Technical Info
SVCD File Structure
Video file comparison
More info
SVCD stands for "Super VideoCD". A SVCD is very similiar to a VCD, it has the capacity to hold about 35-60 minutes on 74/80 min CDs of very good quality full-motion video along with up to 2 stereo audio tracks and also 4 selectable subtitles. A SVCD can be played on many standalone DVD Players and of course on all computers with a DVD-ROM or CD-ROM drive with the help of a software based decoder / player. It is also possible to use menus and chapters, similiar to DVDs, on a SVCD and also simple photo album/slide shows with background audio. The quality of a SVCD is much better than a VCD, especially much more sharpen picture than a VCD because of the higher resolution. But the quality depends how many minutes you choose to store on a CD, less minutes/CD generally means higher quality.
SVCDs can be played on
- Many standalone DVD Players, check here for compability list
- All CD-ROMa/DVD-ROMs can play SVCDs with a software DVD/SVCD-Player
If your DVD Player does not support SVCD you can try this VCD header trick, it requires no reconverting which mean that you do not lose any quality.
Buy original SVCD Movies direct at VCDGallery.com
What is CVD then?
CVD is basicly the same as SVCD but with a lower video resolution. Using a lower resolution you get more data for each pixel which means less mpeg artifacts such as blockiness compared to a SVCD with the same bitrate, but you will lose some sharpness. Most SVCD capable standalone DVD Players supports CVD. Download a CVD sample here. Read this CVD article for more detailed info.
What is XSVCD then?
Read here on the XSVCD Page.
| SVCD Samples |
Downloadable SVCD Samples
http://www.pcphotovideo.com/SvcdSamples.htm , Read here how to play SVCD on your computer and read here how to author and burn a SVCD mpg to a SVCD on CD.
http://www.vcdimager.org/pub/vcdimager/examples/test_svcd/ , PAL and NTSC SVCDs with switchable subtitles. Burn the BIN/CUE with Nero or VCDEasy or extract with Isobuster.
| Technical Info for SVCD and CVD |
| PAL Video:
|
| NTSC (NTSC Film) Video: |
| SVCD vs VCD |
| SVCD File/Folder Structure |
| Folder | Files | Explanation |
| SVCD | INFO.VCD | Album and disc identification |
| ENTRIES.VCD | Entry point list for up to 500 entries | |
| SEARCH.DAT | List of I-frame addresses | |
| TRACKS.SVD | ||
| PSD.VCD | Optional Play Sequence Descriptor | |
| LOT.VCD | Optional List ID Offset file | |
| MPEG2 | AVSEQnn.MPG | MPEG2 files, max 99 tracks, the main movie, trailers, extras, menus |
| CDDA | AUDIOnn.DAT | Optional CD Audio files |
| SEGMENT | ITEMnnn.DAT | Segment play items, max 999 segments, still menus or still pictures |
| KARAOKE | KARINFO.xxx | Optional Karaoke information files |
| EXT | PSD_X.VCD | Optional extended version of PSD,VCD |
| LOT_X.VCD | Optional extended version of LOT.VCD | |
| SCANDATA.DAT | List of I-frame addresses | |
| CAPTnn.DAT | Optional Closed Caption data | |
| CDI | (undefined) | CD-i program and data files |
| Video File Comparison |
| Format | VCD |
SVCD |
DVD |
HDDVD HDTV (WMVHD) |
AVI DivX XviD WMV |
MOV Quick- Time |
RM Real- Media |
AVI DV |
| Resolution NTSC/PAL |
352x240 352x288 |
480x480 480x576 |
720x480² 720x576² |
1920x1080² 1280x720² |
640x480² | 640x480² | 320x240² | 720x480 720x576 |
| Video Compression |
MPEG1 |
MPEG2 |
MPEG2,
MPEG1 |
MPEG2 (WMV- MPEG4) |
MPEG4 |
Sorenson,
Cinepak, MPEG4 ... |
RM |
DV |
| Video bitrate |
1150kbps |
~2000kbps |
~5000kbps |
~20Mbps (~8Mbps) |
~1000kbps |
~1000kbps |
~350kbps |
25Mbps |
| Audio Compression |
MP1 |
MP1 |
MP1, MP2, AC3, DTS, PCM | MP1, MP2, AC3, DTS, PCM | MP3, WMA, OGG, AAC, AC3 | QDesign Music, MP3 ... | RM | DV |
| Audio bitrate |
224kbps |
~224kbps |
~448kbps |
~448kbps |
~128kbps |
~128kbps |
~64kbps |
~1500kbps |
| Size/min |
10 MB/min |
10-20 MB/min |
30-70 MB/min |
~150MB/min (~60MB/min) |
4-10 MB/min |
4-20 MB/min |
2-5 MB/min |
216MB/min |
| Min/74min
CD |
74min |
35-60min |
10-20min | ~4min (~10min) |
60-180min | 30-180 min |
120-300 min |
3min |
| Hours/DVD |
N/A |
N/A |
1-2hrs (2-5hrsª) |
~30min (~1hrs) |
7-18hrs | 3-18hrs | 14-35hrs | 20min |
Hours/ DualLayerDVD |
N/A |
N/A |
2-4hrs (5-9hrsª) |
~55min (~2hrs) |
13-30hrs | 6-30hrs | 25-65hrs | 37min |
| DVD Player
Compatibility |
Great | Good | Excellent | None | Few | None | None | None |
| Computer
CPU Usage |
Low | High | Very High | Super high | Very High | High | Low | High |
| Quality |
Good | Great* | Excellent* | Superb* | Great* | Great* | Decent* | Excellent |
Mbps = million bits per second
² approximately resolution, it can be higher or lower
~ approximately bitrate, it can be higher or lower
ª DVD with lower video quality, similiar to VCD/SVCD video quality
* the video quality depends on the bitrate and the video resolution, higher bitrate and higher resolution generally means better video quality but bigger file size
| More Info |
More
info about SVCD
DVD to SVCD guide
How to convert AVI/DivX to SVCD
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