what speed does everyone mostly use for dvd recording, for quality and space ? i have been using lp

I only use 2hr SP if possible, but that is my preference, I prefer the highest quality I can get. I will also use 1 hr XP on certain programs, but I have not found much difference between XP and SP

Tom D.

I agree with Tom. I will sometimes use LP but only under these conditions:
1. I am recording it direct off-air from digital cable/satellite.
2. the show has many episodes, say 150 or more (1 hr episodes).
3. it's a show that I sort of like, but am not totally crazy about getting and it's not terribly hard to find.
Else, I do all archiving at SP or, rarely, XP.

I record mostly in SP, and sometimes XP for something I'm very interested in. I record sporting events in LP, mainly because game times run 3 to 4 hours, and I prefer to keep it on the same disc. I never use EP, although many years ago, I did on VHS tapes.

what speed does everyone mostly use for dvd recording, for quality and space ? i have been using lp
Dave,

VHS traders that only traded SP are the ones that will almost always prefer SP dvds, unless the show is rare.

I would say that most of the homemade discs that I have gotten in trade were done in LP mode. I am not a "pristine only" kinda person, so this is fine by me. :)

I have a lot of LP dvds that are actually better quality than some SP dvds because of the source material. Some recorders produce better quality at LP than others.

I am constantly converting videos to dvds, and I always use SP for quality's sake. This makes my options broader.

Jen :wave:

LP looks rotten regardless of source on the Panasonic series of DVD recorders. But then, even SP from VHS looks pretty poor on the Panasonic series of DVD recorders..


This is such an uninformed comment and nothing but a myth.

Rare, I've seen your so called perfect dvd's (Fugitive, for one, on 60 discs !!!) recorded in SP, 2 shows per dvd. ...... NOTHING BUT A WASTE OF DISC SPACE

I will put any number of the sets I've done, (LP direct captures on a Panny) up against that. I bet you 8 out of 10 people would pick the LP sets I've done with a Panny over your set.


I am not arguing LP is better than SP, don't get me wrong here.
I am saying direct captures with a Panasonic in LP mode are very nice also.

It very much depends on the equipment. Cheap DVD recorders (cheap in quality, price has nothing to do with it) can pretty much only do 2-hour SP mode.

A few machines can do 3-hour to 4-hour pretty well (JVC, Pioneer, LiteOn, LG, Zenith). Some of the better ones also have noise reduction filters (JVC, LiteOn, LG) that makes discs look better than the tapes they came from.

Panasonic DVD recorders are documented many times for their inability to handle anything other than SP mode, with few exceptions. VHS transfers are especially horrible on Panasonic equipment, lots of blocks and color issues (slight tints red or green, or too light or too dark). Direct captures on a Panasonic in LP mode are decent if the motion is fairly static, though it can still have splotchy "digital" noise that other recorders would not do. Sometimes SP can be splotchy too. The encoder is just not very good compared to what else exists.

Philips is another pitiful DVD recorder (and Magnavox re-brands), adds grain to your video. The purpose of digital should be to maintain or make video look better. Not make it look worse. If I wanted to downgrade my quality, I could go back to dubbing VHS to VHS.

Some more decent machines, for 2-3 hour work, includes Toshiba, Sony, and Sanyo.

You NEVER want to go beyond 4 hours, on ANY machine. DVD is not at all like VHS was, you lose at least half the video data on those low resolutions in those longer recordings, the 5-10 hour discs that people have. It makes for really poor or trashy quality, worse than an EP mode VHS tape.

The rule of thumb should be to do what looks best. Not try to cram as much as you can onto one disc. Inversely, don't do overkill and bloat your work to 50 discs when 20 would have looked equally as good.

When recording on VHS, I always use SP, unless (as someone mentioned earlier), the program will extend more than 2 hours OR if I'm recording a marathon of the show.

When recording on a DVD recorder, I use M2x, which (according to the manual) is better than VHS quality and records 2.5 hours on a 4 gig DVD. (I got tired of losing the last few minutes of a show!)

When copying DVDs on the computer, I never go above 2x. Plus, I use a BENQ writer, which writes DVD+Rs as DVD-ROM booktype - the same booktype as commercial DVDs and is the most compatible booktype. They even play on our very old, finicky standalone DVD players.