Vic's Multimedia Madness
~~Vic Ferri, WinTips and Tricks

An Introduction to Video CDs

What is a video CD?

A Video CD - VCD for short - is a regular CD containing specially formatted video files that can be played on your computer (in a regular CD-ROM or DVD-ROM) or in most home DVD players. All you really need to create VCDs is a CD-R burner and burning software which supports the creation of Video CDs (almost all the major CD burning software like Nero and Roxio allow you to burn video CDs). Video CD's are great if you have a home DVD player which supports VCD (and most do) but no DVD burner on your PC. You can then create Video CDs using your CD-R burner and watch them on your television set (or on your computers monitor via your CD-ROM/DVD player).

If you are completely new to this, you may be surprised to learn that Video CDs have been around for over 10 years, long before DVD's came out, and were very popular in Asia where VCRs were expensive and not a common household item. The VCD standard was developed by Philips and JVC in 1993. VCD never really caught on in North America due to the widespread use of VCR's here. However, the interest in VCD in North America has picked up in the last few years and is greater now than it ever was. The main advantages of VCDs over VHS tape - is easier control and longevity. You can quickly move to any track - no rewinding or fast forwarding needed - and once the video is on the CD, the video deterioration process is halted - no matter how many times you play the CD, the quality will be the same (the same can't be said for magnetic tape which wears out the more you play it and with time). Video CDs are a great way to preserve family videos and other events for those of us who do not own a DVD recorder, and are easy to mail out to family and friends.

How do I create a VCD?

Basically, it's a 2-step process if your video files are on your computer or the net or a 3 step process if your video files are off your computer (i.e.: on VHS tapes). With video files from your computer, the first step is to convert the video files, which most typically are in avi format, to the format required for VCD which is MPEG-1. Then it's a simple matter of using your burning software to record them to a CD in VCD format. If you want to make VCDs from your old VHS tapes, you first have to capture the video to your hard drive and save it as a video file. To do this you would need a capture device or video card with a TV IN. (my next article will cover this in more detail).  Once the video file is saved, you can then edit it if necessary, using special software, convert it to MPEG-1 and record it with your CD-R as a VCD.

How do I convert my video files to VCD format?

Most of the VCD burning software come bundled with encoders that will convert your nonconforming video files into the correct video format or you can use specific utilities that will convert your video files to the VCD MPEG1 format required. An excellent free video converter is TMPGEnc which you can find out more about and download here: http://www.pegasys-inc.com/e_main.html  Note - if you use NERO, I would advise a separate converter to convert your video to MPEG-1. In my experience, Nero was extremely slow in the conversion process and the video quality was deteriorated noticeably more than when the same video was converted using a separate utility specializing in VCD conversion. Personally, I use Roxio WIN ON CD burning software which has a built-in converter that does a much better and faster job of encoding video to the VCD standard than Nero does. However, I actually prefer to convert my video files to VCD MPEG-1 standard in advance of burning them. For that I use TMPGenc.

Please note that not all mpeg-1 files are in the proper format needed for Video CDs. In many cases, the mpegs you download from the net will have to be re-encoded to make them VCD compliant. Also note that mpg and mpeg are used interchangeably. They both mean the same.

NTSC and PAL

Depending on the encoder you use to convert your video files to the correct VCD format, you may or may not be given a choice to choose between NTSC or PAL encoding. These are the two major broadcast television standards used in the world - NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) is the standard used if you live in North America and Japan and is able to display 525 lines of resolution at 30 frames per second. PAL (Phase Alternating Line), is the main television standard used in much of Europe and Asia, and gives a resolution of 576 horizontal lines at 25 frames per second. All you need to know about these standards is that if you try to play a Video CD (or DVD) from say Hong Kong which has the Pal standard in a DVD player that only supports NTSC, then part of your picture will be cut off. There are two ways to get around this that will allow you to view both NTSC and PAL videos. One is by using a multisystem television set and the other is by buying a NTSC/PAL or multisystem DVD player. If this is an issue with you, be sure to ask when buying a DVD player if it can handle both NTSC and PAL. Note that though these are the two main standards used, they aren't the only ones. Some parts of the world use another standard called SECAM and some use more than one standard. For example, Europe uses both PAL and SECAM, and South America uses both PAL and NTSC.

Video Quality

VCDs use MPEG 1 compression, which compresses the video by a factor of approximately 60 to 1 and gives a NTSC resolution of 352X240 or a PAL resolution of 352X288 which is almost the same as you would get with VHS tape. This, of course, is much lower video quality than in DVDs which use MPEG 2 compression and a resolution of 700x480. One problem with VCD is that it has a fixed bitrate of 1.15 megabits per second, which means it is not great at handling fast action sequences, so if your video has a lot of fast action the visual quality may be reduced. Fast sequences require a higher bit rate to reproduce smoothly.

SVCD - for Higher Video Quality

You can achieve higher video quality with Video CDs if you burn them as Super Video CDs (SVCD) which uses the MPEG-2 video standard (same as DVDs use but not the same high quality as DVD) and gives an NTSC resolution of 480X480 and a PAL resolution of 480X576, which is comparable to the video quality of S-VHS tape. The bitrate supported by SVCD is more than double than that of VCD, so fast action movement translates better. Most burning software that supports VCD usually supports SVCD as well, since SVCD is simply an extension of VCD. The only disadvantages of SVCD over VCD are that you can't fit as much video on one CD (about half as much as you can on a VCD) and because SVCD only became an official standard recently, some older players may not be able to play the SVCDs that you create now. However, there is a way around this and that is by using burning software that can write your SVCD to a format that will play on both old and new players. WinOnCd, which I use, can do this. If you already have a SVCD that won't play on your DVD player which supports VCD, you can use the utility TMPGEnc, which I mentioned earlier, to place a VCD header on your SVCD. This is a trick that will fool your DVD player into thinking it is a regular VCD. You would open TMPGenc and simply select your video under the Simple Multiplex tab and make sure to select MPEG-1 Video CD as the type. Then select your output file and click Run. Once done, just burn the video as a regular vcd.

Will my video CD play on any home DVD player?

Not all, but most recent DVD players do support VCD. When shopping for a DVD player, make sure it states it can play VCD/SVCD.

Almost all the most popular DVD players now are multi system ones that can play DVD, CD/CDRW, VCD/SVCD and even MP3's.

TIP - avoid cheap no name brand DVD players which seem to be all over now - flooding in from Asia. Almost all these players are prone to problems like sound sync problems, skipping, and more. Stick with reputable brands like Pioneer, Panasonic, Sony, JVC, etc. VCDs can also be played on dedicated VCD players especially made for them but they are quite rare now that most DVD players can do the job.

How much video can I fit on one CD?

A 700 mb CD holds about 80 minutes of VCD MPEG1 video or about 40 minutes of SVCD MPEG-2 video.

Where can I find free video files that may interest me on the net?

The best way to obtain free video files from the net is by using a file sharing service such as AudioGnome, Bearshare, Kazaa Lite. My recommendation would be Kazaa LITE (not Kazaa) from which you can download all types of videos. Unlike the real Kazaa, Kazaa Lite contains no spyware or adware. AudioGnome is also good. You can install more than one file sharing service on your PC if you so desire.

VCD CD Structure

If you open up a VCD and take a look at its contents, you will notice there are several folders in there and not one single mpg file. The files all have either a VCD or DATextension. A frequently asked question by many novices is how to play the VCD files independently.

The answer is, you can't! The actual videos you burned are not the VCD files but the DAT files. With a VCD, the video files are converted to DAT files named sequentially in the following format - AVSEQ01.DAT, AVSEQ02.DAT, AVSEQ03.DAT, etc. You will find these DAT files in the folder MPEGAV on the CD.

Can these DAT files be played if I copy them to my hard drive?

Yes, they can be played from the CD or your hard drive, just like regular video files, except you will have to choose Open With to associate the DAT file with your player - i.e.: Windows Media Player 7 and up, which will recognize it as a valid video file.

Can I convert a DAT file back to a mpeg?

Yes. The program TMPGenc that I mentioned before will convert DAT files back to mpegs easily.

When I burn a VCD, I notice a track named ISO 9660 as part of my video list.  What is this?

The first track on a VCD is based on the ISO 9660 standard which is a data track containing files which tell the Video CD player how to locate and play the other (video) tracks on the disc. It contains the CDI, MPEGAV and VCD folders you see on the CD. The next tracks are your mpeg-1 files that are listed as DAT files in the MPEGAV folder.

The definition for ISO 9660 is an international standard for a file system that specifies how data is arranged on a CD-R or CD-RW disc. This includes standards for the format of file names and directory names. CDs written in the ISO 9660 format can be read by computers running under various operating systems such as Windows, DOS, Macintosh, Linux, and Unix.

If you would like to become an expert at creating Video CDs, check out the excellent "Expert Guide To Creating Video CDs" which is currently being offered for only $19.95 and represents one of the best guides available on the subject. It includes step-by-step guidance and everything there is to know about video CD creation and editing. Screenshots and more info here

For the best magazine on computer video, send for a free sample of Computer Video Maker Magazine.
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Vic Ferri owns the very popular WinTips and Tricks and Registry Answers. Subscribe to either and receive free Windows and Registry Tips. He is also in charge of the Printing Tips pages at Linda's Computer Stop. Vic has also created a program which allows you to Lock & Hide desktop folders in Windows 9X/ME. Read more and get the free demo here. And, he now offers a service to convert PowerPoint presentations to .exe files which can be viewed on computers which do not have PowerPoint installed.