[MEncoder-users] questions about encoding S-Video

[Herotodus Rexx]

I can watch analog S-Video from my old Canon video
camera using xawtv on my Suse 9.2 linux PC. The video
looks just fine. So I don't think I have any v4l
problems. I can encode VHS composite analog by using
xawtv to record an MJPEG AVI file (which creates very
large files, ~400MB per minute) and then reduce that
file to a manageable size using mencoder (~7MB per
minute). This produces quite acceptable video when
recorded at 320x240 resolution and 30 fps and from
what I've read 320x240 from a VHS composite source is
about all the resolution that makes since given the
inherent resolution of composite VHS.

However it seems like I should be able to get better
than 320x240 resolution when encoding S-Video (the
docs I've read seem indicate something like 400x300
would be more appropriate) but when I've tried higher
resolutions, the quality of the resultant MPEG AVI
file seems to end up looking worse than the 320x240
composite MPEG AVI file.

What would be the best resolution to record S-Video at
if one is trying to get best quality? Is 30 fps the
right sampling rate?

Any other tips about getting good quality MPEG4
encoded AVIs from S-Video source would be appreciated.

BTW, I am using a Winfast XP Expert video capture card
in a motherboard running an NVidia chip set, if that
makes a difference.

Thanks



		
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