[Zogg]

Originally Posted by Bigbird999

Not much point in capturing VHS at any bitrate above 3000 - 4000 because of the low resolution of the original tape. And the max bitrate for video DVD compliant mpeg is 9000 @720x480 including audio so you could not author a DVD with any higher bitrate. FWIW, most commercial DVDs are 4000ish variable bitrate. Try a google search for some older "how to" posts on after dawn or video help web sites.

BB

Actually most commercial DVD's are around 6000ish VBR, and I've seen higher on some.

You're right about the max DVD bitrate. I pretty much don't bother burning real DVD's any more since I can just transcode the video to H.264 or even DivX and have a better picture in a smaller file size. That was my thinking when recommending he pick a high bitrate, since he can always transcode smaller or to a different codec. If the goal is to burn the VHS to a DVD, then you are right it's probably better to just capture at the desired bitrate.

But I used to record some S-VHS that looked pretty darn good, so I'd go ahead and capture it higher than 4000 because it can't hurt. Depends on the quality of the tapes and the end goal.