Comments

JohnnyRoy wrote on 12/28/2002, 7:56 AM
In theory, the better the original source the better the final quality, but I have both a VHS-C camcorder and a DV camcorder and you can’t tell which one I used on any particular Video CD I’ve made. The real contributor to quality on a VCD is finding an MPEG encoder that does a nice job at the low bit-rate of 1150/kbps that VCD’s use. I haven’t use the MainConcept encoder to make a VCD because I make DVD’s now; but back when use to make VCD’s, I’ve found the TMPGEnc encoder to be the best at this low bit-rate. VCD’s will always have compression artifacts due to the low bit-rate and will never look as good as the original tape.

~jr
Lawrence wrote on 12/30/2002, 12:25 PM
The VCD Quality from DV will be better because Dv has double the lines than VHS.
This is true for all others factors stay constant.
Lawrence wrote on 12/30/2002, 12:36 PM
Use Videofactory VCD preset and the VCD quality is as equal or better tahn as Tmpg encoder. VF takes less times than Tmpg.
the_harper wrote on 1/1/2003, 2:28 AM
It depends on the VHS camera and the DV camera. But IMO the resolution of VCD is so low the differences would probably not be worth the cost of getting a DV camera. However, if you want to go to SVCD or DVD recordings, the difference is huge. My DV camera claims to record about 550 lines on a PAL signal (US is NTSC) and the clarity of the signal from the camera direct to the TV looks broadcast quality to me. The dynamic range of the camera isn't as good as commercial studio cameras but I would still guess that most people wouldn't see the difference.

Maybe later when DVD-R drives have come down in price, DV cameras will be cheaper and you can make the change then.

Rob