We are independent & ad-supported. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links.
Advertiser Disclosure
Our website is an independent, advertising-supported platform. We provide our content free of charge to our readers, and to keep it that way, we rely on revenue generated through advertisements and affiliate partnerships. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
How We Make Money
We sustain our operations through affiliate commissions and advertising. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you. We also display advertisements on our website, which help generate revenue to support our work and keep our content free for readers. Our editorial team operates independently of our advertising and affiliate partnerships to ensure that our content remains unbiased and focused on providing you with the best information and recommendations based on thorough research and honest evaluations. To remain transparent, we’ve provided a list of our current affiliate partners here.
Hardware

Our Promise to you

Founded in 2002, our company has been a trusted resource for readers seeking informative and engaging content. Our dedication to quality remains unwavering—and will never change. We follow a strict editorial policy, ensuring that our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts. This guarantees that everything we publish is objective, accurate, and trustworthy.

Over the years, we've refined our approach to cover a wide range of topics, providing readers with reliable and practical advice to enhance their knowledge and skills. That's why millions of readers turn to us each year. Join us in celebrating the joy of learning, guided by standards you can trust.

What is SVCD?

By R. Kayne
Updated: May 16, 2024
Views: 9,042
Share

Super Video Compact Disc (SVCD) uses the MPEG-2 format to store video on a CD, as opposed to a DVD. Movies, slide shows, karaoke and clips are all able to be burned to CD using an SVCD burner. Computer DVD players will have no problem playing back SVCDs, but not all home players support the format. In some cases where the format is supported, certain aspects of the standard might not be fully interpreted or rendered properly, leading to problematic playback, aliasing or other anomalies. For this reason, SVCD may not be the best choice when universal compatibility is required, but it can come in handy for personal use.

MPEG-2 is an international standard container codec drafted by the The Motion Picture Experts Group. The codec calls for lossy compression of audio and video; "lossy," meaning some quality is sacrificed for a smaller data footprint. The format supports both National Television System Committee (NTSC) and Phase Alternate Line (PAL) resolutions and frame rates, 44.1 kHz stereo and 5.1 surround sound audio.

A standard 80-minute CD can hold between 700 and 800 Megabytes (MB) of SVCD data depending on the burn mode used, with mode 2/XA granting the most burn for your buck. Choosing the highest quality video and audio the format allows, this translates to about a 35-minute video. When quality can be sacrificed, the rather short footprint of the CD will still only allow for about 100 minutes of video at reasonable resolutions. This puts SVCD just shy of being a good candidate for burning movies, unless it's acceptable to spread the feature across two discs.

The format can be handy for personal storage of favorite TV shows, home movie clips, karaoke songs and digital pictures. All of these can also be burned to DVD, but CDs are cheaper. The CD’s modest data footprint of 700MB can also be an asset when it comes to categorizing personal data, as the discs can be easily organized by dates, events, celebrations, or other criteria. Want to relive the puppy's first day at home? Pull it from an SVCD wallet and save time by not having to scan DVD indexes or navigate multi-page menus.

There are many shareware programs available online for burning SVCD discs, though there are fewer freeware options. Note that files not in the MPEG format will have to be converted before they can be burned. Most SVCD packages feature converters to do this for you. The conversion process can be time consuming, depending on the size of the file(s) to be converted and the chosen software. Some free packages do the conversion and compilation, then rely on a separate installed burning package.

Share
EasyTechJunkie is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.
Discussion Comments
Share
https://www.easytechjunkie.com/what-is-svcd.htm
Copy this link
EasyTechJunkie, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.

EasyTechJunkie, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.