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Advantages of the VCD format
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VCD is an ideal format for making home videos, training video and educational videos. There are five advantages the VCD format can offer you:
VCDs are a good solution for any video project where the playback quality is not as important as producing a widely playable video and very low. They are an ideal solution in three primary markets:
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VCDs can be played on more hardware than any other media
VCDs can be played on almost all hardware, making them fairly platform-independent and easily played by most people with their existing hardware, whether DVD player or computer. They can be played in
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VCDs are inexpensive to produce
VCDs can be produced at home or in the office, requiring only VCD burning software, a CD burner and a CD.
- VCD Burning Software, such as Mireth Technology's iVCD (VCD Making Software for Mac) is widely available. To find other VCD Burning software, try www.versiontracker.com
- Almost all computers have a CD burner, so no additional hardware is usually required.
- VCDs are burned on to ordinary CDs, so the media is usually less expensive than either DVDs or VHS tapes. (How MUCH less expensive?).
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VCDs are inexpensive to distribute
VCDs have two advantages over VHS tape:
- VCDs are less expensive to ship than VHS tape (How MUCH less expensive?)
- VCDs are more robust than VHS tape, reducing replacement costs
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VCDs are region code free
VCDs are region code free, so there is no restriction on where in the world they will play.
In additon, VCDs can be burned using any one of the three video broadcast standards (NTSC, PAL and SECAM) to ensure that the VCD will play on TVs in your area. You can check which video broadcast standard and region code is used in your country at
TenLab - Video Broadcast Standard Chart
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VCDs are a standard format
The VCD format is a recognized part of the MPEG-1 standard. And because it is an open MPEG standard, there's no concern that this format will be phased out in the future. So, you can be pretty sure that in twenty years, you'll still be able to play anything encoded as a VCD. This may not be the case with video encoded using a format that is not an MPEG standard.
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VCDs are a good fit for School Video Projects
Video projects made at school using software like iMovie and saved on CD can't be shown at home unless the parents have a computer. And students often can't burn the project on to DVD, which could be shown at home on a DVD player, because the school's computers don't have DVD burners. Burning video projects to VCD is the ideal solution because
- The parents can watch the presentation on a computer or on a DVD player at home, (something most household have, even those without computers)
- The students can burn the movies with the computers at school, all of which may not have a DVD burner, but all of which will have a CD burner
- The School Board can implement this solution for absolutely minimum cost. The only additional cost is the VCD Burning Software, since the CD Burning hardware came with the computers, the cd media (CD-Rs) are widely available and inexpensive to purchase
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VCDs are ideal for training videos
Video projects made for training purposes can get expensive if they have to be professionally produced and if they have to be produced in multiple formats so they can be shown on the VCR in the training room, on DVD to be shown using the projector in the boardroom and on DVD for those users who have computers with DVD drives.
Burning training videos to VCD is the ideal solution because they can be produced in-house and the one format (Video on CD) can be played on a TV, using a projector and on all computers.
- VCDs can be shown on the TV in the training room using a DVD Player or a computer and VCD Player software (see How to Play a VCD)
- VCDs can be shown on a projector using a computer and VCD Player software
- VCDs can by played by all users with a computer and VCD Player software (see How to Play a VCD)
- The playback quality of VCD is about the same as VHS. This is acceptable for most training applications.
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