Encoding

Encoding is the process of digitizing and compressing video and audio assets. MPEG-2 is the compression scheme used for DVD. The DVD disc format, video duration and content style (i.e. talking head interview, high action, etc.) will determine the encoding bit rate and the amount of video that can fit on your DVD (see chart). Source video must be master quality in Betacam SP or Digital Betacam formats or will require transfer prior to encoding.

We recommend Constant Bit Rate (CBR) encoding for DVDs with one hour or less of video and Variable Bit Rate (VBR) for more than one hour. VBR Encoding is more involved requiring two passes, an analysis pass and an encoding pass, segments that need more bandwidth can be re-encoded on a scene by scene basis. Inverse telecine is an option to remove duplicate frames added during film transfer and improve performance. Widescreen 16x9 video can also be encoded and DVD players will display it in native 16x9, 4x3 letterbox, or 4x3 pan & scan.

Dolby Digital (AC3) is the audio compression scheme used for most DVDs. Stereo or mono tracks can be encoded simultaneously with the video. Alternate audio tracks or 5.1 Surround Sound require separate passes.

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