Best MPEG-2 encoder in 2015?

[bryce35]

If you could take your time and give me some guidance/direction, it would be much appreciated.

Which mpeg-2 encoder/program would you recommend that has the best output quality settings from a HD file to a (targeted dvd5) .m2v file?

I've been encoding for nearly 10 years or more and i'm just trying to get some feedback on which route I would take. From what i've read of your posts, it sounds like you know your stuff.

Any info would be much appreciated

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[lordsmurf]

The best I've ever used? Easy. MainConcept Reference 1.6.

MainConcept 2.x was excellent as well, but far more confusing to use. And sometimes I saw oddities in the encoding of both H.264 and MPEG-2. I wasn't fond of it.

Adobe Media Encoder (AME) was based on the MainConcept SDK. AME has a custom front-end, but MC powered it. Sony uses it as well for Vegas.

I forget the exact year, but MainConcept was then sold to Rovi, which also owned DivX. Reference was renamed to Rovi TotalCode, though the SDK is still called MainConcept. Nothing really changed on it from MC 2.0 aside from the name.

The company was German, but is now mainly Russian. No idea what happened to the MC encoding team.

Last year, Rovi sold off the encoders to venture vulture capitalists: http://www.rovicorp.com/company/pres...usinesses.html

No idea what will happen to it now.

[bryce35]

I am currently using that encoder, but I don't know why when I encode, the output file letterbox is not there. I'm still trying to maintain the letterbox when I go full screen but instead its gone and I can tell the image has been stretched and distorted.

I've been looking for the last 2 days of how to fix it.

If you could give me your settings that you use, it would be much appreciated

[sanlyn]

I think you'd best give us a sample of what you're working with. Usually HD isn't letterboxed if the original is 16:9 unless the image in the video is wider than 16:9, so something here doesn't quite match up. More information, please.

[bryce35]

I figured it out. Which option would you choose for the output frame rate from a HD source to DVD?



23.98p->59.94i PD<----(no idea what the meaning behind this one means)
59.94i
59.94i DF<----(or this one)
29.97p


this is my last question lol... sorry for being a total noob

[sanlyn]

DVD is encoded as 25 frames per second interlaced PAL (50 fields per second playback) or 29.97 frames per second interlaced NTSC (59.94 fields per second playback). DVD can't be anything else. If you want progressive playback you'll have to encode as generic non-standard MPEG (which most DVD disc authoring programs won't accept) or use another codec for mkv, mp4, etc. Or if your source is 25fps/29.976 true progressive, you can encode it to DVD-MPEG2 using fake-interlace flags to avoid choppy/stuttery playback during motion or camera pans. If your source is film-based 23.976 progressive, use 3:2 pulldown to bring the frame rate to 29.97fps.

specs for PAL/NTSC/NTSC-FILM DVD: http://www.videohelp.com/dvd#tech