If you can use the m2ts that would probably be the best idea. I have made several dvds from a m2ts video and they looks quite good. Reencoding multiple time to different formats is rarely good for quality. __________________________________
CORNBLOSSOM

Hi Jenny,

A standard DVD player can only be guaranteed to play MPEG-2 and 8Mb/s is the highest bit rate that will give reasonable quality. Going higher won't improve it much if at all. I believe some newer players might be able to play the higher definition file types but I haven't researched this so can't be unequivocal about it.

Hence if you want to produce DVDs that will play on any player you'll need to produce to MPEG-2. PD's default setting for this is 8Mb/s. From what you've said I assume you brought your produced AVCHD master back into the timeline and then produced your MPEG-2 from that. As Jaime-esque has said multiple re-encoding can degrade quality so I'd suggest you might get better results if you re-open the original project you used to produce the AVCHD file and produce the MPEG-2 directly from that.

You're never going to get brilliant quality from a standard PAL DVD MPEG-2 as it's resolution is limited to 720x576 pixels. Regards,
Mike

Home-build system:
Intel Core i5 Quad Core 3.3GHz, 2 x 4GB DDR3 1333MHz,
Asus Nvidia GT440 1GB, 2 x Western Digital WD10EARS 1TB, 1 x Seagate ST1000DM010 1TB,
Windows 7 Prof 64-bit, PD 9 Ultra 64, PD 13 Ultimate 64

Hi Jenny -

I agree with James & Mike. Burn the DVD from the original project (or create a folder from it and burn the DVDs with dedicated software).

You're right to expect degradation of PQ. You're working with a compromised situation. The difference in how PDR renders M2TS 1080p & MPEG-2 DVD HQ is "significant" (euphemism).

In DVD format, the photos will be more pixelated, the titles not so clear, the transitions not so smooth & any motion in your slideshow will be polluted with motion artefacts (shimmering etc).

I just made a simple motion slideshow using 20+ Mpx photos and produced to 3 versions:

1. UHD 3840x2160 @ 30Mbps


2. FHD 1920x1080 @ 14Mbps (akin to AVCHD DVD)


3. DVD HQ 720x480 @ 8Mbps

There are many variables when burning DVD, including how well the player upscales the image. There are two images attached: "SS Resolution" shows a comparison of the PQ you might expect whatching each of the three on a regular HD TV. "DVD-1080" shows the DVD quality image inside the Full HD one. Have a look at the circled leg - thats's what it's like all through the slideshow

You can minimise PQ loss by removing all motion & transitions, but you probably wouldn't want to go back & re-edit the whole project!

Cheers - Tony
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Jaime - thankyou, will do. Such a trek, the whole thing was a volunteer effort in the first place that took many hours. I never give much thought to other people's AV equipment, it never occurred to me that they might not have something that can play AVCHD.
Guess I'll be reproducing.

Fenman - Yep, I did use the AVCHD master and reencoded. I am going to have to re-use my project files as you suggested. The current DVD production is woeful. I hope to get SOME PQ improvement.

Tony - Wow....what amazing comparisons. The HD and the UHD are mildly different compared to the SD. Wow. Look at those lines!

Tony, I have question- Are you saying other software produces better DVD quality than PD13? So I should use PD13 to make the 'folder' then maybe use Win DVD maker? or something?
You're right, I don't want to go and re-edit the whole thing, it's chocker block full of titles and transitions between almost every photo. No motion though, thank goodness, except in 2-3 of the 100 photos. Jenny