Frustrating poor VCD quality. Is it normal? Please help?

[vitualis]

2 channel Dolby Surround yes they do support. 5.1 (which I was referring to, no they don't)

As a matter of fact, this was not what you were referring to. Simply because you stated that VHS supported it too -- and VHS ONLY supports Dolby Surround NOT 5.1 Dolby Digital... I'm sorry, but you could simply admit that you were mistaken rather than dig yourself deeper into a hole.

I don't have clients, I do this stuff for friends, and as a personal hobby. However, I am thinking about venturing into the profession after I get much more experience, in other subjects, besides VCD creation.

Wow, that's rather different compared to "I am a Video Editor and have been making professional video cds for the last 2 years."

TMPGenc has always worked fine for me and if you think I have problems because that is the only encoder I currently use, which happens to be the best MPEG 1 Encoder out there, and free BTW, then it appears to me your just trolling, and that your the one with the problems.

Far from it my friend. I simply don't like people who make up bullshit and then try to justify it with fake qualifications. You're not fooling anyone.

My original point was that VHS Video is better quality then VCD even when encoded at best quality, with the exception of quality degration that occurs on VHS Media. The Media says that vcd is better. I'm not refering to degration that occurs after 5 years.

Well, this is where I disagree with you. With very good encoding, a VCD with on average look as good as new VHS. There are simply some things that VHS does better, and some things that VCD does better. You will get MPEG compression artifacts on a VCD but by the same token, you will have analogue artifacts and noise on even the best VHS.

Regards.

[Nelson37]

Chris X -
1. to accuse Vitualis of trolling is so ridiculous I am not even going to respond to it.

2. To qualify any work as professional means that you got paid for it.

3. Read up on variants of Dolby audio. It is confusing, but you need some clarification.

There's the stick, here's the carrot. I agree with you than VCD (NOT XVCD) simply is not the quality of VHS. Sure, there are analog artifacts but they are both expected and accepted by the general viewing public, Macroblocking is both unexpected and unacceptable. I state this as someone who HAS made XVCD in a professional capacity, meaning I got paid for it, and yes it was legally done. Menu's are nice, but secondary to the primary function in most cases. Longevity is better but durability, in terms of resistance to scratching, is worse. The comparison is close, and as digital video becomes the norm rather than the exception, general opinions may change.

SVCD does beat VHS no question, however.