.mkv to dvd picture quality

[nhn21]

I have an 4.3GB movie in .mkv format. When i used Ultra DVD Creator to burn it a dvd disc, the program produced .VOB files that are only 1.75Gb in size, and when i watched the DVD, the picture quality was noticeably worse, quite blurry. On the other hand, the picture quality on the original mkv file is really good. How do i convert it to dvd without affecting the picture quality,the .vob files only took up less than half of the 4..3GB dvd disc, plenty of space left.

Here is the info on the .mkv file

General
Complete name : C:\movie.mkv
Format : Matroska
File size : 4.37 GiB
Duration : 1h 48mn
Overall bit rate : 5 764 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2008-05-07 20:18:35
Writing application : mkvmerge v2.9.8 ('C'est le bon') built on Aug 21 2009 13:21:42
Writing library : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 5 frames
Muxing mode : Container profile=Unknown@3.1
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1h 48mn
Bit rate : 4 254 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.193
Stream size : 3.14 GiB (72%)
Writing library : x264 core 94 r1583 7608d73
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.20 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-3 / threads=12 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / weightp=0 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=4254 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Language : English

Audio
ID : 2
Format : DTS
Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
Format profile : ES
Codec ID : A_DTS
Duration : 1h 48mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 1 510 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 24 bits
Stream size : 1.15 GiB (26%)
Language : English

Text
ID : 3
Format : UTF-8
Codec ID : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info : UTF-8 Plain Text
Language : English

Menu
00:00:00.000 : en:00:00:00.000
00:04:24.890 : en:00:04:24.890
00:10:36.886 : en:00:10:36.886
00:18:13.509 : en:00:18:13.509
00:24:44.316 : en:00:24:44.316
00:28:41.345 : en:00:28:41.345
00:36:51.126 : en:00:36:51.126
00:46:15.731 : en:00:46:15.731
00:52:44.787 : en:00:52:44.787
01:04:05.050 : en:01:04:05.050
01:10:02.198 : en:01:10:02.198
01:15:36.490 : en:01:15:36.490
01:23:39.264 : en:01:23:39.264
01:34:12.689 : en:01:34:12.689
01:36:58.354 : en:01:36:58.354
01:40:12.131 : en:01:40:12.131

[poisondeathray]

Try better software , like avstodvd

It will never be as good, because DVD-Video is standard definition (720x480) , you mkv file is 1280x720 HD . Also the compression is much worse for DVD-Video (MPEG2 vs. h.264)

[thegeeman]

DTS audio at 1510kbps is not DVD compliant. DTS also takes up too much space and thus less for the encoded video. My suggestion would be to convert the audio to AC3 at 448 with Popcorn and then drop the 'new' mkv file into DVDFlick and off you go. Its an all-in-one dvd converter that produces quite good results. You will see noticeably better results than your recent ouput from Ultra.

[nhn21]

thank you for all the help!!

I used avstodvd to convert my mkv file, it worked. The .vob files took up an entire 4.3gb disc, the picture quality is much better, it also converted the audio from DTS to ac3. thanks again

[yoda313]

Just fyi dts is dvd compliant but not as the only track. If you author a dvd with just a dts track there may be a few dvd players that won't play it at all. BUT what will happen is you will only be able to hear it through a receiver that can process dts. I don't know if any tv has a dts decoder in it with a fiber optic or spdif input. There might be but they are not common as far as I know.

So yes to save space to add video quality convert the dts to ac3. But if you really want dts and play it on any dvd through a tv speaker(s) you'll need to have BOTH a dts and a ac3 file. That will take more space and less room for quality video.

This is just for those who don't know by the way

Edit:

I don't know the exact dts bitrate for dvd - 768 and some 1500 number - but it does allow up to 1536 total:
48000 Hz
32 - 1536 kbps
Up to 8 audio tracks containing Dolby Digital, DTS, PCM(uncompressed audio), MPEG-1 Layer2. One audio track must have MPEG-1, DD or PCM Audio.

Extras:

Thats from the what is dvd link on the left of the screen.

[guns1inger]

AVStoDVD will happily convert the audio to AC3 448 (or 384, if you prefer), which si the best option if you want to preserve the video quality to any degree. 1536 kbps DTS is DVD compliant (I also thought it wasn't, but have since been shown that it is), however DTS master is not. AVStoDVD will keep compliant DTS audio if you choose to, however you will lose almost a third of your space to just the audio if you keep it. That is a big chunk of bitrate taken from the video. I would convert it down to 448 kbps AC3 in AVStoDVD.

While a strictly compliant DVD must have an AC3 or PCM audio track as well as a DTS track, most authoring tools that handle DTS will let you make a DTS only disc, as will most strippers (e.g. DVD Shrink). The only catch is that most DVD players will require an external amplifier with DTS decoding and a digital connection between the two in order to get any audio playback. If you simply have RCA audio leads to your TV, you won't hear anything.

[nhn21]

One more question. The DvD though very watchable, there is a very slight stutter, i used the media info program to check the .vob files, and it showed that the fps is just about 24 frames per second, is there any way to adjust the frame rate so the video playback will be smoother. I created the DVD in NTSC format because i'm living in the US, could that be a problem. thnx

[guns1inger]

Your DVD is the same framerate as the source, so the stutter was always there.