Encoder Options for DVD Video

TV System

Check your DVD player for the format it supports. Also note that some older TVs can only play one system, but most modern TVs can handle both.

NTSC is the TV standard used in the US, Japan and some other countries.
PAL is the system used in Europe, Australia and may other countries.

Quality

High - This will encode your movies using the highest quality. This will mean slow encoding times and larger file sizes but a better video. Use this for high action videos. All the associated settings are set to specific values.
Medium - This will use a medium quality, with faster encoding and smaller file sizes. This is fine for slow action videos. All the associated settings are set to specific values.
Custom - Here you can customize the encoding of your video. Mainly consider the interleaved option if your movie is scrambled. You can alter any of the settings.

Video Compressor

Mpeg files are saved using either MPEG1 or MPEG2 compression.

MPEG1 is a constant bitrate format and can produce artifacts in high action scenes. MPEG1 is natively supported in all versions of Windows, so it is a good choice for maximum compatibility.
MPEG2 is a variable bitrate format and will produce superior output for action scenes. MPEG2 is NOT natively supported by Windows and will require a third-party codec to be installed to play it. Most DVD movie player software installs the appropriate codec into Windows.

Video Bitrate

Here you specify the bitrate the video is encoded at. The higher the value, the better the quality of the picture and the less artifacts (macro blocks and blurring). For example, a DVD is encoded at 9000kbps. A VCD using MPEG1 is encoded at 1152kbps. You should experiment with this. Please note that higher values result in a larger file size.

Average bitrate is the mean bitrate, and is the main value that affects quality. Maximum bitrate should generally exceed this, but no set margin is required; the average and maximum bitrates can safely be the same.
Maximum bitrate is the absolute maximum. It does not majorly affect quality, but some formats have set values that must not be exceeded (e.g., 10 megabits for DVD video). Sometimes if your maximum bitrate is too low then you will get macro block effects, in which case you should increase BOTH values.

Audio Bitrate

The audio is encoded using Mpeg 1 Layer 2 codec. You can specify a variety of bitrates but we normally suggest 64 (low quality, low file size) or 128 (high quality, larger file size).

Two Pass Encoding

The video will be encoded in two passes to increase quality by scanning the file twice to distribute the bit of the average and maximum bitrate across time. It will take about twice the amount of time, but will significantly increase the quality of the video for fast moving scenes.

Interleaved

Video captured directly from a VCR and from most DVDs are interleaved. Some high definition video and most downloaded videos are progressive (i.e., not interleaved). Try to match this setting to your source video. If this is done wrong, the output can be garbled or very poor in appearance.

Video Codec (Windows only)

Use internal codec first (try this if you are having problems with video). If this is checked, use internal codec first, otherwise use DirectShow filter first.