mpeg2 alternative for dvd

I don't know anything about dsp, but mpeg2 is the only format that a DVD player will read. Well, most will play mpeg1 (VCD) as well, and a few will play mpeg4 (divx), but neither of those is part of the DVD video standard, and as such, won't likely play in most stand alone DVD players.

If you want to author a standards compliant DVD, it's gotta be in mpeg2.

Rob

 

Because commercial movie DVDs are almost always DVD-9s, meaning they have 2 data layers resulting in a capacity of 9.4 GB while normal DVD-Rs only have 1 layer and a capacity of 4.7 GB.

Since last year dual-layer burners are available. The downside is that the blank media are still very expensive.

 

Supposedly all the SDs in the new PowerMacs are Dual Layer with the dual layer burning locked in firmware. You can unlock it and use toast to burn dual layer discs, but they are, as mentioned, very expensive.

BTW, the 'official' spec for a DVD is 2 hours of video in regular mode for a 4.7gb DVD, so sounds like you are getting about what you should. I have authored some DVDs with very low quality and squeezed about 6-8 hours onto one disc before, but it was really crappy looking (the source files were fairly low quality, so it wasn't a huge issue at the time).

Rob