MPEG2 Encoding Parameters (TMPGEnc)

[Kampar]

I often capture high bitrate analog video on my PC and then convert it to MPEG2 for authoring into a DVD format and burning, using the Tsunami MPEG Encoder (TMPGEnc) V2.5 (still the best IMO) to perform the MPEG2 encoding.

Over the years i've honed the bitrate settings to enable the resulting MPEG2 files (assuming there are no clever menu's added) to fit just within the capacity of a standard, single layer DVD. Sometimes it's slightly over but there are a few tools out there to knock it back down the 0.5% or so to make it fit without losing any appreciable quality.

The reason you want it to 'just' fit is that the more 'bits' per pixel you can apply to the motion image in MPEG2, the better resulting image quality you are going to get. If you set TMPGEnc up in all other parameters to be of the optimum quality, then the only piece you have additional control over is the bitrate.

So here is my 'cheat sheet' in case it helps anyone else out there ... here you can quickly look at the length of the video and determine what parameters to use to provide the optimal encoding.

Note this is for PAL DVD (720x576, standard or widescreen) formats only. NTSC formats are different for the IBP settings.

I developed this based upon the information here ...

http://dvd-hq.info/dvd_compression.php

... which is a nice simple guide and calculator for the bit rate settings on your DVD. All I did was to cut out the extras they allow for on the DVD (e.g. menu's) and test the bitrates to make sure they usually work.

These settings were developed for TMPGEnc but I expect they will work on any reasonable MPEG2 encoding tool.

There is a PDF of the full table from 79 mins to 187 mins in the rar file for anyone who is interested.

Kampar

[Edited to add: the settings assume a single audio track that is compressed to 224Kbps ... if you leave audio as uncompressed PCM then not only are you completely mad, but the parameters above won't work!)