Digital Media Converter Pro v2.31

Configuring MPEG 2 Properties     

1. After adding files to the list, point to the Tools menu and click Settings.
2. Under General Settings, select either MPEG 2, DVD-PAL, DVD-NTSC, SVCD-PAL, or SVCD-NTSC from the Convert To Video Format list.
3. Select the Properties tab or Properties button.

MPEG 2 is the audio and video compression system used to create DVDs and SVCDs. This high quality compressed format can be played back on all computing platforms.  DVDs and SVCDs accept MPEG files that conform to their respective standards.

Read the articles: Understanding VCD, DVD and SVCD Formats and VCD, SVCD and DVD- Quality, Capacity and Media Types

The table below lists down the format in which MPEG 2 files are made by Digital Media Converter Pro depending on the type of video disc selected.

NTSC is the picture standard used in USA and Japan, while PAL is used in almost all European countries. 

Read the article: Convert Between PAL and NTSC

Making MPEG 2 Movies for SVCDs and DVDs

Creating an SVCD or DVD involves:

1. Making MPEG movie(s) conforming to the standard that the disc accepts.
2. Burning the created movie(s) to an appropriate disc (CD or DVD)

Digital Media Converter Pro is able to make MPEG movies for various Video Discs as discussed in the table above. However, separate CD or DVD burning software is required to burn these MPEG movies to a CD or DVD.

To make an SVCD or DVD, select the required format from Convert To Format box and click on OK. The values required to create the correct files are automatically filled in.

The options available are:

1. DVD-NTSC
2. DVD-PAL
3. SVCD-NTSC
4. SVCD-PAL

Aspect Ratio

In DVD-NTSC, movies are created with dimensions of 720x480. In DVD-PAL, movies are created with dimensions of 720x576. Every DVD video stream has a DAR (Display Aspect Ratio) flag. The flag tells the media player what kind of target display the stream has been encoded for. You can change the DAR to match the display you expect the movie to be viewed on (and to match the Aspect Ratio of the movie you are converting).  By default the video will be created in a 4:3 display aspect ratio. You can choose between:

1. For Normal TV (4:3)
2. For HDTV (16:9)

Note:

The DAR (Display Aspect Ratio) is not the ratio of the actual video dimensions you have encoded the video at. Even though Windows Media Player continues to show the actual video dimensions in the file's properties, it will play the video in the DAR you have chosen. For example, if you have created a movie in DVD-NTSC and DAR as 16:9 the video will appear in widescreen when playing in Media Player but will still have dimensions of 720x480.

Making Custom MPEG 2 Movies

To make custom MPEG movies, select MPEG 2 from the Convert To Video Format list. Specify custom values for:

1. Video Dimensions: 

   You can either convert your video to MPEG 2 files with the same dimensions, or to new dimensions you select. To use the original dimensions, select Keep source file dimensions. To change the dimensions select Change dimensions. You can either select one of the standard formats, or specify custom dimension. By default your converted file keeps the dimensions of the original file.

   • If you want to alter the aspect ratio of the video, select Change dimensions.
   • Increasing the size of a video can reduce the picture quality. For example, if the file imported into your timeline originally had 320 x 240 dimensions, you should not save it to 640 x 480 pixels.  The resulting video might be distorted or "blocky" looking.   Reducing video dimensions can also result in unacceptable conversions, especially if there is a lot of detail in the picture.
   • The "Aspect Ratio" of a video image is the relationship between the width and the height.  Standard TV has an aspect ratio of 4:3, meaning that it is 3/4 as tall as it is wide.  Movies and HD TV have wider pictures, meaning a different aspect ratio.  If you choose to Change dimensions, you can unselect Lock Aspect Ratio.  If you know that you are converting widescreen movies, you should be sure that the dimensions you select are in the correct ratio before converting.
2. Frame Rate: Select the frame rate in frames/second (FPS).

3. Bitrates:

   The Bitrate is the amount of information that is stored in the file to represent each second of video or audio.  If you set a video bitrate of 2000 Kbps, a 10 second video file will contain 20,000 bits of information about video.  The audio and video bitrates are independent, so you can have a file with high quality video but lower quality audio, or vice versa.   The higher the bitrate, the higher the quality, but also the larger the size of the file.  Generally, smaller dimensions will allow you to use a lower video bitrate and still have a good quality picture.
   
   Specify both Video and Audio Bitrates.

4. Audio Frequency: Specify the audio frequency of your choice. This is the number of times per second that the audio signal can be adjusted.  The higher the frequency, the higher the fidelity of the sound, but also the higher the bitrate needed to properly store the signal, and thus the larger the file size.  44100 Hz is the sampling frequency for audio CDs.
5. Channel:  specify whether to save sound with one channel (mono) or with separate channels for the left and right speakers (stereo).
6. Click OK to save the settings.

Read the article:Reducing Video File Sizes.