standalone dvd burner info

[jadg2]

I'm looking to learn about standalone burners and their impact on quality of dvds ie preserving or not. Been in touch with a few traders who have a standalone burner and don't know whether this impacts quality when copying dvds. Any info or guides appreciated.

Also what's the story about getting the best possible transfer from a master?
Guess it varies for master media yay?
When it's the blue screen menu, that means it's been standalone recorded to dvd yes? Is that an 'inferior' transfer then?

Cheers for the info and hope I don't spark off a minefield!

[pawel]

The burner has to have an option to make a disc copy, and not only 'record' - such will pass DVD through analogue stage and/or recompress video and audio.
When it's the blue screen menu, that means it's been standalone recorded to dvd yes?
Yes but new models have also a bit more fancy.
Also what's the story about getting the best possible transfer from a master?
VHS master?: XP mode and LPCM for audio; or if you can setup bitrate: video between 6000 and 8000 Kbps, and LPCM for audio.

[jadg2]

[QUOTE=pawel]such will pass DVD through analogue stage and/or recompress video and audio .
QUOTE]

Cheers, thanks for that. So when you get dvds that are compressed (ie 1-2 gB, picture a bit more blocky and sound tinnier to put it unscientifically), that's from recording through a standalone player rather than copying identically? I've got a few discs like that in trades unfortunately...

Cheers again!

[pawel]

Yes but not necessarily:
* if it is VHS transfer, it could be recorded in long play mode - low bitrate for video and audio
* if it is direct digital capture (DVB-x) then the original broadcast could be very compressed
* video can be sourced from VCD, DivX or it is poor conversion from PAL to NTSC (or vice versa).

Blocky artifacts usually point to poor conversion of AVI or VCD.