Which Transcoder Gives Best Image Quality on One DVD?

[kilg0r3]

dito. I know its a lame question, but, hey it's hot in here.

[Dre]

Instantcopy.

I came to this conclusion from reading the posts on this board.

[JFerguson]

Yes, when I first started playing around with DVD backups, I arrived at an answer just as Dre states.

I've been using IC a lot, and I know it gets a lot of knocks for various things (like sizing), but for 1.85:1 movies it's been very accurate for me, to within 2%.

It also nails the size for some 2.35:1 movies as well, haven't figured out why, though.

On certain 2.35:1 movies I've done, I've gotten undersizes by nearly a gig. But, when I compare the quality of these undersized images to DVDShrink 4.38GB images, they're nearly indistinguishable. I'll have to post some comparison shots sometime. In these cases, I tend to see DVDShrink retain more detail in surface textures for things like roads, floors, etc., but IC retains more detail in action parts of the frame.

[Yannis]

@kilg0r3 (what the hell are you doing in this forum? LOL)

Yes, IC7 is pretty good as (according to some) unlike the other transcoders, performs a frame-variable "redundant" data removal.

Although your question is not about re-encoding, what about trying dvd2dvd-r. You simply need to install CCE and do a couple of (very simple) clicks on the dvd2dvd-r menu. The quality (of the movie-only though output) is unquestionable!!!

[kilg0r3]

Originally posted by Yannis
[B]@kilg0r3 (what the hell are you doing in this forum? LOL) What do you mean? :eek: You simply need to install CCE and do a couple of (very simple) clicks I never did mpeg2 encoding, and, the last time i tried to use cce, i gave up because i felt it it would have taken me days to learn.

[Yannis]

@kilg0r3

Just joking; with so many posts you have, you must be an expert in forums related to much more complicated things than this one! Here we only do silly simple "1-click" things (LOL :D ). A piece of cake for other forum people.

For your CCE comment, yes CCE can get a bit complicated, but believe me, the dvd2dvd-r solution does everything for you!!! If we can use it, you definitely can!

[kilg0r3]

Thanks for the flowers (german idiom) :D But nevermistake a high post count for knowledge. :)

Perhaps I will have dvd2dvr have a go.

edit:

erg, forgot how expensive cce is :eek:

[DVDRFreak]

Originally posted by kilg0r3
Thanks for the flowers (german idiom) :D But nevermistake a high post count for knowledge. :)

Perhaps I will have dvd2dvr have a go.

edit:

erg, forgot how expensive cce is :eek:

You can buy the CCE basic version. It is around 50 dollars I think. The only limitation it has is that you can only do 2 pass VBR encoding.

[krackato]

I still use Instant Copy the most. It's got it's quirks, and I wish it was put out by a company better known for updating their software more often than Pinnacle, but I think the quality is great. I know that there's been a lot of buzz around DVD2DVD-R/CCE, but as far as I can tell, it's only for the movie and not any menus or extras.

In any case, there will be improved products in the future, but for right now, I think Instant Copy delivers great quality.

[sync]

Does dvd2dvd-r still have a problem with subtitles?

[Yannis]

@DVDRFreak
Yes; the 2 pass is the upper limit for the cheap version; but there is no really quality improvement after that :(

@krackato
True; no menus from dvd2dvd-r, this might be an issue to some...
As for InstantCopy, it gives the best quality from all the transcoders, but for longer movies you really need a good re-encoder like CCE :rolleyes:

@sync
For an R2 user, I never had a problem (using IFOEdit mode). For R1 I think there are still issues with subtitles... you can't use IFOEdit either... Hmmm... R2 heaven (LOL :D )

[sync]

Originally posted by Yannis
@DVDRFreak
For an R2 user, I never had a problem (using IFOEdit mode). For R1 I think there are still issues with subtitles... you can't use IFOEdit either... Hmmm... R2 heaven (LOL :D )
Are you referring to regions? Can't you rip it so the region doesn't matter?

[Yannis]

@sync

It is a matter of PAL vs NTSC. In general, the latter is more difficult (e.g., the need for Pulldown).

Check the dvd2dvd-r guide at http://www.mrbass.org/dvd2dvdr/.

[sync]

Yannis, I've read that guide before, but I skipped the PAL part. Now I see what you mean. sigh...