Posted by Richard Crowley on 08/06/07 17:58

>The quality on DVD is substantially better than U-Matic SP
>provided that the DVD is recorded at the "! Hour" or Highest
>Quality on the DVD recorder.

3/4U SP is *significantly* higher quality than the best (lowest-
compression) DVD. Even normal (non-SP) 3/4U is higher
quality than the best DVD.

Here is a handy ranking of relative quality...

10 D-5 (10-bit uncompressed digital)
9.9 D-1 (8-bit uncompressed digital)
9.7 Digital Betacam, Ampex DCT
9.6 D-9 (Digital-S), DVCPRO50
9 DV, DVCAM, DVCPRO (D-7), Digital8
8.9 MII, Betacam SP
8.7 1" Type C
6.5 3/4" SP
5.5 3/4", Hi8, SVHS
4 Video 8, Betamax
3.5 VHS
1 EIAJ Type 1, Fisher-Price Pixelvision

Source: http://www.adamwilt.com/DV-FAQ-tech.html

I would personally rank DVD at 3.5-4 on that scale.

Is "1 hour mode" even compatible across all DVD players?
It would seem to imply a bitrate that exceeds the spec.

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