Good News All,

I have managed to get hold of a demo VCD made from the Terapin. I played it on both my internal drive and my standalone Hitachi DVD/VCD/SVCD player. The video sources and review are posted for you to make your own determinations. I have no connection with them in any way.

Terapin CD Video Demo: (VCD 2.0 format , Adaptec type directories)

The disc was made from 5 different source captures.

1: DVD -> SVHS input (no idea about macro, none present) 2: Sat TV Cap -> Composite RCA input 3: DVCam -> SVHS input 4: VHS Cam -> SVHS input 5: VHS Cam -> Composite RCA input

Video Quality:

1: The DVD SVHS capture is the best of all. It is somewhat higher quality than Dazzle MPEG1 at VCD rate(I have a Dazzle and know it's output). But as is always the case in this area.... fast motion breaks up. I would say the quality is decent but can be beaten by software encoders. However, the convenience of encoding and burning at real time must be judged too.

2: The Sat TV Capture through RCA inputs looked almost as good as the one above. Not bad, but blocking is evident.

3: DV Camara through SVHS inputs was very sharp and detailed. Hardly any blocking. This actually beats number one, but remember its from a DV codec and high CCD lens capture source. Very nice if you will be capturing home video on Digital Video Cameras. No interlacing artifacts were noticed at all. Very nice.

4: VHS Camera using SVHS input. Much more evident blocking. Details are still very sharp.

5: VHS Camera Tape using composite input. Not much different from the SVHS input. Not quite as sharp, but also a little less blocking.

As with any realtime encoding, some blockiness during fast motion or highly detailed scenes will show up. Just one of those things. It is not anywhere near the amount of artifacting that a Dazzle does at the same bitrate. Too bad the price is out of my range. I give it four out of five stars for video quality (I cannot say anything at all about the actually use of the unit).

All in all, it is a nice video demo disc. Thay have married a better mpeg1 encoder and burner unit in one. If I had the extra money to buy one, I think I would. Contributions are welcome.

EG Marshall

-- EG Marshall (4me@schoolmail.com), October 17, 2000

Answers

How much $$$?

-- Leebo (leebosay@deathsdoor.com), October 17, 2000.

Price is $597. from videoguys.com Thanks for the rewiew :)

-- teeball (tlbaker@earthlink.net), October 17, 2000.

How compatible are the discs you make with Terrapin? Do they play in all of the usual DVDs that support CDR, ie Apex, etc.?

Thanks!

-- Doug (DougG5@aol.com), December 26, 2000.