Thursday, February 19, 2004

DVD Encoding Bitrates

Assuming use of AC3 audio (256kbps) and 4.25GB per disc, encoding with video rates of:

8000kbps 74min
7500kbps 78min
7000kbps 84min
6500kbps 90min
6000kbps 97min
5500kbps 105min
5000kbps 115min
4500kbps 128min (2h 8m)
4000kbps 142min (2h 22m)
3500kbps 162min (2h 42m)
3000kbps 187min (3h 7m)

At bit-rates below 5000-6000, you may need to switch to a lower resolution such as 352x480 (352x576) instead of 720x480 (720x576). For VHS source material this lower resolution is usually plenty anyway.

6000kbps with AC3 (256kbps) is what I use to put (2) hour long TV episodes on a single disc. Once commercials have been stripped, US episodes are only 48 minutes each (96 min total) and the average encoding is usually a touch less then 6000 allowing me to even put a few minutes worth of commercials on each disc. (Yes... I sometimes capture the funny/unique commercials and put them on the disc as extras.)

Update: I've switched to 4800kbps VBR video with 256kbps AC3 audio in order to fit (3) episodes on each 4.35GB DVD-R disc. Or, if you want to pack (4) on a disc, you can do 3100kbps VBR video with 256kbps AC3 audio. However, your source material needs to be extremely clean (or switch to half-D1 resolution).

posted by Wuphon's at 2:39 AM