Please don't kill me :) (dvd2dvdr vs ic7/8)

[leopardone]

Well...
I've tried to find some sort of answer around here but without luck.
I'm trying to understand how good(bad) is the internal transcoder into DVD2DVDR compared to IC7/IC8.
I know that rule #12 says "Do not ask "what's best" because this question cannot be answered objectively" but I can't find a nice answer for my question using only my eyes and my tests ;)
I'd like to know some impressions from you all :)
(starting from the point that, in my opinion, CCE is the best encoder and ICx is an awesome transcoder) :)

Thx in advance :)

[buzzqw]

afaik dvd2dvd use the same engine as ReJig...
never tryed IC#
try a ReJig vs IC# :p

BHH

[monomer]

If you are using CCE for your encoder then DVD2DVD-R is actually re-encoding the movie. However IC7/8 I believe just merely transcodes, which means it simply removes some information from the original encode. As long as you don't remove too much information and if the original bitrate is high enough, I doubt you will see any difference between the IC7/8 transcoded back-up and the original. The problems happen when you start to remove too much information (high compressions and low bitrates) things become blocky and/or blurry, etc. That is when you will see a major difference between a transcoded movie and one that was re-encoded (a redistributing of the bits). Each method has it own advantages. The trick is learning to assess the situation correctly and then choose the best method for your particular situation. With very small compressions you are probably better off using a transcoder because its faster, you're likely not to see any degradation in the PQ, and since re-encoding is not a loss-less process either, the transcode might possibly have the better PQ.