i think this goes here since i'm using TMPG as my encoder.

this is my first time actually encoding to kvcd. it's my first time since i was so skeptical of the whole "2-hr movie on 1 CD" thing. however, i tried it out, and it came out better than i thought.

anyway, i used the "SKVCD PAL 352x576" template for TMPG (i have a PAL source). since it was my first time, i didn't want to play around with the settings, so i kept it to the template's default values (resolution, especially). however, i see that that template gave 2 other chooseable resolutions at the end of the wizard (240x480 and 352x480). these shouldn't matter since these are NTSC resolutions.

now, as we all know (or should know), the Standard resolution for a PAL SVCD is *480x576*. however, this resolution is not chooseable in the template, but i DO know you are ABLE TO change the resolution to whatever you want.

now the question is: which resolution would give the highest quality?
1- SKVCD PAL 352x576
2- SKVCD PAL 240x480 (null, NTSC res)
3- SKVCD PAL 352x480 (null, NTSC res)
4- SKVCD PAL 480x576 (would this resolution even still work with the whole SKVCD thing?)

in general, will larger or smaller resolutions produce better quality (assuming my dvd player can handle whichever resolution)?

also, while we're at it. which gives better quality: KVCDx3 MPEG2 -or- SKVCD (i know SKVCD can hold 20 more minutes)?


thank you.

Hi afx,

KVCDx3 will give you higher quality than 480x, because it's slightly higher in resolution.
BUT, it your movie is a complex one, maybe 528x will be just a little too high for the required bitrate, and then 352x of 480x will look better. Only you can tell.
I always try to do all my KVCDs at 528x480. If the prediction sample (done with CQMatic) doesn't look too good, then I go for 352x480 resolution.

-kwag