General Video Info


Video Formats

Video Formats: What should I use?
Many of us out there have heard of DVDs before -- but what are miniDVDs, VCDs, or SVCDs? The reason that you may want to consider these other strange formats is because the costs of DVD burning hardware and DVD-R/RW discs themselves are still rather high.

These alternative formats provide a good economical solution for distributing your movies on CD-R/RW discs that can be played on computers and many home stand-alone DVD players.

For a complete guide on the advantages, required settings and playback options of each format, please refer to the tables below.




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DVD - 'Digital Versatile Disc'
DVD is DVD-Video recorded on a DVD-R or DVD-RW disc, which contains superior quality video (MPEG-2) and audio. Typically, a DVD can hold more than one hour of video.

DVD Video Parameter Settings

Frame Size: 720x480 (NTSC) or 720x576 (PAL)
Frame Rate: 29.97 frames/second (NTSC) or 25 frames/second (PAL)
Video Data Rate: 4~8 Mbps CBR or VBR (Constant/Variable Bit Rate)
Audio Settings: Stereo, 48 kHz and 192~384 kbps MPEG audio
DVD Playback Options:

Stand-alone DVD players
Computer DVD drives with playback software




miniDVD - 'mini Digital Versatile Disc'
miniDVD is DVD-Video recorded on a CD-R or CD-RW disc. Typically, a miniDVD can hold about 18 minutes of video encoded at 4 Mbps.

miniDVD Video Parameters Settings*

Frame Size: 720x480 (NTSC) or 720x576 (PAL)
Frame Rate: 29.97frames/second (NTSC) or 25 frames/second (PAL)
Video Data Rate: 4~8 Mbps CBR or VBR (Constant/Variable Bit Rate)
Audio Settings: Stereo, 48 kHz and 192~384 kbps MPEG audio
miniDVD Playback Options:

A very limited number of stand-alone DVD Players with CD-R or CD-RW playback capabilities (See DVD player manufacturer for compatibility)
Computer DVD/CD-ROM drives with playback software
NOTE: These settings are the same as the DVD settings.




VCD - 'Video Compact Disc'
A CD-ROM disc that contains video and audio. Typically, a VCD can hold about 74 minutes (650MB) of video and stereo-quality audio. The video and audio are stored in MPEG-1 format and follow certain standards (White Book). VCD video quality is roughly the same as VHS video.

VCD Video Parameters Settings

Frame Size: 352x240 (NTSC) or 352x288 (PAL)
Frame Rate: 29.97 frames/second (NTSC) or 25 frames/second (PAL)
Video Data Rate: 1152 kbps
Audio Settings: Stereo, 44.1kHz and 224kbps audio bit rate
VCD Playback Options:

Almost all stand-alone VCD or DVD Players with CD-R or CD-RW playback capabilities (See DVD player manufacturer for compatibility)
Computer DVD/CD-ROM drives with playback software



SVCD - 'Super Video Compact Disc'
A CD-ROM disc that contains high quality video and audio. Typically, a SVCD can hold about 35~45 minutes (650MB) of video and stereo-quality audio (depends on the data rate used for encoding). The video and audio are stored in MPEG-2 format, much like a DVD. SVCD video has better quality than VHS video.

SVCD Video Parameter Settings

Frame Size: 480x480 (NTSC) or 480x576 (PAL)
Frame Rate: 29.97 frames/second (NTSC) or 25 frames/second (PAL)
Video Data Rate: Variable bit rate up to 2600 kbps
Audio Settings: 32~384 kbps MPEG-1 Layer 2 audio bit rate
NOTE: The maximum audio and video combined data rate cannot exceed 2750kbps.

SVCD Playback Options:

Some stand-alone DVD Players with CD-R or CD-RW playback capabilities (See DVD player manufacturer for compatibility)
Computer DVD/CD-ROM drives with playback software