Quality of DVD does not equal original source

1. decapio99
   Member

   
   I have tried 3 different "high end" media P/C's - Compaq, HP and Sony - all with 3+Mhz processors, 128MB video cards, and 512MB to 1GB of memory - with their associated -/+ recording capabilities. Via firewire, I feed in my digital camcorder videos and then create DVD's. None offer the capability to go directly to DVD, so I have to copy to the hard drive first, then to DVD. I record (both in and out) at the slowest speed and maximize all operating system and application parameters to get the highest quality images on the output device - yet on all 3 systems, when I do an A-B comparison of the original to the DVD, I can see noticeable picture quality deterioration. Are my expectations unrealistic with the systems I am using? (Note - thanks to a very good return policy at Fry's, I have been able to try all three high end systems and return them after my lack of success - but what a pain in the a**). Also, if I can not get extreemly close copies of the original, can I use any of the market software to compensate for signal loss? I know that any time you make a copy of anything, you are going to loose something, but I am not happy with the amount of the loss I am experiencing. Anyone care to offer their $0.02
   Thanks....Don

   Posted 7 years ago #

2. Gleowine
   Member

   
   Well DV Video is far better that most DVD videos, DVD compresses the Video and you will get a loss compared to the org. DV
   
   But I can set my DVD compression and get very good quality DVD but only 30-40 mins on a disk.
   
   I only know the basics and low end prosumer stuff there may be better software in making DVD

   Posted 7 years ago #

3. freeman
   Member

   
   Your output quality for your DVD compression also has to do with the settings for your compression in terms of bit rate and what type of compression you are using: Constant Bit rate, 1-pass or 2-pass VBR. The higher bit rate the higher the quality and 2-pass VBR compression provides for the better quality compression.

   Posted 7 years ago #

4. decapio99
   Member

   
   Hey guys - thanks for the responses. From what I gather from your responses, when I copy a digital video to a P/C, compression is always a factor. You can minimize the impact or amount of picture loss by tweaking the bit rate. The same rules apply during the copy from hard drive to DVD, with 2 pass, variable bit rate compression offering the highest quality results. Is this correct? Also, are you aware of any prosumer software that can also contribute to reducing the impact of this compression? One final question - any quality differences between the multipe different DVD formats, or is the expression "bits is bits" correct?
   Thanks....Don

   Posted 7 years ago #

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