5.7 Can I put DVD-Video content on a CD-R or CD-RW?
Description
This article is from the DVD Formats FAQ, by jtfrog@usa.net (Jim Taylor) with numerous contributions by others.
5.7 Can I put DVD-Video content on a CD-R or CD-RW?
[Note: This section refers to creating original DVD-Video content, not
copying from DVD to CD. The latter is impractical, since it takes 7 to 14
CDs to hold one side of a DVD. Also, most DVD movies are encrypted so that
the files can't be copied without special software.]
There are many advantages to creating a DVD-Video volume using inexpensive
recordable CD rather than expensive recordable DVD. The resulting "MiniDVD"
is perfect for testing and for short video programs. Unfortunately, you can
put DVD-Video files on CD-R or CD-RW media but as yet there is no settop
player that can play the disc. There are a number of reasons DVD-Video
players can't play DVD-Video content from CD media:
1) checking for CD media is a fallback case after DVD playback fails, at
which point the players are no longer looking for DVD-Video content
2) it's much simpler for players to spin CDs at 1x speed rather than the 9x
speed required for DVD-Video content
3) many players can't read CD-R discs (see 2.4.3).
Computers are more forgiving. DVD-Video files from any source with fast
enough data rates, including CD-R or CD-RW, with or without UDF formatting,
will play back on any DVD-ROM PC as long as the drive can read the media
(all but early model DVD-ROM drives can read CD-Rs). Author the DVD-Video
content as usual (see 5.4) then burn the VIDEO_TS directory to the root
drive of a CD-R or CD-RW. To be compatible with future settop players that
might read MiniDVDs, turn on the UDF filesystem option of the CD burning
software. To achieve longer playing times, encode the video in MPEG-2
half-D1 format (352x480 or 352x576) or in MPEG-1 format.
An alternative is to put Video CD content on CD-R or CD-RW media for
playback in a DVD player. Settop players that are Video CD capable and can
read recordable media will be able to play such discs (see 2.4.5). The
limitations of Video CD apply (MPEG-1 video and audio, 1.152 Mbps, 74
minutes of playing time). All DVD-ROM PCs able to read recordable CD media
can play recorded Video CD discs. See 5.8 for more on creating Video CDs.
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