352x480 DVDs (half D1) or CVD resolution

[goldenrod]

Has anyone had any success creating 352x480 dvds? I have great success creating 720x480 DVDs from various tools (ReMpeg, CCE, TMPG, Tivo Extracts, etc). The problem i'm having is creating 352x480 DVDs. When it plays on most standalone DVD players the picture looks extremely "scrambled" (unwatchable)and off centered and scrambled on others. It plays fine on few standalone DVD players; but those are the cheap one that play anything you throw at them. There is just something not completely compliant with 352x480 mpegs from ReMpeg, CCE, TMPG,etc.

The I use Maestro to create DVDs from CCE and TMPGEnc. Maestro recognizes the 352x480 mpegs as valid and I'm to burn the Vobs via nero. I use InfoEdit .95 for ReMpeg2 mpegs. I think i tried every setting in the book and still same results.

Please help!

-GoldenRod

[jdobbs]

I've created a lot of 352x480 DVDs. No problems here and not much in the way of special steps to create. One fact to remember if you're using CCE to encode is to NOT set the DVD compliant flag... other than that you author normally.

I have also noticed that if you author with Maestro, any button overlays have to be 720x480 even if your video is Half-D1.

For those who wonder.. why would I ever create a Half-D1 DVD? It is for transfers from VHS. The VHS recording itself has a limited horizontal resolution that is much less than 352. So stretching it out to 720 can't improve it and just creates a larger video filesize.

BTW -- never create a DVD with 480x480 resolution, it is non-compliant and generally just a bad idea.

[SatStorm]

The use of this framesize is very common for analogue to digital transfers in generall. It is the best choice for VHS and SVHS to DVD.

Also, 1/2 D1 gonna play the role of LP on VCRs. With 352 X 576/480, you can store more video on one disc, with exceptable quality. Only on HDTVs or good TV screens you gonna see big difference between half and full D1.

[Piper]

I too have found that creating CVD resolution (352x480) DVD's is an ideal way of archiving VHS and TV captures. My only question with this format is that of bitrate. I don't recall where, but remember reading that 2520Kbps video is the maximum for this format. Is this true? I'm trying to keep it all as close to the DVD spec as possible, but so far I havent' been able to find any info on this. Anyone?

[murattttt]

I think 2520Kbps video is for Svcd specs. I've created some (about 20 - all pal and no menus) half d1's and did not care about the bitrate up to know.
I also would like to know if there is a reliable tool to add menus to such dvd's ( or even some converting way of original dvd menus to Half D1's.

[goldenrod]

Thanks jdobbs for your response.

You stated you created 352x480 videos via CCE and they worked fine on your standalone. Have you tried those video on standalones that do not play SVCD or VCDs? From my experiences players that SVCD and/or VCDs usually play anything you throw at them.

Also, have you had any success with 352x480 videos from ReMpeg? ReMpeg is slow and quality is not great but it's the only encoder that can be reliabily reincorporated into VOBs via Ifoedit.

Thanks,
GoldenRod

[jdobbs]

@goldenrod,

Half-D1 (NTSC 352x480) is a part of the DVD standard and all standalone players must support that resolution as a requirement...

Yes I've used ReMPEG to create videos at 352x480. Sometimes when the bitrate gets too low, that is the only way you can get a decent picture out of ReMPEG. I'll tell you though, pretty much ANY encoder (even cheap ones) will give you a better picture than ReMPEG at a given bitrate.

There are other ways to reincorporate VOBs into the originals other than ReMPEG -- but they are definitely more complex. Once you get the technique down, though, and understand what you are trying to do it actually takes less time than ReMPEG (because it is so slow). The problem is there is no all-inclusive way to do it that covers any circumstance, so it takes some intuition on the part of the person doing the copy.

[Radioman]

Hello all enthusiasts :)

I'm also into 1/2 DVD format but would like to get grip on the subtitles when converting movies. The only tool that works for me is Vobedit0.6 where I can extract the *.sup to mux with Ifoedit.

The problem is that the subs are far offset to the right in the picture. As if there was a hardcoded pixel offset where the subs should be if it where a full DVD size film. Full DVD size = subs OK (exept another problem where the subs for some movies stops in the middle of the film.The subs resides in two different VOB ID's :( )

I would be really happy if there is someone that has experienced the same problem and maybe have a sollution to the 1/2 sub's problem. Maybe I should ask this in the subs forum ?

P4 2.53Ghz 3xGXP180+Raid etc...
WinXP home edition.

[jdobbs]

@Radioman

You may want to see if this holds true on a standalone. I don't do subs, but I have noticed that when I create button overlays and play them back on PowerDVD it mistakenly displays them off to the right. But every standalone I've tried plays them correctly.

jdobbs

[Radioman]

@jdobbs

I always do my work for my standalone. This problem is on both.
No buttons just the movie with chapters.