FAQ For SVCD Forum:
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1) Which DVD Players play SVCD?
A) Go to
http://www.vcdhelp.com/dvdplayers.php. I recommend getting a Pioneer player; they are te best at playing SVCDs IMHO.
2) How do I watch SVCDs on my computer?
A) First you need to extract the MPEG from the bin/cue; use VCDGear for this [
http://www.vcdgear.com/]. If you wish to watch the movie in Windows Media Player you need to have a DVD Player installed on your system [WinDVD/PowerDVD or the like]. There is a codec out there which lets you watch MPEG-2 Video without DVD Software installed but it leaves a nice logo in the corner until you register.
3) Where can I download these SVCDs from?
A) I believe the only rule of these forums is "No Requesting". Bye bye..
4) How do I encode an SVCD?
A)
http://www.doom9.net/5) What is interlacing?
A) Interlacing occurs during the telecine process of a movie. A movie is changed from the original 23.976FPS used in theaters over to the TV standard of 29.97FPS [for NTSC movies]. To achieve these extra frames without doubling frames, which causes some jerky motion, and also to conform better to TV [TV's run at 60hz, but the video is only 29.97 interlaced for broadcast TV but the broadcast is interlaced so it can be played back at 60hz] they interlace the added frames. This makes white lines appear during motion scenes. You can tell interlacing by watching a scene with any type of "heavy" motion in it; if it is interlaced you will see horizontal white lines all over the moving parts.
6) What is a PDVD?
A) PDVD stands for "Pirate DVD". They can be found in Asia much the same way that VCDs can be found. PDVD's come in three categories: Cat B, Cat A Transfers, and Cat A TC's/LD's. Cat B movies are just VCD's that have been transfered over to a DVD [reencoded to MPEG-2 and made into vob files using a dvd-authoring program]. Cat A movies are all labeled the same but they really come in two categories: Cat A transfers appear on the streets about the same time a DVD hits store shelves. The transfers are just a copy of the retail dvd made by the pirates; everything is the same as the dvd you would buy on store shelves. A Cat A TC/LD is a DVD created from a Telecine [see VCD forum] or from the Laserdisc. These are normally good quality but never perfect; all PDVD's that do not have a retail counterpart out yet are Cat A TC or LD [excusing the few Cat A transfers that may appear a week or two before retail that the pirates were able to get ahold of].
7) What is Bad AR?
A) Bad AR, or Bad Aspect Ratio, occurs when a group does not properly specify a movie as Anamorphic or 4:3 Letterboxed in TMPG or any other program they use to resize. To learn more about an anamporphic film, check out
http://www.widescreen.org/dvd_anamorphic.html. The comparisson of an anamorphic and nonanamorphic display on a 4:3 TV displays a good and bad aspect ratio movie. However, just because a TV is not 16:9 does not mean you can not play an Anamorphic DVD. You can tell the DVD Player to 'squish' and letterbox the movie. However, 95% of players can not do this properly for an SVCD which is why the encoders must resize and letterbox the movie for the encoded SVCD.
Does a Playstation/Dreamcast/GameCube/XBox/Playstation2 play svcd?
A) At this time none of the consoles play SVCD. I have seen many methods to convert a svcd into a PSS stream which can be played on a PS2 but they take so much trouble compared to a $90 apex player.
9) I want to know something that is not covered in this FAQ..
A) That was not a question, but here is what you should do: *Search*; many times people post a topic that covers another topic discussed 3 days ago. Always search before you post.
