CCE SP vs Canopus ProCoder 2

[HornyBass]

I'm wondering if one is better than the other or if each of them have strong points that the other don't have or if one is doing some things better than the other, or something.

[insertdisk]

Canopus is generally used when the source is interlaced and CCE for all other sources (progressive).

[wmansir]

CCE SP:
Pros:
Faster (for same # of passes)
Sharper image
Well tested with DVD-RB

Cons:
More artifacts (if bitrate is low)
Price (for SP, Basic is cheaper than ProCoder)


ProCoder:
Pros:
Less artifacts, much better with low bitrates
Much better with interlaced material, even without field-based encoding (which I don't think DVD-RB supports at this time)

Cons:
Slower
Softens image (which I don't think you can turn off)
Not as reliable with DVD-RB (Works great most of the time, but I've encountered rebuild errors with Pro that I haven't with CCE, only with multi-angles though)


There are other differences, like configurability and interface, and ProCoder can do more than MPEG encoding, but they aren't a factor with DVD-RB.

If you ignore speed and price, the main differences are compatibility DVD-RB (which CCE is best at) and image quality. I think a lot of people will like ProCoder's output better. It softens the picture slightly, but it's not very noticeable on playback. You can achieve a similar result with CCE, but it requires the use of filters, which can be awkward to setup, and even then it may not be as good (like with interlaced material). But for those who want the sharpest image, ProCoder may not look as good.

[DD51]

wmansir,

Thank you for your detailed reply..it is greatly appreciated!
I was wondering myself.



Regards,

[HornyBass]

Yes, thanks for those clear informations.

CCE SP for sharp image and non interlaced movies.

Pro Coder for interlaced and/or smooth image.


But I think that someone have to remind me what is smooth and what is sharp image.

[wmansir]

ProCoder will apply some type of noise reduction/detail reduction (aka blur), which cannot be turned off. It could be due to a custom matrix, or perhaps it is only enabled at low bitrates. I haven't looked into it too much. But like I said, it's not very noticeable on playback. I think it would be impossible to spot on a standard TV. In many cases the improvement in encoding quality is well worth the trade off.

CCE on the other hand will try to encode the full detail of the video.