Which Transcoding Tools Produce The Best Picture Quality.

bigorange, what were the results of your extensive DVD Shrink tests, at 90% to 50% ratios?
Did you do a direct quality-comparison including the original and other transcoders (and DVD RB/CCE)?

 

Has anyone tried the new version of Recode now with a Higher Quality (oooooooooooooo) setting and been satisfied with it when comparing it to other programs?

I have but I don't like sharing my opinion of quality. Let's just say I have very high standards when I 'test'

 

MackemX

No, I just installed it yesterday and haven't got around to taking it for a spin. In fact I haven’t been using anything other than RB/CCE with batch processing. I’ll give it go perhaps later today.

To be fair, I've never really been a recode fan, or at least so far.

 

one of the main factors regarding quality is that it's still all down to the individual at the end of the day isn't it? as to what perception of their acceptable quality level is

To someone who is using CCE for the reason it gives better quality in their eyes probably isn't going to change their mind to change to Recode so I don't really see you changing you mind Sophocles seeing as you were never a Recode fan to begin with. Whereas someone using some other transcoder with poorer quality than CCE may like the quality increase and change their opinions

as well as doing the time consuming DVD 1:1 backup comparision when comparing, I just use reauthor in DVDShrink with no compression. I select whichever titles I want, cropping segments I want to reduce to test that I think will show any weaknesses

I stick the miniDVD's through Recode and DVDShrink at various levels and settings and then compare the results including long distance to extreme closeup comparisions


the point of all this blabbering on?, make your own comparisions and use whatever's easier on your own eyes in your opinion. No matter what anyone could say anywhere in a forum, there is no way I would change my opinion of the tools and the quality of the output they give without testing it for myself. If you are serious about quality then you would probably think the same way

if you had a choice of getting any brand of car then you wouldn't buy a car after reading a review without test driving it would you?. You may have a short list of cars but you would still want to test them for yourself. If it was a 'free' car then would it affect your 'quality' opinion of the other cars? because it shouldn't. Something doesn't suddenly suffer from quality loss because you have to pay for it but it does create 'fog gog's' for some

as long as you are happy with your backups then I'm happy

 

MackemX

I agree that many of us are ruled by our individual choices and often to the point of subjectivity. Some people are saying that DVD Shrink 3.2 surpasses IC8 and CCE, I couldn’t support that. Personal opinions aren’t likely to be changed as a result of a debate or argument afore or against an application. If the new Nero recode is that much better than the previous version then I would give it a try on movies requiring minimal compression, I haven’t yet closed the door on experimentation. I’m curious, what do you use?

 

you have a good point there

People also have ideas of which tool to use for whatever compression is required as why go through all the fuss of using CCE etc when it only needs 95% compression as there is very little chance you will notice any difference during normal playback

you see endless posts of if it's xx% or less I use such and such a tool and there isn't a pattern at all as again it's all down to the individual as to what level they will change tools

I use nothing as I don't backup DVD's, I gave that up ages ago but I do like to keep in touch with things. I normally experiment doing non-normal things with normal tools as I like trying out new methods and tools to see if I can discover any hidden abilities. My latest tricks are the ability to cripple most transcoding programs yet leave the DVD playable so I actually working in reverse at the minute

Who knows I may just jump back on the DVD backup boat again one day but I don't see it just yet but I can't walk away from it either
_X_X_X_X_X_[small]DVD Backup Tools and Guide

http://www.Deano.dsl.pipex.com/dvdremake/dvdremake.htm
http://www.DVDStripper.com[/small]

 

MackemX did some nice work on getting to the bottom of a "new Copy protection" scheme going on in Region 2. From my understanding, the way it works is that there are navigation commands that involve intentionally bad sectors. A DVD player reads over these as a matter of course, but rippers have a problem on a bit by bit basis. This was my understanding, anyway. Also, Remake Pro offers a workaround.

This is the thread where MackemX is dealing with the copy protection. While this is a little off-topic for this thread, it has significance to all of us in that all us us must use some form of ripper, and this new scheme seems to confound a few of them.
http://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=994185#994185

Also, lets hope MackemX doesn't go to work for one of the studios, or we would never be able to back up our DVD's!!!

 

I sometimes wonder how much longer I’ll continue pushing forward. I remember when DiVx and Xvid were top of the latter unless you absolutely had to have a DVD compliant format then it was VCD or SVCD even though you had to spread SVCD’s across 3 to 5 CDR’s. Like many I resolved the issue by building a DiVx player out of PC parts instead. Still 6 or 7 years later here I am still slugging away at it and I spend more time backing up movies than actually do watching them.

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Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." Sherlock Holmes (by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1859-1930)[/small]

 

@Doc409, I've posted my reply here instead to keep in on topic
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/28/88038#532420

'I spend more time backing up movies than actually do watching them.', LOL Sophocles, so it's in your blood like me?

 

Doc

I'm not certain but I think that MackemX meant to use this link.

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/9/90309

 

lol, I posted the same link as in the other thread

http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/2/98522#532431

that's the one and it should be about copy protection

 

Done it before myself. LOL

 

@ Sophocles. Thanks. I didn't want to derail this thread, but like I said, I thought that the info was particularly relevant (to the group following this thread).

@Machem...

I recently learned how to use the Batch Processing feature of DVD-Rebuilder. After "Remaking", all the movies go to DVD-RB/CCE for the night. I know that this may not make sense to some if a movie only needs something like 10% compression, but it is actually more time-efficient for me. And quality is guaranteed.

While you don't backup at present, I would still be curious at this point how you would rate the new Recode with the other transcoders? And, how would you say it compares to CCE now?

 

Doc

This thread is long past being derailed by anyone because it seems of have life of its own. I wonder how many posts a single thread can handle before it reaches its limit. What's interesting is that original question may still be waiting for an answer.

 

Preferences certainly play a part, but the fact that developers continually improve on previous versions make the answer a moving target. This thread may experience the longest life of any at AD!!!

 

Doc

Strong points. I thought that dual layer would take this thread and transcoders down. At one point when we were being bothered by S-Y-K-E-S I asked Praetor to cancel it and he did, for a day and then he brought it back.

 

Well, I've been wanting to discuss dual layer (just a little bit).

In marketing terms, my "price point" would be $3.00. That is what I would pay for a dual layer blank, and thus stop using tools for compression. I think it may be awhile before we see this, but prices will likely continue to come down.

I'm wondering at what point others would switch, and what would play into the decision? I might use it for the longer epics, but CCE quality is very good on a DVD-5.


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Doc

My thinking is about the same and I'll take it even further to say $1.50 each, I'm paying less than $.50 each for single layer. My concern is that dual layer may not have a good shelf life. What happens if one layer goes before the other or if it becomes unreadable period?

 

Doc

I must admit over the last few weeks I have tinkered with the idea of adopting Dual layer, but I keep coming back to the same old conclusions. IE The vast majority of DVD movies, at present to my eyes, can be backed up superbly onto single layer DVD-r. I would use it on only a few movies in my collection. Also i think to myself, where would the challenge lye?..and what about the elimination of the "fun factor", and what the hell would we all talk about on AD?

 

@ Sophocles. ...Interesting. I was wondering about shelf life also, especially with a new technology. I'm not apt to invest too heavily until I hear reports from others a few years down the line.

The reason I mentioned using dl for epics is that the normal movie doesn't require a lot of compression, anyway. More and more I'm seeing the DVD-9's filled up with previews crap like the old VHS's were. And RMP makes nice work of these. My average encode involves about 6 GB, which isn't a lot of compression.

Also, I can't see paying the extra $'s to record this preview stuff.


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