Lois--This is from PC Photo--wonderful magazine and site - www.pcphotomag.com. This article was written in Sept 2001. Movies on CD, specifically a format called Video CD or VCD, for short, was developed before DVD (Digital Versatile Disc). VCD is popular in Asia, though many DVD players can play VCDs. The main difference between the two formats is the compression method. VCD uses an MPEG1 compression scheme and DVD uses an MPEG2 compression technique. As the number at the end might imply, MPEG2 gives better results. Even though the DVD format has superior compression, both formats fall short for today's image files. The resolution of a single frame on a DVD is 720 x 480 pixels. MPEG1 on Video CD is 352 x 240. Digital photo images can be 1024 x 1280 or more. So you probably wouldn't want to use either for an archival format. For simple storage of files, you'd be using a CD-R (recordable) or DVD-RAM. You need a computer to access these discs as they won't be recognized in a set-top DVD player. These media are simply storage devices and really have no effect on image quality or resolution other than a DVD-RAM can hold more data. For example, if you have a 1800 x 1600-pixel image, it will still be the same 1800 x 1600 image on a CD-ROM or DVD-RAM. In Dec 2001, this article appeared: Video CD Is there a way to take digital images (JPEG, GIF, etc.) and create a Video CD that can be viewed on a television through a DVD player that's capable of showing Video CDs? Nicholas DiLisi Paoli, Pennsylvania A number of companies have now come out with programs that let you create a Video CD--a CD that will play in a DVD player. Oak Technology has a program called SimpliCD; Ulead has these capabilities in its VideoStudio 5.0 DVD Edition product. Using these programs, you're able to "burn" a CD-R that will act like a slide show (or video program) when inserted into a DVD player. First, a couple of caveats: 1) the DVD player must be capable of playing Video CDs that have been recorded on a CD-R; 2) a television doesn't have the resolution of your computer monitor, so your images won't look as good; 3) the Video CD format uses MPEG1 compression, so your images will be highly compressed. These programs are fairly easy to use, but they do require that images be in either JPEG or ".bmp" file format. They will look for an image size of 640 x 480, but if you have a larger image, it will be scaled to the proper size before being written to the CD. Thought this might help you with the questions you would want to ask. That was two years ago; perhaps technology has caught up. I did send Photo Mag a query as to whether or not this has changed. Will let you know what I find out. Mary Lois Melinat wrote: > Sam -- > > I have heard of the process of saving VHS tapes to DVD. I know our > send out company provides the service for something like $40 per VHS > tape to DVD. Unfortunately, I have not talked to anyone that has > actually done that so far. It would not surprise me to find that > becoming more common -- especially with some of the very new > camcorders recording directly onto DVD. > > Lois Melinat > > >> From: "Samuel J. Bowser" <bowsersa@pa.net> >> Reply-To: MDGARRET-L@rootsweb.com >> To: MDGARRET-L@rootsweb.com >> Subject: [MDGARRET] DVD STORAGE for VCR tapes >> Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2003 16:38:02 -0500 >> >> The recent messages regarding storing data and photos >> has been interesting and enlightening. >> >> I wonder if anyone has had any success saving VCR tapes >> to disk? >> >> I have tapes I took in the early to mid 1990's including family >> reunions and visits to ancestor's homesteads that I would like >> to put on DVD sometime down the road. I tried a "Dazzle" >> capture device about 3 years ago with bad results; thought >> maybe someone else may have had a better experience more >> recently. >> >> Sam >> >> >> >> >> ==== MDGARRET Mailing List ==== >> If you need help with this list, make sure to email the list >> administrator, Carol Hepburn, at chepburn@cox.net. >> > > _________________________________________________________________ > Frustrated with dial-up? Get high-speed for as low as $26.95. > https://broadband.msn.com (Prices may vary by service area.) > > > ==== MDGARRET Mailing List ==== > If you need help with this list, make sure to email the list > administrator, Carol Hepburn, at chepburn@cox.net. > >