What is the difference between VCR and VCD?

Answer 1

There are a number of differences, some of which are technical, and I can't explain those to you. For example, the formatting or coding on the disc is different, and that's Greek to me. But I can tell you a few things.

First of all, they both should play in your DVD player. Almost all DVD players these days will play VCD's. The catch is, if you have an expensive DVD player, it often will not play homemade VCD's. Ironally, cheaper DVD players almost always will. Next, DVD's hold more data, so they are often much better quality. DVD movies are released on .. well.. DVD's .. which can hold anywhere from 4.7 to upwards of 9 GB of information. VCD's on the other hand, are written on CD's, which can only hold up to 700 MB of data (less than 1 GB). VCD is basically a format which came before DVD and was not very successful (at least in the USA), so they never really took off, but they were very successful in some other countries, such as Japan. So we don't see VCD players for sale very often, but like I said before, most DVD players will also play VCD's. One other thing is, VCD's are not too hard to make. Software is easy to find. Even free software, for making VCD's (if you have a computer and CD burner). You can also make VCD photo slideshows with music and pictures etc., fairly easily.

AnswerMay I also add: VCD stands for 'Video Compact Disc' and basically it is a CD that contains moving pictures and sound. If you're familiar with regular audio/music CDs, then you will know what a VCD looks like. A VCD has the capacity to hold up to 74/80 minutes on 650MB/700MB CDs respectively of full-motion video along with quality stereo sound. VCDs use a compression standard called MPEG to store the video and audio. A VCD can be played on almost all standalone DVD Players and of course on all computers with a DVD-ROM or CD-ROM drive with the help of a software based decoder / player. It is also possible to use menus and chapters, similar to DVDs, on a VCD and also simple photo album/slide shows with background audio. The quality of a very good VCD is about the same as a VHS tape based movie but VCD is usually a bit more blurry. If you want better quality checkout SVCD,CVD or DVD. I wish to share my layman knowledge.

VCD & DVD differ in Quantity of DATA, Quality of Sound and Image.50 Frame per second as a TV, and Height to width ratio 4:5 (Nearest to 35mm Movie). VCD takes a scan similar to VCR/VCP that has 200 vertical lines. DVD whereas have 550 or so.Sound stored in the time gap between frames Fly back (I think like Teletex, in gap between 2 frames)in real to lag 1/50 sec so as to get a continuity between sound bits.

Sound in Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) is stored in MP3 Format. DVD has smaller track, get scratches easisy. DVD Format can be converted into AVI (ripped to any size 300:400 like that, and frame rate, generally 30 frames per minute, and recorded in DVD Disc as a movie that takes 2 1/2 hrs. needs a space of more than 700 MB, and require a DVD to store.Ordinary DVD cannot play. It reqires a Computer and Monitor or LCD TV that functions as a comp. monitor.can play it.

Sound is compressed in both. Eg. a song of 5 minutes takes much less in MP2? format in VCD. Whereas 50 MB at 1400KB/second to make MP3. Combining sound and image in a digital mixure in sequence of time,Red,Green,Blue,Sound Track,Left,Right etc. Since Man cannot hear even 100 KB.frequenzy of 1400KBPS is Downsized to 120KBPS in stereo, compresses it to 4 MB. In Digital Technology variable frequency reduces it further.

Now the trend is getting oriented into new Hi-definition generation in 9:16 Format(Nearer to 70mm format in proportion and 2MB, but a bit less than 35 mm projection that makes 2.5 MB eqv.) Next Generation may Windows concept. Suppose, A room has stationary & moving objects in a scene covering one minute (eg. Closs up,no zoom no camera movement)Only moving things require transition. Background can be freezed for all the frames. now you got the point, a movie that takes 1.5 GB in DVD,1.2 GB in VCD (require 2 discs), 750MB in AVI (require 1DVD) can be ripped into 500 MB that compromise near to DVD quality in single CD