pixels in DVD

IIMvideo wrote on 8/7/2003, 9:59 AM
Hi everyone, why is it that when I render to mpeg2 for DVD, I get pixelation in the dissolves to black, mainly. Is this a problem with the mpeg2 encoding, or is it the DVD player trying to read the bit stream correctly. I have two players and each has it's own issues, one really shows a lot of pixels in the transitions, and the other sometimes freezes and crashes. Both players are new (Panasonic DVD-RV32, JVC XV-S500). What I do is import the avi into DVDA and usually encode it at a constant of 8000, or I'll do a variable in Vegas depending on the length of the video I'm trying to fit on the disc. I'm always afraid of sending out DVDs to clients not knowing what's going to happen when they get it home and try it on their machines. Could it also be the media itself? I often purchase spindles of no-name brands.
What's the best method of being compatible with the general mass of DVD owners? Thanks in advance.


Comments

mvpvideos2007 wrote on 8/7/2003, 11:13 AM
I use the verbatim -R format and have haad great luck with them.
Luxo wrote on 8/7/2003, 11:14 AM
MPEG2, stupidly enough, has no elegant way of dealing with pure luminance changes (ie. fade in fade out). It's very bad at that, though very good at compressing organic motion. That said, you shouldn't notice pixelation much (if any) worse when viewing your DVDs than you see on commercial releases.

It sounds more like an incompatibility with your DVD media and your players. Your encoding at 8000 CBR is more than enough (think Superbit). Check the player database at dvdrhelp.com to see what brand media your players work best with. As for satisfying customers, you just have buy the best media and hope for the best. If you want, find out what DVD player they have on the site above before sending them a disc.

As has been discussed here a thousand times, the usual trusted media include Pioneer and Apple.
riredale wrote on 8/7/2003, 12:32 PM
Just buy one Apple DVD-R disk, burn it, and see if your pixel problem persists. Apple is known to have good media.

Out here, the Apple media sells for about $3 a disk. I have had great success with Ritek G04 blanks, which are also 4x certified and can be bought in quantities of 25 for about $2 a disk. I have burned hundreds with my Cendyne/Pioneer -05 burner with nary a return.

I encode with CinemaCraft, and in the configuration menus one is able to specify how much of the bit budget to focus on flat areas versus edges. I don't know whether the encoder you are using allows this adjustability.