SVCD vs. VCD

[TyKoN]

what are the main differences between SVCD and VCD? which one is more compatable with most DVD players?

 

[note235]

Super Video CD
and
Video CD

Super is higher quality

 

[ET]

VCD is more compatible, but I think SVCD will only be a problem for some old DVD players.

SVCD is higher resolution (480x480) MPEG2 vs. 352x280 (or whatever, the vertical changes between PAL and NTSC, and I don't remember the exact value) MPEG1. SVCD gets about half the playing time as VCD in the same space.

 

[yukichigai]

Okay...

VCD: 352x240, CBR of 11-something. (Works out to 74 minutes of video per 74 minute CD) It's compatible with more players than not, but it doesn't look very good. It uses MPEG-1 video, which is very limited compression.

SVCD: 480x480, Variable Bitrate or CBR video accepted. Compatible with less players than VCD, but it's still more than half of the players out there will handle it. (You can check VideoHelp.com's compatibility list for more info on that) Most SVCDs are about 40-50 minutes per CD, though you can use different encoding methods and standards such as SKVCD to extend that with very little drop in quality. SVCD uses MPEG-2 video, and also supports selectable subtitles and multiple audio tracks. However, unlike VCD, SVCD resolution isn't DVD-compatible.

CVD: 352x480. Most people don't know about this one, but it's probably one of the best formats in terms of quality to size ratio. Even without newer encoding specifications like SKVCD you can easily fit a (letterboxed) 90 minute video on one CVD and still have it look good. (or at least better than VCD) It has all the features of SVCD, except that it is also a valid DVD resolution, meaning you can leave the video intact (but not the audio) and burn the movie as a DVD. CVD is, unfortunately, even less compatible than SVCD, but still more than half the DVD players in the US will handle it. In general, if your DVD player will handle SVCD then there's an 80% chance it'll handle CVD.

 

[shabby]

Every dvd player now should play both, some old ones from 3-4 years back wont play svcd but new ones will.

 

[yukichigai]

Originally posted by: shabby
Every dvd player now should play both, some old ones from 3-4 years back wont play svcd but new ones will.

Unfortuantely not true. The player I bought my folks a few years ago will handle VCD and all manner of non-standard MPEG-1 variants, but it will not handle anything MPEG-2 that's burned to a CD. MiniDVD/cDVD, SVCD, CVD, nothing. It's quite odd. This is not isolated either; plenty of newer players don't seem to support VCDs, SVCDs and/or other older formats. However, this is fairly rare, and seems to be getting even rarer as consumers more and more voice the desire for flexible players. (e.g. DivX enabled players)