VCDs vs Real Player PC CDs

[Rinoa24]

Hey guys I'm a super-newbie (about to buy my first VCD/DVD player).
I'm trying to learn about the differences between PC CDs and VCDs. I've gotten the impression that CDs created to play videos with Real Player on the PC can never be played on a DVD/VCD player but I don't know for sure. Can someone please tell me for sure and maybe explain the basic differences between them.
Thanks.
Rinoa24

[danmanx]

Anything with RealPlayer can only be played on the PC. (Except for some realaudio files which I believe can be used in some MP3/WMA portables.)

VCDs that you buy will work in your VCD\DVD Player. You need to find out however if you create a VCD if it will work with the player you want. Some do not play certain types of CD-R/RW media.

RealMedia files are compressed at various different rates. They have such a range but are only playable on computers.

VideoCD is MPEG-1 Video at 29.97 FPS/352x240 (or for PAL, 25FPS/352x28at a constant bitrate of 1150kbits with MPEG-1 Layer II Audio. They are playable on ALL computers and most VCD/DVD players.

I hope that cleared some things up for you. If you want more information, read from http://www.vcdhelp.com/ !

[Rinoa24]

Thanks. Definitely helped. vcdhelp.com is an excellent site but being a super-newbie most of it goes over my head.

[vitualis]

If you are buying a DVD player with the view that you would want to play homemade VCDs on it in the future, make sure that you buy one that is compatible with CD-R and CD-RW media!

This is usually an advertised fact and will be in the manual.

A player that doesn't specify this WILL NOT be designed to playback CD-R/W media and will do so poorly/erratically/not at all.

VCD compatibility doesn't equal CD-R/W compatibility.

Regards.

[Greg12]

i've made some quality real video, but it was as big as an mpeg of the same length.

real is good for streaming though

[nfl2k2]

go to wal mart and get the apex 500w, it's only 95$ and plays vcd/svcd cdr/cdrw. and it handles dark areas better than most dvd players i've seen

[Rinoa24]

On 2001-08-17 22:43:44, nfl2k2 wrote:
go to wal mart and get the apex 500w, it's only 95$ and plays vcd/svcd cdr/cdrw. and it handles dark areas better than most dvd players i've seen

Yeah. Thanks to this great, informative sight that's what I've been strongly considering (would be a definite but I might get a 500w, 600A, or 660 off ebay).

[Rinoa24]

umm...I meant "site" Doh!