I'm planning on buying a DVD-player for my TV. I want to burn my own VCD's and watch them on my DVD-player. I know some DVD-players refuse to play them. If the specifications of the DVD-player says that it plays CD-R's, does that mean that it also will play my VCD-R's ??
Kind regards,
scratch@pandora.be
Not necessarily!
One example is a machine I tested made by LG - you'll find them in record stores and certain branches of WHSmith. It plays all manner of homemade CD-R and CD-RW, but won't play VCDs at all - homemade or otherwise!
Another such offender was a Goodmans machine.
Your only real answer is to go to the showroom armed with homemade VCDs (linear and menu-based) and SVCDs if you see yourself following that path. Ask the shop assistant if you can play these discs on their machines before you spend money. If they refuse, then go elsewhere.
My experience has been that budget no-brand machines from China consistantly give the best results with VCDs and SVCDs on CD-R and CD-RW discs.
Hope this helps,
Pete
Check out mp3players.co.uk They do a DVD player that can handle VCD ,SVCD & MP3 written on CDR & CDRW. I have bought a "Scan" DVD which has DTS an excellent player
well worth the £186.00 I paid for it.
Just get the Wharfdale sold at tesco, DVD, VCD (CDR/CDRW) & AudioCD compatible.
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Cheers
Ian
For Ian at Lynx DV.
I am very interested in the Wharfedale DVD player sold at Tesco. It gets a good write-up in the Oct edition of What Hi-Fi (5 stars) and appears on the list of players at the WWW.VCDhelper.com site with the comment that it will play both VCD and SVCD.
What I really want to know is: has anyone in the UK actually tried one with a homemade VCD and SVCD? Perhaps CV Magazine should do a review!
David
Yes, it plays home-made VCD!
We have used several different encoders but the best was TMPGEnc, with Panasonic a close second, encode the file to VCD format with whatever encoder you wish, we use NERO to burn the VCD - very easy and a lot less hassle than EasyCD etc. simply drag file into window and nero does rest.
You can get Nero as a download from their site, demo is free for 30 days etc. and cost around £40 for full reg version code.
We've use unbranded CD's, Samsung CDR-80, Verb etc. all play ok with no problem.
But, the Wharfdale will NOT play SVCD's only VCD, but with TMPGEnc the quality is great (Even plays VCD's encoded onto the business card CD's we do too)!
If you're still not sure and you have a VCD already encoded and burned to disk send it down and we'll test it in the Wharfdale for you.
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Cheers
Ian
[This message has been edited by Ian at LynxDV.com (edited 17 September 2000).]
[This message has been edited by Ian at LynxDV.com (edited 17 September 2000).]
Would anyone be interested in us making relatively small VCD and SVCD disc images available as downloads? In doing so, users could burn them to CD and test players before they buy.
Just a thought.
Pete
For £6.50 All in (perhaps cheaper than a download) I will send out VCD or SVCD`s on CDRW (so you can use it again if it fails) These have played on my computer (via windvd software)and on my standalone dvd player. the VCD should play in all but a few of standalone dvd players.Go to www.vcdhelper.com/dvdplayers.htm for a list of compliant players.
email me if intrested
The Phillips DVD 711 (Currys, Dixons) will play anything including those burnt on el cheapo cd-r and cd-rw. Great machine. It copes with everything that I have burnt including SVCDs.
Best of Luck
YES very interested in a nero compatable SVCD image to burn and go and test some players before I buy (I am confident that if i find a standalone player that will play SVCD on CDR I will be able to work out how to encode files but it would be nice to check compatability before splashing out on a player and i am not sure that my current attempts at mpeg2 encoding are correct the files i make useing TMPEG won't play on my computer)
thanks
tom
Does your mpeg 2 files that you created have a file association with them ?. That is do you get a named icon or just a windows logo ?
If the latter is so, you will need an MPEG 2 player on your computer.
Keeping video clips down to 10 or 20 seconds - about the length of an advert - will allow people to see if discs work, and would make for a reasonably small download of only a few MB.
I can also provide discs with menu structures, small slideshows and audio tracks to test the full compatibility of a player - I found at least one player (a JVC) which seemed VCD compatible but didn't like some of the features of the VCD 2.0 format.
Any takers?
Pete
There's a newer version of TMPGEnc on our site now (now defaults to PAL VCD settings on startup, so not fiddling required, just locate file and encode).
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Cheers
Ian
yes John, the files i produce with TMPEG have a file association (.mpg opens with media player7)but media player attempts to download a codec then brings up an error stateing "an invalid media type was specified" I have been encoding from RT2000 DV and uncompressed 1/4 screen using the SVCD preset in TMPEG.... am i missing somthing or just being stupid??
thanks
tom
sleepytom
It's possible that your media player 7 does not have an mpeg2 playback codec.
the mpeg working group or whatever they are called did not make the playback codec freely available like they did with mpeg1, one day I'm sure they will, in the end.
As a result media player can only play back mpeg2 files if it has the codec loaded, and this usually only comes as part of a DVD player software or something like that.
Do you have a dvd player (software) program such as power-dvd or something like that that opens files, if so, try playing back the tmpg files with this.
second thought - did you get the RT version that had the power-dvd software, or did you get the one with the win-dvd prog?
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Cheers
Ian
[This message has been edited by Ian at LynxDV.com (edited 21 September 2000).]
I've had the same problems as Tom: my MPEG 2 files won't play on my PC but, as Lynx DV suggest, I think its probably because I don't have a DVD player and, therefore, don't have an MPEG 2 decoder. I have found reference in the WIN 98SE help files to the MS DVD player but it does not appear on my list of programs nor can I install it from the CR-ROM. Can I assume that it is only accessible if a DVD drive is detected?
Also, is there any way of getting hold of any MPEG 2 decoder to see if my files play WITHOUT having to buy a DVD player?
David
Yes Please!
quote:Originally posted by pcwells:
Keeping video clips down to 10 or 20 seconds - about the length of an advert - will allow people to see if discs work, and would make for a reasonably small download of only a few MB.
I can also provide discs with menu structures, small slideshows and audio tracks to test the full compatibility of a player - I found at least one player (a JVC) which seemed VCD compatible but didn't like some of the features of the VCD 2.0 format.
Any takers?
Pete
Pete (or anyone really)
Please can you put nero format SVCD images(just a plain one will be fine for me, although others may want menus etc) on the web or on an FTP sever or even email me some (size is not too much of an issue within reason)as i am very keen to buy a dvd player next week.
thanks
tom
When next week?
I'll be preparing the disc images this weekend, but I won't be able to upload them until Monday at the earliest - and then there's the question of where to upload them to in order to give the easiest access.
I'll aim to get something up there ASAP. The Nero image will be a basic one-file-only SVCD, as Nero doesn't support menus etc. in the same way as WinOnCD.
The VCD will be a little more complex, but both images will only be a few MB in size.
Cheers,
Pete
Not too early and i will happly wait until i can take along a test disk, but as with all new stuff i can't wait to get my hands on it and see what it can do 
In the mean time do you have any recomendations on a good player and where to buy from?
Thanks
tom
quote:Originally posted by Ian at LynxDV.com:
....But, the Wharfdale will NOT play SVCD's only VCD...
Wrong, the Wharfewale DVD750 and DVD750S can play VCD's and SVCD's - both retail and home made.
[This message has been edited by Chris H (edited 30 September 2000).]
Chris
Wow! none of mine worked, but I did only try one for 5 minutes - what the sucessful process then?
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Cheers
Ian
[This message has been edited by Ian at LynxDV.com (edited 01 October 2000).]
[This message has been edited by Ian at LynxDV.com (edited 01 October 2000).]
Sleepytom,
Are you using Nero for general CD burning? If not, which program do you use?
I'm finding difficulty finding a generic disc image format that all programs can understand, so I'm having to make multiple files.
If you can let me know which program you're using, I'll upload the appropriate file onto an Xdrive and email you with the URL to collect it.
Cheers,
Pete
Hello Ian,
I've created quite a few SVCD's - all of which play back very nicely on my Wharfedale DVD750. I'm using CinemaCraft, Tsunami or LSX Premiere Plug-In to create the MPEG2 file, then I-Author to create an SVCD disc image, then burn with Easy CD Creator.
I have also made a couple of SVCD's using Nero, but the second refuses to play properly.
My experiments continue..... 
Chris.
I've put an SVCD disc image up on the net - it's only compatible with Nero so far, but I'll be making versions in the next few days that can be burned with Easy CD Creator and WinOnCD.
Anyone interested can get it here.
I'd appreciate it if those with SVCD-compatible DVD players could let me know if the image has survived its travels through cyberspace. The file is a rather hefty 7MB for 15 seconds of video. 
I'm also making menu-based VCDs for download, and they will be available shortly from the same address.
Oh, and the video is a blatant advert for the mag - hope noone minds!
Cheers,
Pete
Pete
Please don't put such complicated graphics & pictures on your home page, it took 0.00000053 seconds to open the home page!!
I am halfway through downloading this file, (I started on July 8th)
I can't wait to see an Expert Video, even if it is about blatant, btw who is blatant?
johnpr98 (In sarky advice mode
John,
It's hardly 'expert' - I ran it off in about ten minutes while having my tea.
The idea is to provide a disc that can be used to test the compatibility of DVD players with CD-R(W) discs and the SVCD standard.
Please don't shoot the pianist!
Pete
It looks pretty good to me "Blatant" the piggy looks very clear. I look foward to seeing the ad between Part 1 & 2 of Coror St.
I had to rename the extension to an mpeg to play it with WMP7 but I know it's meant for other things.
Scenario
Currys\PC World\Dixons etc. around the country on Saturday morning all playing "Blatant Computer Video Ads"
Sounds good to me
Cheers
John
quote:Originally posted by johnpr98:
ScenarioCurrys\PC World\Dixons etc. around the country on Saturday morning all playing "Blatant Computer Video Ads"
I thought the image was a very pretty one too!
There's now more images of the same SVCD up there for burning with Easy CD Creator and WinOnCD.
I'll be putting some menu-based VCD images up over the weekend too. And then I might think about prettying-up the front page!
Let me know how the discs work - I never trust this cyberspace trasnfer process!
Pete
[This message has been edited by pcwells (edited 06 October 2000).]
Finally got my Wharfedale DVD750s today. Plays all VCD's even on the cheapest 'Silver Blue'CD-r media.
Quality of playback with digital video (from Raptor) encoded by TMPGenc and burnt by Win On CD is excellent. Now how do you go about burning an SVCD with the set-up I've got?