VCD, SVCD and DVD - Quality, Capacity and Media Types
VCD, SVCD and DVD are
popular media for video content distribution. Each
medium is unique and has its pros and cons. With
Digital Media Converter, you can convert your videos
to video file formats that can be directly burned onto
VCDs, SVCDs or DVDs.
VCD: VCD is a high-density, optical storage medium. It
looks just like a music CD, though it stores video data
using compressed MPEG-1 video. It has the capacity to
hold up to 74/80 minutes on a 650MB/700MB CD
respectively, of video with stereo quality sound. VCDs
are stored on CD-ROMs, making them one of the least
expensive, storage media and compatible with a wide
array of devices. You can play VCDs on most DVD players
and PCs with Windows Media Player. You can use any
burning software such as Nero to burn files in VCD
format to CD-R.
It is also
possible to add simple menus, and photo album/slide
shows with background audio. These features make it a
good low-cost choice for video authoring.
SVCD: SVCD stands for Super Video CD. It bridges the
quality gap between the traditional VCD and the DVD. The
audio and video quality of a SVCD is better than VCD
because of the higher resolution of SVCD and the fact
that it stores MPEG-2 Video, though it also depends on
how much data you choose to store. Generally, the less
data per CD, the higher the quality. Like VCD, data is
stored on a CD-R. The typical running time for an SVCD
disc (with full resolution and quality) is 35-45
minutes. It can be played on most stand-alone DVD
Players and on PCs with a DVD-ROM or CD-ROM drive, with
the help of Windows Media Player and an MPEG-2 decoder.
MPEG-2 decoders are not pre-installed on Windows, you
need to download and install an MPEG-2
decoder on your PC to view SVCD and MPEG-2 videos.
DVD: DVD stands for Digital Versatile Disc. A DVD-R can
store up to 8 hours of very high quality DVD-Video
encoded in MPEG-2 format. DVD files can be burned on
DVD-ROMs to play the video on stand-alone DVD players.
If you plan to play your DVD on a PC, then you need an
MPEG-2 decoder. If such a decoder is not installed,
Windows Media player will display an error message that
it was unable to find a codec to play the file. DVDs
have a fixed pre-defined dimension. If you play them on
your PC, they may seem to be distorted or stretched.
However, the video should look fine on your DVD player.
If you intend to burn your videos to DVD-ROMs, the
dimensions should be compliant with the dimensions
listed in the table below.
Understanding DVD media can be puzzling at times. There
are four common DVD types based on file size:
DVD 5:- also called a Single Sided Single
layered, with a capacity of ~4.7 GB.
DVD 10:- also called a Double Sided Single
layered, with a capacity of ~8.75GB.
DVD 9:- also called a Single Sided Dual layered,
with a capacity of ~7.95GB.
DVD 18:- also called a Double Sided Dual layered,
with a capacity of ~17.95GB.
TECHNICAL
INFORMATION:
| Format |
VCD |
SVCD |
DVD |
| Resolution |
NTSC
PAL | 352x240
352x288 |
480x480
480x576 |
720x480
720x576 |
| Video
Compression | |
MPEG-1 |
MPEG-2 |
MPEG-2 |
| Video Bit Rate | |
1150kbps |
~2000kbps |
~5000kbps |
| Frame Rate |
NTSC
PAL |
29.97
25 |
29.97
25 |
29.97
25 |
| Audio Compression | |
MP1 |
MP1 |
MP1, MP2, AC3, DTS, PCM |
| Audio Bit Rate | |
224kbps |
~224kbps |
~448kbps |
| Size/min | |
10
MB/min |
10-20
MB/min |
30-70
MB/min |
| Compatibility | |
Great |
Good |
Good |
| Computer CPU Usage | |
Low |
High |
Very High |
| Quality | |
Good |
Great |
Excellent |
| Maximum Storage
capacity | |
650Mb-700Mb |
650Mb-700Mb |
4Gb-17Gb |
MPEG-2 Decoder: To play SVCD and DVD videos
on your PC, you need to install an MPEG-2 Decoder.
We recommend the Free MPEG-2 Decoder, which you can
download from
http://dl.deskshare.com/download/mpeg2decoder.exe.