VCD Frequently Asked Questions

8/10/2019 VCD Frequently Asked Questions

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inutes of full-screen

ideo and high-quality audio on a CD.

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hat is the difference

etween MPEG1 and MPEG2 ?

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PEG2 is a superset of MPEG1.

enerally, MPEG1 is used for CD-ROM or VideoCD and MPEG2 is used fo

roadcast or DVD. One

urrent difference between MPEG1 and MPEG2 is that MPEG2 has

mplemented variable bit

ate. MPEG1 variable bitrate is not excluded in the specification,

nd it's coming...

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f I have an MPEG1 file, can

record it to CD-ROM and have it work in a VideoCD player ?

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o. Formatting software forD-Recorders record prepared files to VideoCD tracks. Even if the

ile is in the correct

itrate and aspect ratio, it has to be authored to the VideoCD form

sing VideoCD 2.0

uthoring software.

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hat is VideoCD 2.0?

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udioCDs and CD-ROMs are very

ifferent. The binary data on each type of CD is fundamentally

istinct (music vs. data).

ow, VideoCD 2.0, a third type of CD, designed for interactive mult

edia and more is


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ere!

ideoCD 2.0 is as different from CD-ROM as CD-ROM is unlike CD-Audi

ideoCD is more

tructurally advanced than CD-ROM or CD-Audio. It provides full-

creen and full-motion

ideo. VideoCD works in CD-ROM drives.VideoCD 2.0 also works using

oth TVs and computers.

AL and NTSC TV systems are also both supported using inexpensive,

tand-alone players.

Interactivity' lets you jump from anywhere to anywhere, like CD-ROM

Still' photos and

ound in varying quality resolutions are another part of VideoCD 2.

D-Audio, CD-ROM and

ideoCD 2.0 'tracks' can all be used together on one CD and recorde

ogether using manyxisting CD-Recorders! Use VideoCD 2.0 on CD-Recordable as a new,

ractical,

ommunications tool.

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hat is the main difference

ith VideoCD 1.1 ?

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VideoCD 1.1 CD starts and runs to

he end. Or, there are selectable 'tracks'. A 'linear play' VideoCD

ithout 'stills' is a

ersion 1.1 VideoCD. They only work on PAL or NTSC TVs, not both.

two disc VideoCD set can contain 2 hours and 24 minutes of full-

otion, full-screenideo AND 144 minutes of AudioCD quality sound. Version 1.1 VideoCD

ork in version 2.0

layers. Software like Toast, or Adaptec CD-Creator or many others

rite CDs in Version

.1, not 2.0.

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es, it's called SuperVCD. Super VCD

SVCD) standard is set by the China National Committee of Standards

t is based on MPEG-2

echnology with variable bit rate (VBR) support. SVCD can deliver up

o 2 times sharper

ideo images than the previous VCD standard. SVCD specifies MPEG2

ideo at 576x480

esolution, almost four times the MPEG1 resolution specified in VCD

VCD is backward compatible with VCD1.1, 2.0, and Interactive VCD 3

ormats.

urthermore, while VCD requires text to be embedded in the video,

VCD uses a dedicated

ext data stream. This allows graphics and text such as multi-

anguage subtitles for

ovies or karaoke text to be added at any time, while eliminating

rtifacts common withhe compressed graphics and text streams of VCD.

he primary differences between SVCD and DVD include slightly lower

ideo resolution,

D-quality audio, and use of a CD rather than a DVD drive.

ince that most SVCD players use the same MPEG-2 engine and process

s their DVD

ounterparts, they can even be 'upgraded' to become a DVD player bywapping the CD-Drive

ith a DVD-drive. Some SVCD players are already using the same MPEG

ecoder chip as

heir DVD counterparts. A universal drive to read both SVCD and DVD

ormats will be out in

he near future.

VCD players can also play Mp3 CDs or serve as a WevTV type of

nternet TV browser.."

--------------------------------------

o is DVD a lot better than

ideoCD ?

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t seems so..But some people seem to

ave other opinions..

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ow many minutes of video

it on a VideoCD ?

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n a two disc set, you can have 2

ours and 24 minutes of video, (74 min. per disc on each CD-R)

ncluding 16 bit stereo

udio. 2 minutes per disc are required for the overhead for

nteractive control.

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ow do I make a VideoCD ?

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irst, you have to capture video

nd/or audio to a computer hard drive using anMPEG1 encoder board.

onvert digital

ssets to MPEG1. Second, convert any still images to the mpeg 'stilormat'. Then, you

ombine the audio, video and still formats (assets) you have as

equired. Then you

egister how the assets are linked (to items or timecodes within

tems) and assign keypad

unctions to the assets and/or links. Finally,you write (record) th

ideo, stills and

ontrol data to a CD-Recordable disc.

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ow Does Video CD Work ?

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ideo CD uses an international

tandard for video compression-MPEG-1 (ISO standard - IEC 11172).


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his compression

echnology allows you to store over 70 minutes of VHS-quality video

aterial on a standard

ompact disc. The audio, although also compressed, is near the

uality of Compact

isc-Digital Audio.

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here I can play VCD ?

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arget platforms for VideoCD discs

re dedicated Video CD players, computer systems configured to

upport Video CD, CD-i

layers with Digital Video cartridges, Playstation (with an adapterN64 (with a Doctor

64).

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ell me more about VideoCD

layers..

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dedicated Video CD player is

esigned to play only Video CDs and is not a general purpose

ultimedia machine. This kind

f player might be likened to a VCR for compact discs. The play-bac

pplication for Video

D is contained in the player hardware and allows play back of the

inear video material

n the disc.

hen you buy a VCD player, make sure

t supports VCD 2.0 since some VCDs are enhanced version 2.0 and can

eliver Special

layback Effect, photo quality still pictures, extra soundtracks,

nteractive games, as

ell as additional menus.


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nough..Tell me about my PC!

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computer system that features a

D-ROM/XA drive, an MPEG-1 decoder, and a host play-back applicatioan also be used to

lay Video CD discs. The application can be included in the hardwar

for instance, on a

pecial board) or as a software application on the compact disc or

he host computer

ystem's hard disk. This platform can provide more functionality th

dedicated Video CD

layer.

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hh..CD-i can play VCD's ?

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ideo CD discs can also be played on

ny CD-i player that has the Digital Video extension. Philips playe

urrently offer thisxtension via a plug-in cartridge, but this capability may be built

nto future CD-i

layers.

In Help of Adaptec Video Cd there's "SEGMENT with a file name of

TEMxxxx.DAT where

xxx is a number. Items in this area cannot be played in a CD-I

layer". I have read

hath Cd-i is no more supported by Philips, a Cd-i with Mpeg modulean read ONLY VideoCd

.0 standard.)

ike computer systems, CD-i players can allow the user to have more

nteractive control of

lay-back behavior through the use of features like on-screen,

raphical tables of

ontents and supplemental material, such as behind-the-scenes


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nterviews, commentaries,

iscographies, etc.versus analog factor.

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hy is VCD gaining

opularity in America, Europe and Australia ?

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CDs are very popular in Asia and is

aining popularity in America, Europe or Australia. Nowadays, VCDs

ave practically

eplaced video cassettes in Asia. The main reason is because VCD is

heap compared to DVDs

that is why it is nicknamed " poor man's DVD) and the quality is

ven better thanHS. It can also last much longer than VHS and has no drop in sound

icture quality when

tored for a long time. It is much smaller in size, easier

o store, that is why it is ideal for movie collectors! One good

spect is that it can be

layed on DVD, LD players, a computer and many other devices.

lso, the popularity of VCDs is on the rise because of the gaining

nterest among

mericans and Canadians for Hong Kong movies. Have you ever heard ohow Yuen Fat, Jet

i, Jacky Chan or Michelle Yeoh?

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hat equipment do I need to

lay VCD ?

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CDs can be played on VCD players

ut it is not quite popular yet in other parts of the world except

sia. The second way is

o play VCDs on DVD players. DVD movies are encoded using a

ompression technique called

PEG-2. Whereas, VCDs are encoded in MPEG-1. Because of the

imilarity of encoding/


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ompression technique, most, but not all DVD players can play VCD a

VD. For example,

ONY DVP-S3000 and SONY DVP-S7000 and PIONEER DVD PLAYER DV-505. On

he other hand, VCD

layers cannot play DVDs. You also can play VCDs on your PC if your

omputer is properly

quipped.

ere are the different equipments to

lay Video CDs:

.VCD Players. (obviously!)

.Some DVD Players with VCD capabilities. For example, SONY DVP-S30

nd SONY DVP-S7000nd PIONEER DVD PLAYER DV-505. [ some of these DVD players have CDR

etection, they need

o be modified to play CDR VCDs ]

.Computers. You need to have a MPEG player software, but if you wan

o get high picture

uality, you need to install a MPEG accelarete card accompaning wit

good video card.

.Playstation Consoles with VCD Add-On [ a.k.a the Movie Card ]

.Saturn Consoles with VCD Add-On

.Doctor V64 / CD 64

.Some CD-I Players

.Some 3DO Game Consoles

.Some Laser Disc Players

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hat are the advantages of

CD?


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.VCD is multi-platform.

.Random Access for quick search.

.Better graphics quality than regular MPEG.

.Multiple audio/voice tracks for multilingual support.

.It's a cheaper alternative for DVDs and Laser Discs.

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hat is the quality of VCD

ike ?

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ecause of the capacity to hold more

ata, DVD movies are of more superior quality compared to VCDs. DVD

an hold up to 26 more

imes (6 Gigabits) of data as compared with VCD (650 Megabits). One

f the objectives of

he MPEG-1 standard for VCD was to get the quality comparable to S-

HS. In practice,icture quality when using a VCD players may somehow be almost as

ood as laser disc,

epending on the encoding. VCDs are playable on any machine capable

f playing VCD

nywhere in the world. This is because VCDs have no incompatibility

roblem caused by

ifferent formats such as PAL, NTSC & SECAM, and also do not have

ock-out codes that

isallow you playing movies that are not bought in your region.

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hat is the difference

etween NTSC and PAL ?

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here are two TV video standards,

TSC and PAL. NTSC is used in North America, and PAL is used almost

verywhere else in the

orld. Most hardware devices (DVD or VCD players) that play PAL vid

esolution out on a

TSC monitor correctly will cut approximately 24 lines of resolutio

rom the top and

ottom of a PAL image. Almost all VCDs are in PAL resolution, as there manufactured in

sia. This is usually not an issue, because not much details are lo

y such truncation.

ote : NTSC has 352 X 240 video resolution and PAL's video resoluti

s 352 X 288. This

AL to NTSC video conversion / truncation problem does not exist wh

iewed on a PC

onitor as the PC just displays the whole image.

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ow can I play VCD on my

omputer ?

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lmost any computer can play VCDs

ecause they are based on MPEG technology. You only need a basicentium PC (minimum

entium 166), a 2xCD-ROM drive, a good video card with 2MB or more

nd a software-only

PEG decoder.

here are two most popular MPEG decoder software that is from Xing

echnology called

Xing MPEG and Activemovie from Microsoft. You can try out Xing's

atest version ofPEG program by downloading it from WWW.XINGTECH.COM

f you are running a windows NT/95/98 machine you'd probably have th

edia player as a

lug-in in Internet Explorer.

ctiveMovie supports popular video and audio formats including AVI

ideo, QuickTime, WAV,

IDI, AU, and AIFF. It also supports playback of MPEG video and


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udio. With the support of

PEG video, ActiveMovie gives you television-quality video on your

omputer.

o enhance the performance of your computer, get a MPEG card from

our local computer shop

o relief the decoding work from your main CPU. That way, the movie

ou are watching willlay more smoothly.

nother recomendable software to play VCDs is Taiwan Cyber Link's T

oftware-only VCD

owerPlayer. It requires no hardware VCD player or MPEG card, savin

ignificant cost. It

s said that this software is much better than the XING MPEG Player

hat is, its

asy to use and has high quality graphic. Please go to http://www.yberlink.com.tw to

ownload.

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ow do I play VCD on a Power

acintosh

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ou will need Quicktime Apple's

ideo technology that allows you to play high quality video directl

o your computer. You

an download it from WWW.APPLE.COM . A 4x CDROM and a

04e proccessor is good enough to play VCDs.

lternatively, you can go to WWW.TUCOWS.COM and do a

earch on VCD Player to get the software. Download VCD Player 1.4.6n Macintosh and there

ou have a software to play VCD on your Mac!

CD Player simplifies the process of playing video compact discs on

our Mac. Simply

elect the Present Movie command, and VCD Player provides full-scre

PEG playback. It

eatures options that control sound and playback, and like an audio


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D player, you can

elect which track to start watching. VCD Player can now "remember"

here you

topped playing the movie after you quit the program, restarted you

ac, or changed to

nother disc then changed back. This update includes support for

ultiple monitors.

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an I play VCD on a Philips

Di player

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ormally, all Philips CD-i runs all

D-i, CD-DA, Digital Video, Video CD, CD+G and Photo-CD. With theigital Video Cartridge

MPEG 1) factory-installed, it also runs the latest applications wi

nteractive

ull-screen, full-motion video, such as Movies, Music Videos and Hi

ower 3D Action

ames. The best way to know is to check the documentation that come

ith the player. Or

o to www.prodvd.philips.com/hardware/cdi490.html

or further details.

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ow do I play VCD on a 3DO

achine ?

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DO are actually becoming obsoleteut you can still play VCD on it if you have the required video

atridge. But the consoles

re very difficult to find. To know more, pls go to : http://a-3do-

ite.freeservers.com/

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ow can I play VCD by using


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ideo sources, unskilled encoder operators, old technology, etc. ar

ome of the reasons.

s with any technology, there are always improvements as time goes

n. A major problem is

ncoding that is done using 'preset' parameters only with no tweaki

eing done.

nfortunately, you just can't dump video through an MPEG1 encoder a

xpect to get areat picture out of it. As with anything, you get what you pay for

f you use good

ncoding hardware, from Beta Cam or better source and operate the

ncoding hardware

roperly, your clients will be amazed by VideoCD.

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hy does my PC Hang whensing a computer to see the vcd movie ?

--------------------------------------

t sometimes happends when the

uality of the CD is not so good or your cd-rom is dirty.

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an I use my DVD player to

lay the VCD ?

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ou can play VCD only in DVD that

ave dual lens (or comparable system). The point is: a DVD drive

annot read a cdr, so you

eed another (or a combo/modified/dual lens) pickup In the specificase, Panasonic cannot

ead cdr. Sony and Pioneer yes. The more simple wayis try with a cd

ideoCD before buy.

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s VideoCD CD-i ?


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ideoCD 2.0 is a type of CD-ROM X/A

ridge Disc using audio and video formats from CD-i. VideoCD is a

ister technology to

D-i, without the complex OS/9 authoring requirements. VideoCDs wil

enerally play in

D-i players with a FMV (Full-motion Video cartridge). High-esolution stills do not

isplay properly in CD-i players. Interactive CD-i CDs will not pl

n a Video1.1

r 2.0 CD player although CD-i movies will.

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ow can i make an VCD Player

y self ?

--------------------------------------

f you take an audio CD player, and

dd a cheap MPEG1 decoder chip, you get a VCD 2.0 player

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echical Specification :tructure of VCD

--------------------------------------

he logical structure of the Video

D is destined to allow access by track playing mechanisms of low-

riced consumer players,

y computer systems and CD-i players too. The first track on the di

s the Video CD Datarack. File structure conforms to ISO 9660 allowing access for

omputer-based platforms.

o support access to information of this data track by simple

onsumer players too,

nformation areas for track playing mechanisms have to be at a fixe

bsolute location on

he CD. The track starts with a two second pregap and 16 empty

ectors at time code


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nterpreted, the other describing the links and the ways to access

udio or video

equences and still pictures.

he information of these files is interpreted by consumer players,

he appropriate files

or CD-i and computer platform contain extended selection lists.

hese files are calledSD_X.VCD and LOT_X.VCD. There have to be more information for thes

latforms to support

irect access with a pointing device via buttons and highlighted

reas. These files are in

folder named EXT. Additional information for the CD-i player is

tored in a folder named

DI.

folder named MPEGAV contains files with the MPEG-Audio-Videoracks. If there are any

ed-Book-Tracks on the discs there has to be a folder named CDDA

ontaining the audio

iles. Following Video CD specification version 2.0 not only MPEG-

racks may contain MPEG

ideo and audio, the standard allows to store additional video, aud

nd still videos in

special segment of the Video CD data track (track #1).

his area is called Segment Play item Area, because the Pplay items

re stored in fixed

egments, accessible for players with track playing mechanisms. The

ength of each segment

easures 150 sectors. A maximum of 1980 segments is allowed on one

D, each segment

as a number starting with 1. If there is such an area on the disc

here has to be an

older called SEGMENT with the files of the Segment play items.

he file system on a Video CD 2.0 conforms to ISO 9660 standard. ISO

660 standard

pecifies an hierarchical file system similar to the file system of

OS. The standard has

interchange levels, but in general when talking about ISO-9960

iscs interchange level 1

s focused. This means that not more than 8 directory levels are


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llowed for depth, and

nly capital letters 'A' to 'Z', numerical '0' to '9' and the

nderscore character '_' its

llowed to name files and directories.

iles names consist of at least 1 up to 8 characters and an optiona

xtension of up 3

haracters added behind a dot '.'. Directory names cannot have anxtension. ISO 9660

nterchange level 2 and level 3 are allowing more freedom in naming

iles, but level 1 is

n industrial standard supported by software drivers and many

omputer systems.

his standard stands for interchangeability between different

latforms. Non-ISO disc

onform to proprietary standards of operating systems, for examplepples Hierarchical

ile System (HFS).

he encoded video of the play items

onforms to the MPEG-1 standard using the standard

nput format (SIF). The technical specifications for picture size a

icture rate are:

52 x 240 pixel, 29.97 Hz picture rate for NTSC 352 x 240 pixel,3.976 Hz for movies 352

288 pixel, 25 Hz for PAL.

he location of text within videos encoded for PAL format should be

n a Text Area in the

iddle of the screen (352 x 240) not using 24 lines at the upper and

ower border of the

creen.

PEG-1 video uses interframe compression. A sophisticated system of

ifferent kind of

ictures eliminates not only redundant information within a frame b

lso between frames.

o assist random access to the video sequences groups of pictures

GOP) are built,

eginning with a so called intra-coded picture (I-picture) that use

nformation only form


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tself without any reference to another picture. I-pictures are

eference pictures and

ccess points to the video sequence.

redictive-coded and bidirectionally predictive-coded pictures are

oth coded using

nformation (motion compensated prediction) from reference pictures

-Pictures areeference pictures too based on information from past reference

ictures (I- or

-Pictures). B-Pictures are located between reference pictures usin

nformation from

oth, past and future reference pictures.

or example, a group of pictures (GOP) may have a structure like

BBPBBPBBPBB etc. or

BBBPBBBPBBB (see also figure XX). The selection of the appropriateOP-structure depends

n the content of the video source material, if there are many

hanges in the picture,

any details etc. The selection of appropriate GOPs affects the

uality of MPEG video. In

eneral it is recommended to have at least one or two I-Pictures

very second, the Video

D standard allows a maximum distance of 2 seconds between two I-

ictures.

ssociated audio must be encoded conforming to MPEG-1 standard, Lay

I with a sampling

requency of 44.1 kHz, in dual channel mode for a dual language

rogram or Karaoke,

ntensity stereo mode, or (joint) stereo, that considers interchann

ependencies of the

wo stereo channels for compression.

o maintain synchronization of video and audio both data streams ar

nterleaved in MPEG

ideo and MPEG audio sectors. The data rate of Form 2 sectors (sing

peed) is about 1,4

bit/s, the video stream must be encoded at 1,15 Mbit/s, audio stre

t 224 kbit/s,

nformation that tells an MPEG decoding system how to handle the

nterleaved data streams


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s added by a multiplexer software.

ptional Audio tracks are coded conforming to the Red Book with a

ampling frequency of

4.1 kHz, 16 Bit, stereo mode.

V-MPEG-Sequences in the Segment Play item in track #1 may be encod

n the same way ashose in MPEG-tracks. But different from that the data rate may

ncrease up to 1,37 MBit/s

epending on the rate of associated audio that may range from 0 to

84 kbit/s. There are

hree data rates for single channel mode (64, 96, and 192 kbit/s) an

our rates for

tereo, intensity stereo and dual channel mode (128, 192, 224, and

84 kbit/s). A segment

an contain pure MPEG audio without video.

till Videos in track #1 must be encoded as an MPEG Intra picture.

ormal resolution is

52 x 240 pixel for NTSC and 352 x 288 Pixel for PAL. High Resolutio

ictures are encoded

n the same way, but the horizontal and vertical size is doubled. S

TSC size is 704 x

80 pixel,

AL size 704 x 576. There may also be sequences of still picturesilled up with padding

ackets to get convenient time intervals - even a mix of normal and

igh resolution

ictures is allowed.

ach Segment play item starts at the beginning of a new segment.

ccording to the maximum

umber of segment 1980 Segment Pplay items may be defined.

VCD Frequently Asked Questions

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