone player the video is not being played back fluently. The picture stutters, btw the audio does not seem to be out of synch.
Anyone any idea ? Or is it time to throw my vcr out of the window
and to get an less expensive dvd player with svcd play back abilitities ?
thx in advance.

cu
cladmore

[-Elder-]

http://www.circuitcity.com/ewebIMa/detail.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1557308653.101430...
Brand/Model: APX AD1500
This versatile Apex DVD player supports a wide range of formats, including VCDs, SVCDs, CDs, CD-R, CD-RW, and MP3s. It's also ready to get connected to your Dolby Digital/DTS home theater system.

$79 - can't get much better than that. Can find region and macromedia free versions on eBay.

[sean madison]

um, this is like SUPER old news big time.

people have been doin this way before i had first mentioned my vcd-x guide.

Of course people, you do know that if u do this, it will be XVCD, BUT if u restream it with MPEG-1 Videocd non standard, it will play as standard VCD ONLY if the following 2 things are met-
It is playing on a dvd player
and, this works on vcd standard dvd players who cant read xvcd.

I do this all the time for people whose dvd player can only read standard formats.
Sorry to bust your celebration but this is not new.

and it is NEVER A GOOD IDEA to remux 1 mpeg stream with a different one!
It could cause it to go outta sync, skip on playback, or stop playing a few sec short.

In best performance, if u r goin to remux, keep same stream.
(IE mpeg-1 > mpeg-1; mpeg-2 > mpeg-2)

[-Elder-]

Trust me, not bursting my bubble in the least. I hadn't seen the information anywhere before, and thought I'd share it. With the amount of people that have read it, either A) they thought there was updated info from your guide, or B) they hadn't seen your guide before.

Can you please provide the link to your guide?

Thanks.

[sean madison]

no link not yet, im me on aim- shizzzon

[KaBoNG]

okay shizzzon, explain to me how to remux an MPEG-2 SVCD as an MPEG-2 VCD (oxymoron?) that will play on my Sony DVP-NS400D.

I have been messing with this for some time now and have found that the MPEG-2 remux to standard VCD (i.e. with MPEG-1 headers) trick is the only way I have found to do it. The only problem I have is the slight audio delay which I can fix using the audio sync guide elsewhere on this site. Other than that, the picture and sound is awesome.

Post a link to your guide or post the guide here and help us relative newbs out.

[kinneera]

Definitely not new:

http://www.vcdhelp.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=74016&highlight=

https://www.videohelp.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=75324

http://www.vcdhelp.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=71532&highlight=

And there's no such thing as "MPEG2 VCD" per se - the whole point of the trick is to use an MPEG1 header to get the stream past the firmware and to the decoder which doesn't really give damn.

[sean madison]

kinneera is right

Do u know what u are doing

Just encode in vcd instead of svcd cuz the quality should be the same.
Plus for ur sake, encode in352x240, u might get better quality anyway

[baker]

how about play SVCDs on ure ps2????!?!?!?!? think about this, if we done it to think it was a dvd insted of an vcd it might work.!!!!!

baker

[baker]

does no one have n e thing to say about svcd on ps2?

baker

[baker]

OH COME ON!!!!!

baker

[-Elder-]

Kabong,

Off the wall thought. Read posts from December and January concerning this method - thanks for the links all.

As either you or someone mentioned, sync problems tend to occure on CD2 and subsequent CDs.

Is it possible to take the multiple SCVD MPG, join them, do the de/mux processes then split, then burn?

Still learning, but getting there. :)

E

[KaBoNG]

-Elder-:

Been there, done that. I have worked with both downloaded SVCD multi-CD sets and my onw DVD rips which obviously are one big stream, demuxed, then split, then burned. Same sync problem.

[scorpo]

Big Thanks @ -Elder-
Works perfect!!!!!!!

[harker]

This sounds great - I want to buy the NS400, but the lack of SVCD compatibility was putting me off. Two things though:

1. Does the resultant disc play okay on actual SVCD compatible machines?
2. Does it work with PAL files?

[mystery-man]

I have read the suggestion on tricking NERO and your DVD player to play SuperVCDs. I have a Sony DVD player DVP-NS400D which does not support SuperVCDs. I tried to re-muliplex the SuperVCD suggested by -Elder-, but I keep running into a problem with the audio. Now, I understand that there are audio sync problems, but when I re-multiplex I get a message half way through the process stating that "audio buffer overruns occurred," and it does not complete the mulitplexing process. What do I need to do to fix this so I can re-multiplex without running into this error. Your help will be greatly appreciated. Please post a response or email me directly.

emmigray@cox.net

[kwoza]

hey,

im new t all this but can u just make a SVCD with nero and then later change all the folder names to VCD ones ... ?

urban_jungles

[KaBoNG]

mystery-man:

I may have said this above (too lazy to scroll up) but I'll once again post what I do to make playable SVCD's in my Sony NS400:

1. "Obtain" an SVCD image.
2. Extract it from the CD or BIN image using ISOBuster (*don't* just copy it off of the CD with Windows Explorer)
3. De-multiplex it with TMPGEnc (I use v2.55).
4. Multiplex the resulting vid and audio streams as an MPEG-2 Program (VBR) (gets rid of SVCD headers).
5. Re-multiplex the resulting mpg file as an MPEG-1 VideoCD (*not* the non-standard one - ignore the "buffer underun" message as the end of the multiplex job) .
6. Author/burn with VCDEasy as a VCD 2.0 (make sure you turn off "Perform some MPEG compliance checks). You can add chaptering with VCDEasy, too.

*If* you're lucky, you will have an SVCD with no audio sync issues (works with a "recent" 2 CD childrens flic SVCD DVD-rip (cough, JN, cough). On others you will experience an audio delay which you can fix using a tutorial located elsewhere on this site.

I just did this last night with excellent results.

[KaBoNG]

kwoza:

If only life were that simple.

No, you're idea won't work. Your DVD player will do very strange things when you try to play your VCD.

[KaBoNG]

Sorry, this was a dupe of my reply to kwoza.

[kwoza]

k thanx

<Damn>

[mjwhite]

I used TMPGENC to do a simple multiplex on an existing svcd
mpg file. I then used VCDIMAGER (set to VCD 2.0) to create
a cue/bin file and burned that using CDRWIN. The disc plays
GREAT in my Sony NS-400d. The only strange thing I notice is that
the elapsed time counter is incorrect. The elapsed time is moving
too quickly, in other words the seconds tick by too fast. What could
cause this ?