Astral Arts Center Online Store DVD's and CD's Product List
VCDs are no longer available updated 03 2006
This useful page is posted as a service
VCDs hold an hour of near DVD quality video
Recorded to CD with CD quality stereo audio
VCD or Video Compact Discs are a great medium
Used by documentary news journalists in both
Mainstream and independent news services
Be sure to check system compatibility
VCD or Video CD is like a DVD but at approximately quarter to half the resolution quality and there is also a time limit of 63 minutes. Cheap and easily made on older PC's the VCD format is popular in Europe, Asia, Africa, Canada, Australia, and is becoming popular in America.
Most modern home entertainment systems and stand alone DVD players will play discs in the VCD and S-VCD formats. The SVCD format is higher in resolution but offers less time per disc. SVCD was designed to fit a TV screen
WINDOWS VCD MAC VCD
Free Players for WIndows OS all versions
For use with 650 MB and 700 MB discs
1 Quick VCD30 plays VCDs quickly basic easy user interface
2 Subhash by Amnesty International - THE BEST free player
3 Noone's VCD Player opens up fullscreen - great for playing
4 Ace DivXVCD Player - Detects disc immediately and will playlist files from disc or hard drive
5 VLC from the VideoLan Project is an open source coded player for PC - MAC - Linux -VLC is totally free and definitely one of the best players feature loaded beyond video
* Once open on the desktop, players automatically detect the VCD chapters
* Many players will play the MPEG/dat format - navigation may be automated or
manual as in Windows Media Player which is not fun
DVD -VCD playback software prices range between $20.00 and $40.00 There are even portable DVD/VCD players with 6 inch LCD monitors and headphones
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS FOR VCD PLAYBACK
Windows operating systems all series except 3.1 the minimum RAM is 128 MB. For smooth playback on older systems CD drive speed is more important. Monitor settings can be as low as 640x480 Windows Media Player v 6.4 or above must be installed
Some DVD Playback Software that supports playback of interactive VCD menus*
Cyberlink Power DVD, InterWin DVD, Nero Showtime, Orion Studios Direct DVD 5.2
* Interactive Menus are just the DVD-like menus with buttons, motion backgrounds, etc
*xml coded VCD's offer playback interactivity through the menu interface but only if the player software and OS drivers are present
* Windows DirectX9 (free) is required to use xml coded interactive menus
* Not all VCD's will have interactive menus - those that do will be labeled XML COMPATIBLE - xml coding (machine language) renders the disc unrecognizable by some older computer playback software
* Only the newer software and home DVD-VCD-SVCD players recognize the interactive xml coding AND WILL ADVERTISE THAT IT PLAYS DVD, VCD, AND SVCD
How to play VCD
Insert VCD and open player or open player and insert VCD
1. QuickVCD views in original pixel resolution upon startup 352x240
Hotkeys ... F7 2x size and F5 Original size
Numeric yellow tabs denote individual chapter sequence
Only drawback is that it does not go to fullscreen
2. Subhash the free viewer built for Amnesty International
Once the viewer is open on the desktop
RIGHT click anywhere inside the Player for context menu
hotkeys: FULL SCREEN press (Esc) NEXT TRACK (N) PREVIOUS TRACK (P)
3. Insert CD, open Noone's VCD Player and the movie goes full screen and clean. The hotkey controls, size- volume- chapter bar WORK specific to the currently playing chapter only - to advance through chapters, use (esc) or (ALT-F4) and close the viewer application
Noone's VCD Player will continue to the next chapter automatically
4. Ace VCD Player immediately detects disc, press play ... great options
5. VLC Player - Insert disc and click on the VLC icon to open player Use File/Open Disc or click the first toolbar icon - the usual (OPEN) Select Open Disc then select VCD and click OK and disc will autoplay or use the Play arrow and the same Media Resource Locator Window will appear - select VCD and click OK and disc will autoplay
Macintosh OS9 OS10 OS10.2 OS10.3 Panther Tiger
Playing a VCD on a Macintosh computer/laptop depends on the version of the OS.
Mac OS 8 & Mac OS 9
* To play a VCD on an Mac OS 8 or Mac OS 9 you can use Quicktime (included with the operating system)or a third-party VCD player, such as Mireth Technology's MacVCD.
* Whether an xmlVCD will play on an Mac OS 8 or 9 depends on the VCD It's a good idea to try playing an XVCD with the free demo of the video player software before you buy
Mac OS X
* To play a VCD on Mac OS X, you can use a third-party VCD player, such as Mireth Technology's MacVCD X.
* MacVCD X will play a SVCD or an XSVCD on Mac OS X with the additional purchase of Apple Quicktime MPEG-2 playback component available from Apple's Web Site or in the Mireth Technology Mac SVCD Software Bundle. Mac VCD
VLC and the full story on VLC VideoLanClient
OS 10.2 and 10.3 also PANTHER/JAGUAR
The MAC OS 10 later series includes the MPEG 2 PLAYBACK COMPONENT so just install a player
The REALLY good news is that the new OS X Panther or Jaguar released April 29, 2005 includes a native VCD player
Links to more VCD/DVD/SVCD info
DVD Videolan WinDVD Subhash VCDPlayer PowerDVD Cinematograph
MPEG and MPEG Players
VCD Gallery for MAC
ALL SYSTEMS ARE GO FOR THE MULTIMEDIA EXPERIENCE
Most Recently Updated Feb 2008
Astral Arts Center Online Store DVD's and CD's Product List
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