[MacDV] Re: additional VCD Help

[Ron Woodland]

I'm sure this has been covered at some point along the discussion in 
this thread, but I'll come at it from another direction.  Video CD is by 
definition one-quarter size of the NTSC video frame.  That is necesary 
so that a CD-ROM (650 MB capacity) can hold a sufficient quantity of 
video to make the format viable.  The frame size, codec, and compression 
amount, among other things, are all calculated to get this format to 
work.  It is nominally equivalent to VHS tape in quality.

To ask for a 640 x 480 video frame on a VCD is to not understand the 
standard.  Yes, there is an SVCD, which yields a better quality by 
increasing the frame size to one-half of the NTSC video frame but lowers 
the amount that can be stored on the medium as a consequence.  I have 
yet to find a player that can handle a SVCD, but I admit I didn't put a 
lot of effort into it.  In my mind, VCDs are an interesting historical 
curiosity but not fit for commercial use any longer.

In fact, DVD has essentially halted any further development of the VCD 
standards.  This is as good as it gets for VCD.  Obviously, DVD has 
taken over from here.  The day will come (five years max?) when DVD will 
be replaced with something better, as well.  Maybe it already has been 
replace.  Consider the new blue laser (code named "blue-ray") vs. old 
red laser format -- 4.7 GB capacity per layer now compared to 9 GB 
capacity.  I don't think the drives are backward compatible either. 
Then we'll all have to spend a bunch more money to stay current.  Isn't 
technology wonderful?

Ron Woodland



Dennis R. Cohen wrote:

> On 1/21/03 at 1:49 PM, GOROSANNA at aol.com transmitted the following
> electronic message:
> 
> 
>>Does anyone know of a way to maintain a 640 X 480 size to a project
>>and burn to vcd utilizing toast?
>>
>>I have had no problem making VCDs and viewing them on a DVD player and
>>cross platform on computer, but I would really like to be able to
>>maintain the 640 x480 size, rather than toast's 320 X 240 size of the
>>playback on short videos.
>>
>>TIA for any assistance
>>
>>
> 
> If you have (NTSC) VCD, you have 352x240 (which looks like 320x240
> onscreen due to the difference between a monitor's square pixels and the
> rectangular ones of a TV image).
> 
> SVCD will give you 480x360, DVD will give you 640x480 -- both of these
> are your computer screen resolutions.
> 
> You can always use cmd-2 in QuickTime Player to play the VCD in a
> double-sized window on your Mac. With good source images, this actually
> displays reasonably.
> 
> --Dennis Cohen
>   iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, & iDVD Bible
>   Macworld Mac OS X Bible
>   and other fine titles
> 
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-- 
-------------------------------------------------
Ronald Woodland -- St. George, Utah  84770
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"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but
it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as
if they were great and noble."  -- Helen Keller