SVCD, or Super VideoCD as it is properly known, is a step up from the MPEG-1-based VideoCD (VCD) format. The main difference is that SVCD uses MPEG-2 video and higher bitrates than VCD does. It also has higher Resolution than VCD and it is not restricted to Constant BitRate (CBR) encoding. Designed to be on CDs, SVCD does use up more capacity than VCD does. How much capacity, depends on the type of encoding (VBR or CBR) and the audio bitrate. It is generally accepted that VBR SVCD is of superior quality to CBR, and you could fit about 60 minutes on a single CD at quite high quality.

SVCD discs can be played in the majority of DVD players these days. The actual video on the discs is stored inside the MPEG-2 directory, usually with names like <em>"AVSEQ01.MPG"</em> - another way that the format differs from VCD, it keeps the MPG extension on the disc usually. Here is some info.

PAL

Video: MPEG-2 Video, CBR or VBR encoding, total bitrate shouldn't be higher than 2756kb/s, 480x576, 25fps
Audio: MPEG-1 Audio Layer II (MP2), 44100hz, 224kb/s (SVCD allows you to choose different bitrates)

NTSC

Video: MPEG-2 Video, CBR or VBR encoding, total bitrate shouldn't be higher than 2756kb/s, 480x480, 29.97fps or 23.97fps
Audio: MPEG-1 Audio Layer II (MP2), 44100hz, 224kb/s (SVCD allows you to choose different bitrates)

Many software titles including Media Player Classic will play either SVCD discs or the mpg files that are stored inside the MPEG-2 folder on the CD. Software DVD players like WinDVD will play the discs if you choose an <em>"Open Disc"</em> option.

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

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