How Do I Play VCD Discs?

If you have managed to get your hands on a VCD, or VideoCD as it is properly called, then you might be wondering how you will go about playing it either on a computer or stand-alone DVD player. The video content on a VCD disc is MPEG-1 Video. Here are the specs...

PAL

Video: MPEG-1 Video, 352x288, 1150kb/s, 25fps
Audio: MPEG-1 Audio Layer II (MP2), 44100hz, 224kb/s

NTSC

Video: MPEG-1 Video, 352x240, 1150kb/s, 29.97fps or 23.97fps (FILM)
Audio: MPEG-1 Audio Layer II (MP2), 44100hz, 224kb/s

With VCD 2.0, note that the audio bitrate could be different than 224kb/s. VideoCD is supported by the vast majority of stand-alone DVD players, if a VCD disc is created correctly. Standard VCD MPEG files will be 10MB per minute, meaning that you could store up to 80 minutes on a 700MB / 80MIN blank CD-R (mode 2). The quality is reasonably good from a DVD source.

The actual video on a VCD disc is a .DAT file. You will find it in the MPEGAV directory on the disc. Many software media players, such as Media Player Classic, can plat DAT files. Most software DVD players like WinDVD will play VCD if you choose an <em>"Open Disc"</em> option.

Download WinDVD from: http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/video_players/windvd.cfm

Download Media Player Classic from: http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/video_players/media_player_classic.cfm