VCD to SVCD

[eviljohn2]

I've got some VCDs but obviously the picture breaks up when there's lots of action on screen.

Is there a way I could burn these in SVCD format using Nero to make use of the variable bitrate? and would there even be an improvement?

 

[driver8]

don't know much about this, but ...

you'll need the higher quality source, as the loss will be caused by the conversion to VCD; converting from VCD -> SVCD will not give you any improvement.

So if you want to re-rip or reconvert, checkout www.dvdrhelp.com - superb resource for all movie ripping & converting & burning issues.

Good luck !

 

[gab2001uk]

You can use TMPGenc to convert VCD to SVCD, but the end result would probably look worse than the original VCD, as the 352X288 VCD images are increased to 480X576 SVCD in the process, introducing even more pixellation.

 

[LV426]

Agree as above. The initial pixellation is caused by the constrained bitrate of the source - in other words it is present already in the MPEG1 files you already have.

Converting them to another 'lossy' format will only introduce further losses. At best, you won't see a difference, but the shortcomings of the original will still be there. At worst, you'lll deteriorate the image further.

 

[eviljohn2]

Thanks guys, I guess I'll just have to wait for the Star Wars DVDs to see some action scenes without it breaking up

 

[LV426]

You could always invest in LaserDisc.

 

[eviljohn2]

Indeed I could, but I'm not that much of a Star Wars nut!

Just seeing if I could get an improvement for nothing. Surprise, surprise I can't

 

[gab2001uk]

A VCD done well can be surprisingly good quality. I convert all my kids DVD and VHS tapes to VCD so it only costs me 15p to replace when they turn up at the bottom of their sand-pit in a less than playable condition.

If you have the original VHS (I assume these are the earlier films that are not on DVD) then you can capture them at a higher quality, either DVD or SVCD, but they will only look as good as the original source.
You could also capture from TV, Sky or Freeview if they are shown there.

 

[eviljohn2]

Although I could probably find the VHS copies from a few people, these are the official VCDs from Malaysia (released to combat piracy ironically enough) so I'm limited to them as a source. They're reasonable most of the time, but obviously when there's a lot of motion (think trees on the Forest Moon of Endor!!) the picture obviously breaks up a bit.

I gathered that since SVCD had a variable bitrate then I may have been able to utilise that and improve the picture. (Could have been useful for my friends awful porn collection as well )