VCD or DVD whats the difference?

[AJ]

Can anybody tell me what the quality of a vcd is like i have found a very cheap hong kong dvd site that also sells vcd for about half the price... should i buy these or fork out the extra cash (also i think these cds can be played on a computer without a dvd rom... is that correct?????)



andrew

[Tsargrad]

VCD's can only do 2 channel, and are generally of poor quality.

I only have one genuine HK VCD - Flesh + Blood - but they seem to suffer from compression problems, as they hold stuff all.

Buy the DVD's dude. Much better

[dnas]

Here are some of the differences:

DVD:

MPEG-2,
NTSC: 720 x 480 , 30 fps
PAL: 720 x 576 , 25 fsp


SVCD:

MPEG-2
NTSC: 480 x 480
PAL: 480 x 576


VCD:

MPEG1
NTSC: 352 x 240
PAL: 352 x 288

A lot of VCDs are not too bad. MPEGs work by retaining information on the screen that is not moving with smaller pixels. When there is movement, the pixels become a little larger. This is much more evident on VCDs where the pixels can become VERY large with a lot of movement.

I think that you could get away with VCDs if the movie is not an action/special effects blockbuster.

[redbears]

Almost like the difference between VHS and DVD... :eek:

[dnas]

For the most part, VCD is similar to, or slightly better than VHS, except when there is a large amount of movement, in which case it is quite inferior.

[AJ]

con: less quality
pro: can be played on computer
con: subtitles
pro: can be played on a tv without ntsc support
con: have to change cd half way thru


any more???

[snapper]

con: less quality
pro: can be played on computer

- so can a DVD using a DVD-ROM, Pioneer DVD-ROMs can be had for $60.

con: subtitles

- Not always a con, sometimes they are useful and helpful. However having them burned in the image all the time is a con. Not sure if legit ones allow you to turn them off or not.

pro: can be played on a tv without ntsc support

- If the VCD is in NTSC you will have the same problems me thinks.

con: have to change cd half way thru

- True, however some DVDs also force you to switch halfway through, known as flippers, and some extra long movies such as LOTF EE and Godfather 2.

- pro: quite cheap
however DVDs on special are also quite cheap.