DVD/video/TV experts: Best recording speed for making highest quality DVD-R

[stuyguy]

I know this is a basic question. So basic in fact that try as I have to find the answer on the web I can't because all the thousands of hits I get all seem to assume the reader already knows the answer.

An edit house is converting my 51min. Betacam tape to a 120min DVD-R disc. What speed should they use for giving the best quality result? (They tried it once at SP and there are some noticable "anomolies" in the end product.) I'm pretty sure there is a faster speed that gives a higher quality. If so, what is it?

[Hodge]

Um, I'm not sure your question makes sense. What matters is what speed your tape was originally recorded at. There is no such thing as SP, EP, SLP speeds for DVD unless you're referring to the bitrate at which the digital video file is to be encoded.

If that's the case, then the higher the bitrate, the better. You should have no problem maximizing your bitrate if your video is only 51min long. I believe that the maximum bitrate for DVD format MPEG2 video is 9.1 Mbits/second.

Of course, there are other factors that affect video quality such as the quality of your source, whether it is interlaced or progressive, whether the video format PAL or NTSC. The "noticeable anomolies" may or may not be compression artifacts that can be minimized with a faster bitrate or the judicious application of various video filters.

[Rex Fenestrarum]

Huh? The OP makes no sense.

[Mr. Blue Sky]

He may be referring to the record speed of the DVD-R, although I don't know if it applies to professional equipment.

From Panasonic's website:

Selectable Recording Modes

You can set your recorder to one of five different recording speeds, each varying in recording quality and length. EP mode yields the most recording time, LP & SP modes provide less recording time with higher quality recording, and XP mode gives you the highest quality recording. There's also the FR (Flexible Recording) mode that lets you record with the best picture quality possible for the recording time and remaining space on the disc.

[stuyguy]

That's it Mr. Blue Sky!

XP (and maybe FP) was what I was looking for. I was watching the technician when he made the dub. There was a menu of speeds. He picked the standard speed, but I saw there was a "faster" (higher quality) one.

[handy]

I have a Panasonic dvd recorder Model E30, it has selectable speeds. Its a pretty decent machine about $370 these days & takes the place of my vcr.

Highest quality is XP. But using that from video isn't worth it in that case SP should be just fine.