Can home-burned DVDs deliver same quality as DV tapes?

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

"jcmon1" wrote ...
> Being new to digital video, I used the version of MyDVD
> LE that came with my new Dell to capture the contents of
> one of my miniDV tapes and burned a DVD-R out of it with
> very simple authoring (menus & chapters) at the software's
> best quality setting. While happy it played on my old Panasonic
> DVD player, I was disappointed that the quality was no where
> near what the DV tapes delivered (in terms of resolution & the
> images appearing jumpy when panned from side to side).

> Can home-burned DVDs deliver same quality as DV tapes?

No DVDs of any type (home-burned or commercial) can equal
the quality of DV tapes. DV tapes are compressed 5:1 while
DVDs are compressed many times more than that. That is the
nature of the beast (DVD) and there is little/nothing you can do
about it. The qulity has nothing to do with your computer (except
maybe how long it takes). It might have something to do with the
software you are using to compress MPEG2.

If you are really concerned about MPEG2 quality, you can ask
in some of the DVD newsgroups about the muti-pass MPEG2
encoders, but you can only increase the bitrate so far before
the DVD won't play on standalone DVD players.

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

I asked the same question including another forum. I didnt get many
replies, but i recall reading somewhere (i dont remember where) that a
dvd recorder can do the job better than a dvd writer. So, what I will
do at some point next year is buy one with a firewire connector at
Costco and try it out. If the quality is the same as the original
(like the guys at one store said it will be) I will keep the unit, if
not, I will return it.


"jcmon1" <jcmon1@deja-news.com> wrote in message
news:i3atd.65075$Vk6.39934@twister.nyc.rr.com...
: Being new to digital video, I used the version of MyDVD LE that came
with my
: new Dell to capture the contents of one of my miniDV tapes and
burned a
: DVD-R out of it with very simple authoring (menus & chapters) at the
: software's best quality setting.
: While happy it played on my old Panasonic DVD player, I was
disappointed
: that the quality was no where near what the DV tapes delivered (in
terms of
: resolution & the images appearing jumpy when panned from side to
side).
: What can be done to maximize the quality of home-burned DVDs to
deliver the
: same or similar performance to DV? Is there software I should buy /
upgrade
: to or a process I should follow to maximize this?
: Again, my goal is to recreate the contents of my DV tapes on DVD
while
: achieving as much of the original quality as possible. My computer
is a
: Dell 3.4 Ghz with 1 GB RAM , a 250 MB SATA HD, Radeon X300 video
card, 16X
: double-layer DVD recorder, and Windows XP Pro.
: Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
:
:

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

"jcmon1" <jcmon1@deja-news.com> wrote in message
news:i3atd.65075$Vk6.39934@twister.nyc.rr.com...
snip
> While happy it played on my old Panasonic DVD player, I was disappointed
> that the quality was no where near what the DV tapes delivered (in terms
of
> resolution & the images appearing jumpy when panned from side to side).
> What can be done to maximize the quality of home-burned DVDs to deliver
the
> same or similar performance to DV? Is there software I should buy /
upgrade
> to or a process I should follow to maximize this?
snip
> Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

What size of TV are you viewing on? Could it be 100Hz ? I've certainly
noticed funny visual effects with 100Hz TVs.
I use a 4 year old 28" wide-screen Panasonic Tau CRT TV (50Hz PAL type), and
can't say that I've noticed that much difference between viewing straight
from my Sony TRV22 camcorder (using either the A/V lead or the S-Video
lead), and watching the same content from a DVD-R played via my Sony Picot
DVD player. (Again I've tried just the A/V leads and the S-video with
little or no visible difference).
However when browsing around the shops, I do notice that very many of the
larger screened TVs are badly set up and seem to be wildly over-sharpened,
and sometimes over contrasty.

--
M Stewart
Milton Keynes, UK
http://www.megalith.freeserve.co.uk/oddimage.htm

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

While there will always be difference in quality, it should not be so
noticeable (if at all). My guess is MyDVD LE is rendering at a lower
quality. Might try tweeking that or using a different encoder.

"jcmon1" <jcmon1@deja-news.com> wrote in message
news:i3atd.65075$Vk6.39934@twister.nyc.rr.com...
> Being new to digital video, I used the version of MyDVD LE that came with
> my
> new Dell to capture the contents of one of my miniDV tapes and burned a
> DVD-R out of it with very simple authoring (menus & chapters) at the
> software's best quality setting.
> While happy it played on my old Panasonic DVD player, I was disappointed
> that the quality was no where near what the DV tapes delivered (in terms
> of
> resolution & the images appearing jumpy when panned from side to side).
> What can be done to maximize the quality of home-burned DVDs to deliver
> the
> same or similar performance to DV? Is there software I should buy /
> upgrade
> to or a process I should follow to maximize this?
> Again, my goal is to recreate the contents of my DV tapes on DVD while
> achieving as much of the original quality as possible. My computer is a
> Dell 3.4 Ghz with 1 GB RAM , a 250 MB SATA HD, Radeon X300 video card, 16X
> double-layer DVD recorder, and Windows XP Pro.
> Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
>
>

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

The consensus seems to be that it's likely a problem with the encoding
rather than in the capture from DV. Would the capture process yield pretty
much the same quality regardless of the software used to perform it?

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

"jcmon1" wrote ...
> The consensus seems to be that it's likely a problem with
> the encoding rather than in the capture from DV.

Virtually 100% of the time.

> Would the capture process yield pretty much the same quality
> regardless of the software used to perform it?

Yes. Because you don't really "capture" DV in the original sense
of the word. DV is already "captured" in the camera and all you
are doing is copying the 1s and 0s from the tape into a disk file.
This should be a no-brainer with no "adjustments" or any kind of
user "options".

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

I just did a 1&1/2 hour show onto one DVD, which means I had to drop the
bitrate down to an average of about 5500 and the quality stayed quite good.

I used Cinemacraft Basic, Multipass VBR settings.

Quality, while not as sharp as the native DV, was far in excess of VHS.
Played it on my 42 Inch TV and unsolicited opinion of spouse was. "That
looks pretty good."


"jcmon1" <jcmon1@deja-news.com> wrote in message
news:i3atd.65075$Vk6.39934@twister.nyc.rr.com...
> Being new to digital video, I used the version of MyDVD LE that came with
my
> new Dell to capture the contents of one of my miniDV tapes and burned a
> DVD-R out of it with very simple authoring (menus & chapters) at the
> software's best quality setting.
> While happy it played on my old Panasonic DVD player, I was disappointed
> that the quality was no where near what the DV tapes delivered (in terms
of
> resolution & the images appearing jumpy when panned from side to side).
> What can be done to maximize the quality of home-burned DVDs to deliver
the
> same or similar performance to DV? Is there software I should buy /
upgrade
> to or a process I should follow to maximize this?
> Again, my goal is to recreate the contents of my DV tapes on DVD while
> achieving as much of the original quality as possible. My computer is a
> Dell 3.4 Ghz with 1 GB RAM , a 250 MB SATA HD, Radeon X300 video card, 16X
> double-layer DVD recorder, and Windows XP Pro.
> Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
>
>

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

"RS" <idontthinkso@mail.com> wrote in message
news:41b734f2$1_2@newspeer2.tds.net...
> I just did a 1&1/2 hour show onto one DVD, which means I had to drop the
> bitrate down to an average of about 5500 and the quality stayed quite
good.
>
> I used Cinemacraft Basic, Multipass VBR settings.

What app did you use to author the DVD?

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

"Richard Crowley" <rcrowley7@xprt.net> wrote in message
news:10raf16rjlunof0@corp.supernews.com...
: ":
: No DVDs of any type (home-burned or commercial) can equal
: the quality of DV tapes. DV tapes are compressed 5:1 while
: DVDs are compressed many times more than that. That is the
: nature of the beast (DVD) and there is little/nothing you can do
: about it. The qulity has nothing to do with your computer (except
: maybe how long it takes). It might have something to do with the
: software you are using to compress MPEG2.

What's the recommended software to burn home movies to dvd? A
collegue of mine uses Ulead and he says it's very bad.

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

"Mark" <none@non.om> wrote in message
news:XlRtd.468387$%k.184383@pd7tw2no...
>
> "Richard Crowley" <rcrowley7@xprt.net> wrote in message
> news:10raf16rjlunof0@corp.supernews.com...
> : ":
> : No DVDs of any type (home-burned or commercial) can equal
> : the quality of DV tapes. DV tapes are compressed 5:1 while
> : DVDs are compressed many times more than that. That is the
> : nature of the beast (DVD) and there is little/nothing you can do
> : about it. The qulity has nothing to do with your computer (except
> : maybe how long it takes). It might have something to do with the
> : software you are using to compress MPEG2.
>
> What's the recommended software to burn home movies to dvd? A
> collegue of mine uses Ulead and he says it's very bad.

"Very bad" in what respect? I doubt there is any discernable
difference in the "quality" of the finished disc. The differences
between DVD authoring applications appear to be with the
usability, functionality, user interface, etc. I find Adobe Encore
to be the only application I got to work first time, every time,
but certainly thousands of people use cheaper (or free) apps to
do the same thing every day.

>
>