Creating Video Cd's - Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-250 Installation And Reference Manual

Creating Video CD's

Most PC's based on Windows can play MPEG-1 files created with
WinTV-PVR through the Windows MediaPlayer. PC-based DVD players,
such as WinDVD, can play the MPEG-2 formats as well. So, if you sim-
ply want to play your video files on a PC, you do not have to create a
Video CD. Just use Windows MediaPlayer to play your MPEG-1 encod-
ed videos from your hard disk.
If you would like to watch your VCD recordings on your TV set, most
DVD players can play Video CD's in addition to DVD movies. All you
need to do is create a video recording with the WinTV-PVR using the
VCD setting, and then follow the instructions below.
The WinTV-PVR, when you chose the VCD record format, makes MPEG
files which have the correct characteristics for Video CD. These charac-
teristics are: MPEG-1 video at 1.1Mbits per second (the VCD specifica-
tion calls for a maximum video datarate of 1.151Mbits/sec), 352x240 for-
mat (NTSC), 29.92 frames per second (for NTSC) and 44.1KHz audio.
On the WinTV-PVR-pci and the WinTV-PVR-usb, the VCD MPEG files
themselves need to have the audio and video remultiplexed before a
Video CD can be recorded onto CD-ROM. The WinTV-PVR-250 and the
WinTV-PVR-350, when recording using the VCD format, have correctly
multiplexed audio and video and therefore these files can be directly
"burnt" onto a CD-ROM in the VCD format.
Note: We have found that most home DVD players can play Video CD's
created with CD-RW media. Some DVD players, though, can only read
CD-R media. If you are not able to have your DVD player read a CD-RW
made using these steps, we suggest trying a CD-R media. A complete
list of tested compatible DVD players can be found on our web site at:
http://www.hauppauge.com/dvdplayers
Step 1: Creating a Video CD compatible video file
While in the record mode, click on the Video CD Record button. You
can also have set the MPEG Quality Level to MPEG-1 VCD, and then
click the Record button. In both cases, a Video CD compatible file will
be created on your hard disk, with the name of the file automatically
generated by the WinTV application. After you have recorded your
show, click on File button in the Record menu, the last file recorded
will be highlighted.
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