What is SVCD?


Download SVCD Sample 
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:
max 2600 kbit/sec MPEG-2 (Audio + Video bitrate max bitrate is 2778 kbit/s).
480 x 576 pixels (CVD 352x576)
25 frames/second
with up to 4 Selectable CVD or SVCD Subtitles

Audio:

44100 Hz
32 - 384 kbit/sec MPEG-1 Layer2 or MPEG2 Audio
with up to 2 Audio Tracks

Extra :
Menus and chapters.
Still pictures 704x576,352x288

 

NTSC (NTSC Film)

Video:
max 2600 kbit/sec MPEG-2 (Audio + Video bitrate max bitrate is 2778 kbit/s).
480 x 480 pixels (CVD 352x480)
29,97 frames/second
23,976 frames/second with 3:2 pulldown (NTSC Film)
with up to 4 Selectable CVD or SVCD Subtitles

Audio:
44100 Hz
32 - 384 kbit/sec MPEG-1 Layer2 or MPEG2 Audio
with up to 2 Audio Tracks

Extra :
Menus and chapters.
Still pictures 704x480,352x240






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
Blu-ray
MKV HD
MP4 HD
H264 HD
WMV HD
AVI
DivX
XviD
WMV
MOV
QuickTime
FLV
MP4
AVI
DV
Resolution
NTSC/PAL
352x240
352x288
480x480
480x576
720x480²
720x576²
1920x1080
1280x720
1920x1080²
1280x720²
640x480² 640x480² 640x480² 720x480
720x576
Video
Compression
MPEG1
MPEG2
MPEG2, MPEG1
H264
VC1
MPEG2
H264
VC1
DivX, Xvid, MPEG4 ASP, WMV
H264
H264, FLV, VP6, VP7, VP8
DV
Video bitrate
1150kbps
~2000kbps
~7000kbps
~30Mbps
~10Mbps
~1000kbps
~1000kbps
~700kbps
25Mbps
Audio
Compression
MP1
MP1
MP1, MP2, AC3, DTS, PCM DTS-HD, EAC3, TrueHD, AC3, DTS, PCM AAC, AC3, DTS, WMA MP3, WMA, OGG, AAC, AC3 MP3, AAC MP3, AAC DV
Audio bitrate
224kbps
~224kbps
~448kbps
~448kbps
~448kbps
~128kbps
~128kbps
~64kbps
~1500kbps
Size/min
10
MB/min
10-20
MB/min
30-70
MB/min
50-150MB/min 50MB/min 4-10
MB/min
4-10
MB/min
4-10
MB/min
216MB/min
Min/74min CD
74min
35-60min
10-20min 4min-10min 10min 60-180min 60-180min 60-180min 3min
Hours/DVD
N/A
N/A
1-2hrs
30min-1hrs 1hrs 7-18hrs 7-18hrs 7-18hrs 20min
Hours/
DualLayerDVD
N/A
N/A
2-4hrs
60min-2hrs 2hrs 13-30hrs 13-30hrs 13-30hrs 37min
Hours/
Blu-ray 25GB
N/A
N/A
8-16hrs
2-4hours 6hours 40-100hrs 40-100hrs 40-100hrs 110min
DVD Player Compatibility
Great Good Excellent None None Good None None None
Computer CPU Usage
Low Low Low Very high Very high Low Low Low Low
Quality
Bad Good* Great* Superb* Excellent* Great* Great* Great* Good
kbps = thousand bits per second
Mbps = million bits per second
² approximately resolution, it can be higher or lower
~ approximately bitrate, it can be higher or lower
* 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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