[T Allen]

Anyone care to enlighten me on the pros/cons of these two formats. Also, what impact, if any, will MPEG-4 have on each of these. Thanks for the lesson.

Regards,

T Allen

[iNeusch]

DVD is a standard, VCD isn't

[SirCastor]

DVDs use MPEG2, VCDs use MPEG1

DVDs of course are burned on a different kind of disc ultimately allowing for more space.

MPEG4 I cannot see affecting either of these. While it's possible that it coule replace MPEG1 on the VCD, it's unlikely because VCDs already have a (small) embedded market in some DVD players and they would have to have backwards compatibility in those machines which would just be dumb..

DVDs won't be touched by MPEG4. It's an established Standard and it's not going anywhere.


Edit: I forgot the 'Pros and Cons' part..

DVD's pros are that it's got a higher quality than a VCD and it's an established standard so you can play it nearly anywhere. Disadvatages include rediculous copyright protections keeping you from doing what you want to with media you BOUGHT. Also, it's (currently) quite expensive if you want to make your own DVDs

VCD Pros are that it's relatively fast to make, works in a lot of computers, and is cheap to produce. Done with regular CDs. The Cons are that the quality is somewhat low, and it doesn't have a very strong consumer presence.

[ 01-15-2002: Message edited by: SirCastor ]

[osiris]

actually, VCDs are more popular than DVDs in the rest of the world because they've been around for years and are cheaper. The quality is on par with VHS when done properly (you can buy most movies on VCD for about 10 bucks - but not in the US)

VCD uses Mpeg-1 352x240
DVD uses Mpeg-2 720x480

VCDs play in all DVD players, with the exception of homemade VCDs. With homemade VCDs it is recomended that you use a CD-RW and not a CD-R to ensure better DVD player compatibility.

Obviously DVD is the best quality, but you need the right hardware to make a master (and a Superdrive can't do it) You need a DLT tape drive to transfer a DVD project, then the DLT goes to a mastering/duplication house for mass production. If you just want to knock out a few DVDs one at a time, then the Superdrive will work nicely -but it's not for mass production.

With VCDs, a program like Toast Titanium can easily do it for you.

With DVDs you need iDVD. If you have a new iMac or a G4 with superdrive go with DVD.

As for mpeg-4, well it's unrelated - it's a different set of codecs and compression compared to VCD/DVD.
Like Sorenson has nothing to do with mpeg-1.


just a little more than my 2 cents worth, but I hope the info helps.

[ 01-15-2002: Message edited by: osiris ]