still mpg blurry after bmp conversion

[Norco]

made a menu 640x480 and when converted to a 704x480 still mpg svcd and it gets blurry.. just wondering if its normal.. i read 640x480 was best to use since no resizing would be done
can download the examples here if u like to see

ftp://example:example@24.82.164.135:1982

thx

used vcdeasy btw

[htc10825]

which authoring software did you use? and more important how(settings?)

[Norco]

vcdeasy.. here's the settings


well i attached a jpg.. now where is it hehe

well guess ill just say them.. went to tools.. then mpeg stills.. mpeg still type svcd, ntsc, high... resize filter spline.... AR 4:3 mpeg size quality 200k

[htc10825]

the links to your example does not work - dead link.
So I cann't see what's wrong in your image/picture

[Norco]

link should work fine unless my comp was frozen when u tried.. opens my ftp in internet explorer or whatever browser you were using and should be 2 files... svcdmenu9.mpg and svcdmenu9.bmp

just right click copy to folder if u werent sure how to

[htc10825]

opens my ftp in internet explorer
I've IE 5.5 SP2, there is no "My FTP" or such things. I can direct access to the ftp-link of other sites I've seen before without problem.
But I've Windows Commander, which supports direct FTP connection. Enter your url and chose "anonymous connection" tnen I can copy your files to local hdd. But you'd better to compress the bmp, just like I've done(see the .rar file copied back to your ftp).

Now to the topic:
The blurr of bmp pic when you convert it to mpeg still is normal. But when you can optimize this step to get less blurry pic. The easierst way is to enlarge the (background) pic to the maximum and put menu/button text on the backgrand. Reduce the complexity of the pic is also a good tip. If you have (or buy?) a sony TV-receiver (>=29 inch) with 100/120Hz technologe you will see a very sharp image. The inernal digital image processor sharps the input image much more. My Sony TV shows allway a very, very sharp image.
Nevertheless I'll see how to get better quality with vcdeasy and upload the results to your ftp. :)

[htc10825]

I've improved the image quality very much - see the attachment.
But you ftp connection is ATM not available, so I must post it as attachment.

Suck! this forum only allow the texts & pictures to be uploaded. So I have to find another way to post it. Maybe your eMail?

[Norco]

computer was frozen, why ftp wasnt working... was away for the weekend... should work now tho... and about there is no "my ftp" in ie5.5 well im talking about opening my ftp(server) not about a option in ie lol.. i didnt compress the bmp since i thought 900k wasnt a big deal to send since most people have broadband and i can send at 60k.. but by the looks of it u were on dialup since u only went like 4k =P

[htc10825]

OK, the files are over(the newst .rar and a .jpg).
Through the enclosed .jpg you shoul see, how to prepare the souce image to ensure a HiQ mpg still. I have edited it in Photoshop.
More important, through compare the two still images in rar archive you should see which settings are necessary for such production.
(Hint: load them in vcdeasy, pay attention to the warning message. But I'm very sure that dosen't matter for all dvd player!)

Hope to hear your answer.

[Norco]

well your new ones are better then mine but no clue what u did :confused:

[htc10825]

Let's have a look at the posts I've wrote earlier in this thread:
More important, through compare the two still images in rar archive you should see which settings are necessary for such production.(Hint: load them in vcdeasy, pay attention to the warning message. But I'm very sure that dosen't matter for all dvd player!)
image1 = mpeg2 in svcd format, no warning message.
image2 = mpeg1 in vcd format, a warning message in vcdeasy while loading it
As above mentioned, all the dvd players which spport svcd can play thus vcd still imges without complaining.
The blurr of bmp pic when you convert it to mpeg still is normal. But when you can optimize this step to get less blurry pic. The easierst way is to enlarge the (background) pic to the maximum and put menu/button text on the backgrand. Reduce the complexity of the pic is also a good tip.Through the enclosed .jpg you shoul see, how to prepare the souce image to ensure a HiQ mpg still. I have edited it in Photoshop.
I've loaded the bmp in photoshop, cleaned/removed the remnants of yout edit efforts, stretched and sharpened the illustration(because after stretch the pic got a little blurr), placed the illu. plus the texts(w/o stretch) on a background of 704x480.

Why?
In fact the size of mpeg still images for NTCS is 704x480(hi res.) or 352x240(low res.). VCDeasy will automaticly resize the source image to the regular size before encoding it to mpeg still image.
Unfortunately the build-in filter for resizing of VCDeasy did and does a terrible bad job. So we have to prepare the souce image so that the build-in resize filter not in use. Unfortunately due to a bug(or feather?) in VCDeasy you cannt 100% turn off the "TV(Aspect Ratio Rerrection)" thus the using of this filter in SVCD still image creation. But we have a work around: select VCD hi-res. and switch off all the "TV(Aspect Ratio Rerrection)"(plus/incl. TV Cropping=0) then you will get a much clear image.
More about it next time :)

[Norco]

well i fooled around and yeah vcd 2.0 mpeg still is clear compared to a svcd mpeg still.. but when u view the vcd 2.0 mpeg still.. its in 704x480 res still.. same source as the image file... its nice and clear but when u watch it on a tv.. its gonna resize it to 640x480 wont it? 4:3 AR? and will it still look clear or will it go blurry.. when u view a svcd mpeg still.. the svcd codec resizes it to 4:3 on the monitor and looks blurry.. so when vcd 2.0 mpeg still is resized wont it be blurry too.. well seems it would be anyways hehe

or does the dvd player resize do a better job when viewed on tv then what vcdeasy was doing

[htc10825]

Sorry, I donn't understand all your questions. Nevertheless I'll make following points clear:
1. When you look the mpeg still in mediaplayer, it will not go blurry as it IS. The mpeg still will be displayed 1:1, will not be resized.
2. The offender of the bad image quality is the build-in resize filter of VCDeasy(Mpeg2Enc.exe). The source image would be resized (thus gone blurry) BEFORE the ecoding process.
3. The dvd player displays the mpeg still on TV WITHOUT any resizing. The player decodes the source image to its buffer digitally(704x480), these data will be read from the D/A-converter line by line(total=480, but interlaced) and converts them to NTSC compatible analogical signal line by line(interlaced). The vertical resolution will be never changed(=480 for SVCD/DVD, =240 for VCD with duplication of the interlaced lines), the diff. horizontal resolution (352/480/704/720) will be interpreted in D/A converter in diff. time interval for getting single data within a line. Since the time for scanning(reading) a line is constant, the AR(AspectRatio) keeps also const.
4. The 4:3 AR on TV will be ensured through the scan timings of TV: the frames per sec., lines per frame, etc. Exception: you've got a very bad adjusted TV or even a defective TV
5. All above mentioned ARs are "display AR", but we often say the AR as "visible AR" or "effective AR" in which the black bars are took into consideration. So the display AR of TV is allways 4:3(due to TV standards) even though you have a 16:9 TV. The visible AR can be diff.
6. When we say: "NTSC mpeg will be stretched to 640x480" or "PAL mpeg will be stretched to 768x576", it is only for easier understanding/calculation of AR. The mpeg data will NEVER be resized horizontally(to 640 or 768) in a player. Not really. The assuming of 640 or 768 leads to a correct calculation of AR.

[Norco]

well thx for helping i figured out how im gonna do it... and if your interested check out the mpeg tools beta it seems to do better job when making svcd mpeg still.

[htc10825]

I've checked it(the beta version) out sometimes ago - It was stil VERY blurry in compare to VCD image.