Page 1 of Transfer VHS to DVD - definitions.

Hello Everyone,

Recently I viewed an old black and white film that was commercially released on DVD. It had a bonus DVD documentary (in color, from 1980s TV). On the back cover it mentioned things that I would like to know the meanings of. Anyone help?

One... Regular 1.33:1 (possibly misread, I can`t read my own handwriting).

Two... 4:3 Transfer.

Three... Dual Layer Format - layer transition may trigger a slight pause. (This was the case throughout the b&w film, ie-when the camera zoomed in, it wasn`t smooth. It was as though frames had been taken out at certain regular intervals. This DVD was virtually flawless in every other aspect).

Four... Single Layer Format (this was used for the color TV documentary).

Five... There was also a blurb about the cover about the DVD having faithfully reproduced the films dimensions, as it was originally shown at the cinemas. (TV wasn`t invented back then, were talking, pre WWII).

I intend to either get a commercial place to transfer my old B&W films for me, or maybe do this myself. Any advice? I`ve come across cheaper versions of this DVD where the image quality was really poor, or the sound didn`t synch-up with the actor`s lips, so I`d be looking to avoid this sort of thing, obviously.

Thank-you all for any help.

1) & 2) are the same thing - original TV aspect ratio (i.e. not widescreen)

3) Dual layer is DVD-9 format and has twice the capacity of single layer (DVD-5). The slight pause on layer transition will only happen once when the laser refocuses to the other layer. The problem you have is probably down to the original source film.

4) Single layer is DVD-5 and has the same capacity as recordable DVD+/-R

5) Implies that the original film was aspect ratio of 1.33:1

Go here for advice on transferring video/authoring DVD`s.

This item was edited on Wednesday, 31st December 2003, 12:55

Quote:
One... Regular 1.33:1 (possibly misread, I can`t read my own handwriting).

Two... 4:3 Transfer.

1.33:1 and 4:3 mean exactly the same thing. These numbers refer to the dimensions, or `aspect ratio`, of the displayed image. In this case, the image is 1.33 times as wide as it is tall.

A standard (non-widescreen) television set has an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 - this was also the standard ratio for cinema films prior to the 1950s. Most modern films have a wider ratio, such as 1.85:1 or 2.35:1.

Quote:
Three... Dual Layer Format - layer transition may trigger a slight pause. (This was the case throughout the b&w film, ie-when the camera zoomed in, it wasn`t smooth. It was as though frames had been taken out at certain regular intervals. This DVD was virtually flawless in every other aspect).

Four... Single Layer Format (this was used for the color TV documentary).

Were the film and documentary on separate DVDs, by any chance, or on different sides of a double-sided DVD?

Basically, a DVD `side` can either be single-layer, with a capacity of roughly 5 gigabytes, or dual-layer, with a capacity of around 9 gigabytes. A dual-layer side consists of two separate physical data layers, which are `sandwiched` together when the DVD is made.

On a dual-layer DVD, there may be a slight pause at one point (and one point only!) somewhere in the middle of the film, as the laser gets to the end of the first layer and starts playing the second layer.

The lack of smoothness you mention is caused by something else, such as a dodgy standards conversion (e.g. on a PAL DVD which has been transferred from a NTSC master tape, or vice versa).

It may even be caused by your DVD player - are you playing a NTSC DVD on a PAL TV, and if so, does the DVD player have a PAL-50 `conversion` option enabled? Have a look at the options within your player`s setup menus, and see if there`s an option for video, such as PAL/PAL-50/NTSC/PAL-60/AUTO. Try all of the different settings.

Quote:
Five... There was also a blurb about the cover about the DVD having faithfully reproduced the films dimensions, as it was originally shown at the cinemas. (TV wasn`t invented back then, were talking, pre WWII).

This is another reference to the aspect ratio. It means what it says - you`re seeing the whole image, it hasn`t been cropped to fit your TV screen. (Of course, because it`s 1.33:1 ratio, it just happens to fit your TV screen anyway!)

Quote:
I intend to either get a commercial place to transfer my old B&W films for me, or maybe do this myself. Any advice?

I don`t know much about this, but bear in mind that most commercial DVDs are transferred from original film (i.e. 35mm) sources - they wouldn`t use 2nd or 3rd generation tape transfers if they could help it, and they certainly wouldn`t transfer from VHS. Your DVDs will only ever be as good as the source from which they`re transferred.

Mike

The apparent missing frames could also be caused by 100hz processing

hello phelings

thanks for your answer. could you explain a bit more about what this is, and, with my issue, how to overcome this if applicable.

thanks

daveyd

100hz processing is used on some tv`s to reduce a flicker that,apparently,some people can see on a normal standard 50hz set.However,if you look at the list of picture processing tricks used on 100hz sets,you will realise that most of these are actually there to eliminate other problems that 100hz introduces.
Fast motion judder,like your zoom in,is a usual one.And worst of all ,it gives an unnatural look to pictures,especially digital tv-although dvd is slightly better.Look at a newsreader in close up on 100hz-there is no facial detail compared to 50hz.The only thing that looks good is animation.
After all that,your problem may have nothing to with 100hz at all.The master may be a NTSC-PAL transfer as mentioned above-although if you were watching an NTSC disc in PAL 50 or 60 ,you may get the same thing.Is it definitely a PAL disc-there are a few non Jap R2 discs,or R0 discs that are NTSC.

This item was edited on Sunday, 4th January 2004, 22:15