What's the highest constant bit rate I can render/use? I have a very short program (15 min) to burn to DVD and would like to use the available space for maxium quality. (rendering main concept mpg2)

Or bertter phrased -- what's the higest constant bit rate a consumer DVD player can play back?

thanks --

Am I correct in assuming that a (high) constant bit rate will give better results than a variable rate -- since I have the extra space on the DVD?

I believe that the combined bitrate of the video and all audio streams associated with it can't exceed 9800kbps according to the DVD spec. Because players vary, a good maximum target could be 8000 or so.

Keep in mind this is video and audio. If you AC-3 encode you'll have more space for video.

Cheers,

-Matt

We use 9800kbps regularly and have never seen or heard of a problem on any player.

"Or bertter phrased -- what's the higest constant bit rate a consumer DVD player can play back?"

8000 is a safe and a good bet for decent quality.

as for players playing 9800 constant without a problem, im yet to see this, from high end to low end players. Ive tested on numerous players and each different model performs differently.
For best compatibility, use a figure which will give the player enough headroom to buffer the files before playback. some old players cant even play 8000 so thats another thing to consider..

thanks guys --

What model dvd burner and media combination are you using for your 9800kbps recording?
I often send dvd's to friends who can't play the whole dvd without skipping or errors unless I keep the rate between 6-7500. I am using ac3 audio.

Jeff, I think you're doing the right thing. Getting too close to the maximum is asking for problems on many DVD players.

That's why my vote goes to variable bit rate as opposed to constant. That way, a good multipass encoder can have room to bump up the data rate momentarily to maintain higher visual quality.

-gb-

Yes, 2-pass VBR 4 min, 7 avg, 8 max seems to yield very playable DVDs for me at very high mpeg2 quality. Works well with HDV footage conversions as well. Encoder quality set to best.