DVD 

resolutions 

Allowable picture resolutions are:

MPEG-2, 525/60 (NTSC): 720x480, 704x480, 352x480, 352x240
MPEG-2, 625/50 (PAL): 720x576, 704x576, 352x576, 352x288
MPEG-1, 525/60 (NTSC): 352x240
MPEG-1, 625/50 (PAL): 352x288

DVD-Video MPEG-2 

Resolutions 
NTSC (4:3): 352x240, 352x480, 704x480, 720x480
NTSC (16:9 widescreen): 704x480, 720x480
PAL (4:3) 352x288, 352x576, 704x576, 720x576
PAL (16:9 widescreen): 704x576, 720x576
Video bit-rates 

Up to 10.08Mb/s total combined bitrate. Up to 9.8Mb/s max video bit-rate. CBR, CVBR, or VBR

Audio specs 
AC3 Dolby Digital stereo or surround. Average AC3 stereo is 192-384k. Average surround is 448k or higher.
LPCM uncompressed 1536k WAV/AIFF.
DTS, same bit-rate as AC3.
MPEG Layer II (MP2) stereo, 192-256k bit-rate, not officially supported in the spec

DVD - MPeg differences 

http://dvd.sourceforge.net/dvdinfo/dvdmpeg.html

DVD uses a subset of MPeg standards ISO/IEC 11172 (MPeg-1) and ISO/IEC 13818 (MPeg-2).

VCD And SVCD 

S/VCD specs 

image size 
VCD:  352x240 (NTSC) or 352x288 (PAL)
SVCD: 480x480 (NTSC) or 480x576 (PAL)
rates 

VCD MPEG video must be the standard 1151Kbps and audio must be 224Kbps MPEG-1 layer 2.

An SVCD video stream is variable bit-rate MPEG-2 with a maximum rate of around 2500Kbps and a video buffer size of 230KB.

SVCD NTSC/NTSC Film 

Video:

max 2600 kbit/sec MPEG-2 (Audio + Video bitrate max bitrate is 2778 kbit/s).
480 x 480 pixels (CVD 352x480)
29,97 frames/second
23,976 frames/second with 3:2 pulldown (NTSC Film)
with up to 4 Selectable CVD or SVCD Subtitles

Audio:

44100 Hz
32 - 384 kbit/sec MPEG-1 Layer2 or MPEG2 Audio
with up to 2 Audio Tracks

Extra :

Menus and chapters.
Still pictures 704x480,352x240

VCD-NTSC 1.1 

video
  1150 kbit/sec MPEG-1
  352x240 pixels
  29.97 frames/sec
  (23.976 frames/sec for NTSC-Film)
audio
  224 kbit/sec MPEG-1 Layer2, sampling rate: 44,100 Hz.
total
  1440 kbit/sec

SVCD PAL 

Video:
max 2600 kbit/sec MPEG-2 (Audio + Video bitrate max bitrate is 2778 kbit/s).
480 x 576 pixels (CVD 352x576)
25 frames/second
with up to 4 Selectable CVD or SVCD Subtitles
Audio:
44100 Hz
32 - 384 kbit/sec MPEG-1 Layer2 or MPEG2 Audio
with up to 2 Audio Tracks
Extra :
Menus and chapters.
Still pictures 704x576,352x288

VCD-PAL 1.1 

video
  1150 kbit/sec MPEG-1
  352x288 pixels
  25 frames/sec
audio
  224 kbit/sec MPEG-1 Layer2
total
  1440 kbit/sec

documented on: 2004.06.02

DVD/SVCD/VCD Overview 

http://www.qsl.net/n1gg/linux/video/DVD_VCD_SVCD.html

VCD 

VCD (Video CD) comes in two versions: 1.0/1.1 and 2.0. Version 2 supports menus and a few other goodies. The quality of VCD is fair. Sometimes it is equated to VHS video, but in my experience, usually VHS is better. The video should be MPEG-1 at up to 1152 kbps fixed bitrate, and the audio stereo MPEG-1 layer 2, at 64, 128, or 224 kbps (usually 224kbps) at a sampling rate of 44,100 Hz. The video resolution should be 352x240 for NTSC and 352x288 for PAL.

Acceptable video framerates are 29.97fps and 23.976fps for NTSC, and 25fps for PAL.

With these settings, playing time is 74-80 minutes. On some players it is possible to play a nonstandard VCD. VCDs that do not adhere to the VCD specification are called XVCDs. XVCDs are very useful, but there is no guarantee that they will play on any particular player. Some players will play XVCDs with MPEG-2 video or different resolutions other than CIF (352x240/352x288). Some also allow different rates of audio and higher video bitrates than 1152kbps.

SVCD 

Super Video CD is similar to VCD, but it allows better quality video, but at the expense of the time that will fit on 1 CD. It contains MPEG-2 video at 480x480 resolution (480x576 for PAL) at up to 2600 kbps. Unlike VCD, SVCD allows variable-bitrate video. The audio is the same as VCD, except additional bitrates are allowed. The video framerate is also the same as VCD.

Usually, an SVCD can store 25-50 minutes of good quality video.

A nonstandard SVCD is called an XSVCD.

DVD 

DVD (Digital Video Disc, Digital Versatile Disc) is a very versatile format. It allows complex menus; multiple audio, video, and subtitle streams; and other features. DVD video is MPEG-1 or MPEG-2, at up to 9.8Mbps at resolutions of 720x480, 704x480, 352x480, or 352x240. PAL resolutions are 720x576, 704x576, 352x576, and 352x288. The framerate is the same as for VCD/SVCD. The audio can be one or more Dolby Digital (AC-3), MPEG audio, PCM, and/or DTS streams.

A DVD will usually hold about 2 hours of excellent quality video.

CONVERT http://www.videohelp.com/convert.htm#svcd These guides describes how to convert a video to DVD, VCD, SVCD, CVD or AVI,DivX,Xvid, ASF and more.

videohelp faq 

http://www.videohelp.com/faq.htm

General 

Why VCD or SVCD or DVD? How do I make a VCD, SVCD or DVD? How do I play a VCD on my computer? How do I play a SVCD on my computer? How do I play a DVD on my computer? How do I play a DivX on my computer? How do I watch movies on the TV with the computer? What standalone DVD Players can play VCDs? What standalone DVD Players can play SVCDs? What standalone DVD Players can play miniDVDs? What standalone DVD Players can play XVCDs? What standalone DVD Players can play DivXs? Where do I download applications? Where do I buy original VCD Movies? Where do I buy original SVCD Movies? Which MPEG Encoder is the best? How can I take a screenshot from a VCD,DVD,DivX… video? What do I do with these .rar,.r00,.r02 files? How do I make VCD photo CD? How do I make Karaoke VCD or DVD? Can PS2 play VCD, SVCD, Mini-DVD, XVCD, XSVCD ?

Playing Problems I can not play the AVI movie that I have downloaded? I can not play the DivX movie that I have downloaded? I get some purple/pink/red colors when I play AVIs,DivX..? I can not play any VCD on my computer? I can not play any SVCD on my computer? I can not play any MPEG2 on my computer? How do I play a ripped DVD movie on my computer? I can not forward or rewind on my VCD's on my standalone DVD Player? I can not forward or rewind on my SVCD's on my standalone DVD Player? I burnt a VCD/SVCD and it doesn't play on my DVD Player? My DVD Player won't play the VCD/SVCD I burnt on CD-R?

Conversion How do I convert or download a streaming ASF,RM? How do I convert a MPG/AVI/DivX/MOV/Anything to VCD,SVCD,DVD,miniDVD,Divx,RM,Anything? How do I add own subtitles to a video and encode to a VCD/SVCD? How do I add Subrip, .SRT or MicroDVD, .SUB subtitles to a DivX video and encode to a VCD/SVCD? How do I convert a PAL/NTSC VCD to NTSC/PAL VCD? How do I convert only the audio in a MPG/AVI/DivX/ASF to mp3 or wav? How do I get better audio quality with TMPGEnc and how to use toolame? How do I use toolame with TMPGEnc? The audio get out of synch or freezes when converting a DivX/ASF to MPG? How to use the Avisynth frameserver with FlaskMPEG? How to use the Avisynth frameserver with Adobe Premiere? When I convert a AVI,DivX the colors change to purple/pink/red some times? How do I convert an AC3 audio file or DivX with AC3 to an audio file?

Capture How do I capture with my TV-card/TV-in and convert to VCD? How to use Virtualdubs frameserver? How to use Virtualdubs Multisegment Capture (Spill System)? What capture card should I get? Why can't I capture to files bigger than 4 GB? Why can I only capture(copy) ~18 min DV?

Burn Can I copy a DVD Movie like copy a AudioCD if I have a DVD Writer/Burner? Can I copy-protect or add a password to my own made VCDs or SVCDs? Can I copy-protect my own made DVDs? Does burn speed matter when burning VCDs or SVCDs? How do I convert or extract a BIN/CUE(CDRWIN), CIF,ISO(Easy CD, Iauthor), NRG(Nero), C2D(WinOnCD) Image? How do I mount a BIN/CUE as a virtual CD-ROM unit? How do I burn a BIN? How do I make a BIN? How do I burn a DivX? How do I burn a MPEG as a VCD? How do I burn a MPEG file bigger than 650 MB? How do I copy a VCD? How do I copy a SVCD? How do I copy a DVD? How do I make a VCD or SVCD with menus and chapters? How do I make a DVD with menus and chapters? How do I make a VCD photo album / slide show? How do I make an autoplay, autorun VCD,SVCD,DivX,AVI? How come that I can fit 740 MB on a 74 min CD or 800 MB on a 80 min CD? How come that I can only fit 4.3 GB on a 4.7 DVDR?

DVD Ripping How do I rip a DVD to my harddrive? How do I convert to VCD,SVCD,DivX or DVD?

Multiplex How do I demultiplex a MPG,AVI,DivX,ASF? How do I multiplex a MPG,AVI,DivX,ASF? How do I multiplex with bbMPEG?

Audio How can I convert the VCD audio to an audio CD or a wav file? How can I convert the DVD audio to an audio CD or a wav file? How do I convert an AC3 audio file or DivX with AC3 to an audio file? How do I convert a wav audio file to a mpeg audio file? How do I convert only the audio in a MPG/AVI/DivX/ASF to MP3 or WAV? How do I fix audio sync in a MPG? The audio get out of synch or freezes when converting a DivX/ASF to MPG?

Region free How do I make my DVD-ROM regionfree? How do I make WinDVD,PowerDVD,Win2k… region free? How do I make Hollywood Plus DVDStation region free? How do I make my standalone DVD region free?

Repair How do I repair a MPG/MPEG? How do I repair a DivX/AVI? How do I repair a ASF?

Edit/Cut/Join How do I split/cut/edit a DivX/AVI? How do I join DivXs/AVIs? How do I split/cut/edit a MPEG? How do I join MPEG? How do I add a logo, watermark or text to a video file? How do I remove a logo or text,subtitles in a video file?

What is? Use our Glossary for common video terms

How come that I can fit 740 MB on a 74 min CD or 800 MB on a 80 min CD? 

A VCD,XVCD,XSVCD or SVCD are burned in mode 2 form 2 instead of ordinary data mode where you fit 650 MB on a 74 min CD. The mode2 form2 has less error correction than data mode.

80 min CD VCD/SVCD/XVCD mode

Mode2 Form2 = 2324 bytes/sector = 360 000 * 2324 = about 800 MB on a 80 min CD.
Data mode
Mode1 Form1 = 2048 bytes/sector = 360 000 * 2048 = about 700 MB on a 80 min CD.

(a 80min CD has 75 sectors/s = 80min CD * 60 * 75 = 360000)

74 min CD VCD/SVCD/XVCD mode

Mode2 Form2 = 2324 bytes/sector = 333 000 * 2324 = about 740 MB on a 74 min CD.
Data mode
Mode1 Form1 = 2048 bytes/sector = 333 000 * 2048 = about 650 MB on a 74 min CD.

(a 74min CD has 75 sectors/s = 74min CD * 60 * 75 = 333000)

VCD, SVCD, CVCD, KVCD, DVD 

http://dvdripping-guid.berlios.de/forum/viewforum.php?f=2

http://club.backchina.com/html/subject70.html

http://bbs.huang110.com/list.asp?boardid=26

http://bbs.yule88.com/Boards.asp

VCD and SVCDs 

/usr/share/doc/mjpegtools-1.6.1/HINTS

VCD's have very specific requirements as to the format of the multiplexed systems stream. For VCD these are actually at least "bendings" of the original MPEG standard and are far from optimal as far as maximising possible quality for software decoding goes.

The simplest way to generate VCD and SVCD streams that can be burnt to CD and played using DVD players etc is to use the lav2mpeg script with the "-V" and "-S" flags.

If you want to play around a couple of hints.

To build a VCD you absolutely *must* used the VCD format option for mplex "-f 1". This turns on a lot of weird stuff that otherwise has no place in a respectable multiplexer!

Obviously, to play on all players your original MPEG video must be the standard 1151Kbps and audio must be 224Kbps MPEG-1 layer 2 (as produced by the "-v" flag of mp2enc.

The systems streams generated by "-f 1" have been tested and succesfully burned onto CD using vcdimager and vcdburn.

An SVCD video stream is variable bit-rate MPEG-2 with a maximum rate of around 2500Kbps and a video buffer size of 230KB. Currently I recommend encoding -m 2 -F 3 or (for progressive material like PAL films) -m 2 -F 0. -F 1 and -F 2 will work but are currently handicapped by rather dumb code to choose the type of motion compensation. I have some suspicions that the rate control code and multiplexer needs adjusting for field sequences (-m 2 -F 1 and -F 2) also. To generate a legal S VCD program stream with mplex use the "-f 3" flag.

whatever2mpg 

http://www.kudla.org/index.php?wl_mode=more&wl_eid=3&wl_search=vcd

10:36pm EST, 8 Mar 2003 (Updated 10:45pm EST, 8 Mar 2003)

I've been pissed off at the proliferation of incompatible video formats (and then incompatible codecs within those formats) for a lot longer than I've been using Linux. But oddly enough it was a Linux tool that finally let me come up with a way to convert them all to VCD-compatible MPEG files.

These scripts aren't really fit for human consumption yet but I just wanted to get them out there as long as I'm stalled. They do work for the most part, but they're not pretty (pure command line perl with lots of debug output from the programs they call) and I have some sync issues to work out with videos converted from variable frame rates.

whatever2mpg is the main script. It will take any 25 or 30 frames per second video (in any format understood by the Linux video player mplayer and convert it to an MPG file which may then be made into a Video CD using vcdimager.

http://www.kudla.org/whatever2mpg/whatever2mpg

make30fps and make24fps are the helper programs, which use mplayer's "mencoder" program to convert videos at other frame rates (or variable frame rates) into an intermediate AVI file of 24 or 30 FPS with accompanying WAV file for subsequent conversion to VCD by whatever2mpg. I use DivX 4 at the highest possible bitrate for minimal loss in quality without running into the 2GB limit (or requiring a ridiculous amount of free space.) make24fps is not too useful at the moment since I haven't actually run into any videos that needed to be converted to 24fps, and so whatever2mpg will erroneously treat them as 30fps files at present.

http://www.kudla.org/whatever2mpg/make30fps http://www.kudla.org/whatever2mpg/make24fps

I intend to write a point and drool PerlQt front end for these once they're a little closer to being done (a number of people have already asked for SVCD support) with options for automatically building bin/cue files and other things, but since I've been treading water for a few weeks now I figured it was time to release. These aren't version numbered or anything and they are subject to change without notice (at least till I cob together a more official release.) They are licensed under the GPL and you'll be using them at your own risk. That said, please contact me with the details of any videos you run into that these scripts fail horribly on. If you're prepared to provide me with a copy of the video (or better yet a brief clip), so much the better.

documented on: 2004.06.02

How to clone VCD in Linux? 

Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 13:09:15 +0200
> Can I copy VCD in Linux? I have visit
> http://vcdmaster.sourceforge.net/resources/[] but can't find good tool for
> this propose...

Use cdrdao.

MrZammler

VCD maker for Linux? 

       Date: Tue, 10 Sep 2002 02:49:47 +0000 (UTC)
Newsgroups: comp.multimedia, comp.os.linux.misc

I've been trying for some time now to turn AVI files into VCD or sVCD using Debian Linux. I don't have the time to become an expert in video formats, which appears to be necessary to do it using, e.g., transcode.

I thought Christian Vogelang's Ripmake would be ideal, but it fails with the error message

make: *** [audio_sample-a0] Broken pipe

I am also not an expert on how make works, so I can't debug that.

I thought about using such software as Cinelerra or MainActor, but Cinelerra won't compile on my box, and MainActor can't load any file without segfaulting.

So any other suggestions?

Carl Fink

VCD maker for Linux? 

Give "vcdtools" a try http://vcdmaster.sourceforge.net/resources/

don