Which Excellent Layer Break Should I Choose?

[TomBrooklyn]

Which is the best "Excellent" Layer Break should I should have choosen of the choices in the screenshot below?

I believe the first criteria to use is to select the percentage closest to 50/50. In this case, all four excellent choices have the same percentage.

I think the next criteria is to give preference to not splitting a VTS. I wasn't sure which selection that would be, although I guessed at the fourth one.

[r0lZ]

1 and 2 are before A BUP and IFO file. They are not in the video, and therefore are excellent.
2 and 4 are identical, and are before the VOB file, against not in the video and excellent.
The percentage is identical, because the BUP and IFO files are so small that the difference is less than 1%.

Selecting any of the 4 first position will have the same effect: no visible layer break. However, I would use the 3rd or 4th position, because VTS_07_0.IFO will still be on layer 0, and VTS_07_0.BUP on layer 1.

[TomBrooklyn]

Hi.
How does one read and interpret the information on this screen? Is there a guide to it anywhere?
Cheers,
Tom

[r0lZ]

I don't know if there is a manual, but in this case, it is easy to interpret the info.

See the N/A fields in the 3 first lines: since they reference the beginning of a physical BUP. IFO and VOB file on disc, there is no video content. Obviously, they are excellent candidates.

The fourth line has the same LBA number than the 3rd, because it references the first cell in VTS_07_1.VOB, and therefore the same location on disc than the beginning of that file. The thing to note is that the chapter number is 1, meaning that it's the beginning of a movie (normal, as it's also the beginning of the VOB). Therefore, it's also an excellent candidate.

On the other hand, the last line is the beginning of chapter 2, therefore somewhere inside the movie. As a consequence, it's a less good solution.

You are very lucky BTW, and I guess your DVD is either a collection of shorts or episodes, or it holds two versions of the same movie (widescreen and fullscreen for example.) Most of the time, the cells available for the layer break are in the middle of the movie, and are less good candidates. In that case, a change of the VOB ID (the first number in the V/C ID field) or "No" in the SPLIP column are usually good indications that the original layer break was at that place in the original DVD.

The percentage column gives an indication of what will be on L0 and on L1, but it is not an indication of the quality of the layer break. It might be preferable to place more data on a layer, if the selected LB cell is better than the cell closest to 50/50.

Anyway, when there are no excellent (green) candidates, you should always verify if the position is good with the preview. Also, if you tick the "Seamless" option, you will usually not notice the LB at all, and you can place it where you want. That option might be incompatible with some (old?) players, but it works well with most players.

[blutach]

Is there a guide to it anywhere?

Check to guide to the ImgBurn functions on the ImgBurn Forum.

Regards