Posted by GMAN on 11/22/06 16:08

In article <45646c26.268850796@news-server.houston.rr.com>, spam@uce.gov wrote:
>On Tue, 21 Nov 2006 19:26:30 GMT, glenzabr@nospam.xmission.com (GMAN)
>wrote:
>
>>You two do realize that most of these standalone DVD recorders drop down into
>>MPEG1 format when you get into the 3 + hour modes?
>
>Not my two DVDRs.
>

Well something has got to give to fit 4+ hours on a single sided DVD
recordable and its either bitrate or resolution or both.


>On separate DVD discs I recorded a TV program on both the Polaroid
>DRM-2001G and the Insignia NS-DVDR1 at the poorest resolution - which
>is 6 hr for both units(*).
>
>I then opened each VOB directly in both GSpot and BitrateViewer
>(latest version of each). Here's what I found:
>
>GSpot:
>Insignia 6-hr: MPEG-2, 352x480, 1460 kbps.
>Polaroid 6-hr: MPEG-2, 352x480, 1622 kbps.
>
Ok, see , it dropped the resolution to 352x480 instead of the DVD standard
720x480 and it has dropped the bitrate to VCD quality.

So basically you have created a VCD using mpeg2 instead of mpeg1.

I'm not saying anything is wrong here but its by no means a choice i would
make when recording. Its still terrible quality IMHO.


>BitrateViewer:
>Insignia 6-hr: MPEG-2, 352x480, 1379 kbps.
>Polaroid 6-hr: MPEG-2, 352x480, 1529 kbps.
>
>So it appears that MPEG-1 is a thing of the past with the newest codec
>chip. That could explain why the 6-hr resolution looks the same as the
>1-hr resolution on my 19" RCA TV.
>
>---
>
>(*) You can't use alphabetic designations for resolution on DVDRs
>because they mean different things to different manufacturers. For
>example, the Polaroid calls its 6-hr resolution "SLP" whereas the
>Insignia calls its 6-hr resolution "EP". There is no "SLP" on the
>Insignia and the "EP" designation on the Polaroid means 3-hr
>resolution. You have to use the hourly designation.
>

[Back to original message]