VCD, SVCD, XVCD, SxVCD

[chakotay2]

Okay, in looking at all the information, it looks as if the best file to create is an XsVCD as far as quality goes, is that correct? I have a Pioneer DV-444 and the board says the following will work with it:
CDR, CDRW, DVDR,DVDRW, DVD+R,DVD+RW,VCD,SVCD,Tracks,XVCD, 2500kbits, XSVCD,MP3 320kbits

Two questions:
1) what is the difference between XVCD and XsVCD?
2) Out of all (except DVD) which is the best format to use on this player for the best quality?

[Danski0]

The player you got have some serious problems with bitrates over 2500kbits, so stay under that!
Just to make something clear, the X befor VCD and SVCD is algera. X=anything. The x just says that it is not a standard VCD or SVCD. XVCD is anything encoded in MPEG1 while XSVCD is anything encoded in MPEG2.
I always use SVCD even when my own DVDplayer supports XSVCD up to 5300kbits. This beacuse it's great picture and also can be played on far more players.

But if you want the absolute perfect settings for yours, here they are =)

Mpeg 2
720x576 resolution
1:1 Aspect
2-pass VBR, min=300, max=2450, avg=1550 (avg changes according to how much footage you want to fit on one CD of course)
MP@ML
Non-interlace encode mode
4:2:0 YUV
10 bits component precision
Highest quality motion search
44K, 192kbit audio
50/15 ms de-emphasis

Note: Not from my own tests...