Question about using LP and EP on DVD-R's

[Doug Hess Jr.]

I have several VHS tapes recorded at SP speed that I want to transfer to DVD (for my own personal backup purposes). Has anyone done this and experimented with the Long Play and Extended Play settings on your DVD burner? Is the quality of the LP and EP levels good enough for something of that quality level or should I use the Standard resolution and only get 2 hours per disc?

[JonUrban]

Quality is also dependant on the make and model of the recorder. If it's something that you want as a "keeper", I would stick with the 2 hour mode. I copied a few of my rarer LDs to DVD, using a DVD recorder, and I found that using the standard mode worked best.

[bldg blok]

On the DVD-Rs I've made to this point from TiVo and SP VHS tapes, I've stuck with the SP setting on the DVD recorder. Part of the reason for this is that I've watched the VHS tapes I've made from 10-13 years ago that I recorded at EP and I'm not happy with how they look. But, I can understand why you're asking Doug. I've wondered the same thing with some of those EP tapes of things I don't expect to air again or be released. I know my machine would allow me a 'dry run', i.e.- capture a few minutes from a source so I can view it and then delete it if I choose. If your recorder allows that option you could check it out.

I'm amazed by how cheap the DVD media is in comparison to VHS these days. I ordered a cake box of Ritek 4x DVD-R discs 100ct. from newegg.com for $34.99 shipped! That's less than $.35 a disc!!! That's another reason why I don't mind using the SP setting on my discs.

[Pinknik]

I'd stick with SP, 2 hour mode, on most recordings where you want to maintain the picture quality. The Panasonic stand alone recorders with hard drives have a handy FR, flexible record mode, that allows you to tape a 2hr3min T-120 in its entirety without having to go to LP, four hour mode. I use EP, 6 hour mode, only on stuff where picture quality isn't that important. For instance, I record a cooking show in EP mode, since the show info is more important than the image quality, and there are a lot of episodes to record.

P.S. We do a lot of DVD-R duplication at work, and once got burnt when we tried some cheap DVD-R's from our blank media supplier. The discs recorded and played back okay, as a master disc, but the duplicator would choke on them when trying to make copies. When it did successfully go through the duplication process, often the copies wouldn't play properly. We went back to a higher quality disc, and haven't had any further problems, and our current discs aren't bad at around 65 cents per disc. Just a heads up, especially for critical masters, that you might want to spend a little more, and perhaps get a name brand.

[Doug Hess Jr.]

What will be the biggest thing I'll notice in LP mode? More pixelation? How will the lower quality be apparent when watching an SP recorded tape copied to DVD in LP play back on my TV?

[SVL]

Pixellation might be one of the effects of using LP/EP (most evident on scenes with lots of movement - the edges of moving objects may become sort of jagged), or you can watch out for blocks of what is supposed to be solid color - if it sort of has bugs crawling all over it instead of being solid, that is not a good thing;)... what I would do is burn the material on RW blanks in SP and LP/EP - if you cannot see the difference, then keep the LP/EP version.

Of course, the larger the screen, the more likely you would be to see the effects of LP/EP.

[bencasey]

I have a question for you. Why would you want to? The only reason people used LP and SLP was because 20-25 years ago tape was so damn expensive. When we were paying $20 for a blank tape (on sale), yeah, there was a reason to use slower speeds. But at 50 cents or so a disc (for good media, cheaper for garbage), price is no longer an issue.

[Doug Hess Jr.]

You're right, it was a cost factor then. I guess now, though, I figured IF the quality of a DVD at LP was still better than a VHS tape, I could use the DVD capacity more efficiently for storage and convenience. That way I could pack several more episodes of a TV series on to a DVD using less space.