Disks for friends and family

jerrys

Senior Contributor Location: New Britain, CT, USA (between New York and Boston) Joined: Feb 10, 2010 21:36 Messages: 1038 Offline

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Jan 23, 2011 15:20

When making DVDs for distribution to friends and family, which formats/encodings are most likely to play on the majority of disk players?

So far almost everything I've done has been under 30 minutes, so size isn't an immediate concern. I've been using MPG2, and I've had no complaints, but when dubbing over video tapes I've had to use "Smart fit" even though I don't really know what it's doing. (Does it change the bit rate? the compression?)

My player is a new, top-of-the-consumer-line model, so I can't trust that others will be able to play a disk just because I can.

Suggestions?

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Jan 23. 2011 15:39

Jerry Schwartz

James Dotson

Senior Contributor Location: Tennessee Joined: Aug 24, 2009 20:40 Messages: 3066 Offline

Jan 23, 2011 19:16

I don't use smart fit, but I have another dvd shrinker that lowers the bitrate. I have had no complaints with MPEG 2 HQ. I think it holds about an hour of video on a single layer disc. I have read some reports on here about others having minor issues with lower quality settings.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Jan 23. 2011 19:16

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CORNBLOSSOM

All vodi

Senior Contributor Location: Canada Joined: Aug 21, 2009 11:24 Messages: 1431 Offline

Jan 24, 2011 14:31

Can you specify if the DVD are SD or HD ? Win 10, i7

jerrys

Senior Contributor Location: New Britain, CT, USA (between New York and Boston) Joined: Feb 10, 2010 21:36 Messages: 1038 Offline

Jan 25, 2011 21:13

Quote: Can you specify if the DVD are SD or HD ?

Yes, I can. Would you like me to?

So far my videos have all come from two sources: VHS tapes and my wife's Flip camera (an older one). I'm not doing HD.

I really should read up on the technology. I find myself wondering why you can get an entire movie, plus, on a commercial DVD but all the talk here is that a DVD will only hold about an hour's worth.

Bitrate? Compression? Jerry Schwartz

All vodi

Senior Contributor Location: Canada Joined: Aug 21, 2009 11:24 Messages: 1431 Offline

Jan 25, 2011 21:25

With SD, a standard single sided DVD will hold about 2 hours of video. In HD, using AVC encoding, the total time is about 1/2 hour for a single sided disc. In both cases we are using a standard DVD (4.5gb) and not BD (25 gb).
Win 10, i7