mpeg4 + TV-out versus mpeg1/2 + dvd player???

[srcbr]

Dear reader,
Imagine a PC with CD-RW/'DVD reader' combo and the desire of watching
'DVD ripped' movies on TV. I´ve figured out 2 possibilities:
1. Have a 'DVD player' (not a PCs based one) and a 'DVD writer' (for PCs),
download the movies from internet, burn it, and watch it on TV. This way
I think we are limited to watch mpeg-1/mpeg-2 and (poor) vcd/svcd formats/qualities.
2. Buy a 'ATI all-in-wonder 7500' card, download movies *of any format*
(not just mpeg-2/vcd, but DivX, mpeg-4 *and futures*) and TV-out it

Some say 1 has the disadvantage of poor VCD images. I am not also sure about
finding *many* mpeg-2 movies on internet (maybe 75% vcd out of 3% mpeg-2)

I know most people have *many* problems TV-outing quality images. I don´t know if it is even better the vcd on 1.

And given here in brazil we are used to watch movies with subtitles, I am worry about the subtitles (texts!) on TV-out...

Any other idea? Any feedback would be *really* appreciated.

Regards,
Sergio/Brazil

 

[Crashman]

SVCD is so much better than MPG4 there's hardly any comparison.

You say poor quality SVCD? WTF are you smoking? NTSC standard for SVCD EXCEEDS TV resolution! But MGP4 can have higher resolution than that, so what makes SVCD better?

How about fighting for 4 hours just to PLAY an MPG4 video? Did you know that there are around 40 MPG4 derivatives, and each requires it's own codec? Did you know that some codecs cause problems with other codecs? I'll watch, say 5 movies in some MPG4 format...then get one that uses a codec my PC isn't prepared for, and BAM, have to start loading codecs all over again!

It's not like everybody uses DiVX, or XVID, or any particular codec. It seems like different release groups have their own preferences. And I've seen different people recommend various codec packs that cover around 90% of what's out there, but I still get movies that they don't cover. I have to load 2 different codec packs in a specific order, so that the I don't get the wrong files overwritten.

I can pop an SVCD in many DVD players, or play it on any PC that has DVD software or hardware decoder. No special codec needed.

Unless you can get everyone to agree on ONE MPG4 standard, it remains garbage.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>