DVD video quality not good enough (Premiere Elements 15)

[michaelf15839100]

Hello,

I would like to burn my film (1h55, shot in HD1080) on a double layer DVD. It works, but the quality is not nearly good enough, the movements of the people look different etc. The film looks a bit like it was shot on a mobile. The best-quality MP4 file of the film is 25GB, but even when I compressed it to about 3GB, the quality was much (much) better than the quality on the DVD created from the 7GB ISO file generated by my Premiere Elements.

I called Adobe, but all they could suggest was to burn it using the AVCHD option. I did that, but now I can't even play the disc using VLC player (and that one can play pretty much anything).

Would anyone perhaps have a suggestion how to improve the quality, or alternatively suggest a good (free) programme to create an ISO file out of an MP4 file (menu creation option would be great of course, but I'll happily take anything)... or offer any solution, really...

Others have asked these question already, but nobody has given any practical answer so far. I used to use a programme from 2009 before that, and the quality was much better (also, it was easier to use and more intuitive... and only cost 15 euros!)

I do realise I'm not going to get HD quality, but the result was much worse than it should have been.

I'm using Windows 10.

Many thanks in advance!

[Steve Grisetti]

Can you post a screen capture of your original video side-by-side with a screen capture of your DVD -- both sized to 850x480 pixels so that we're comparing apples to apples?

Aside from resolution, the word "quality" can mean anything from poor color reproduction to bad down-rezzing.

If you can show us the before and after side-by-side -- with resolution removed as a factor -- we'll better be able to see the issue you're trying to address.

[michaelf15839100]

There we go:

MP4 quality:

DVD quality:

The problem is most noticeable when I watch the DVD on my TV.

I'm now trying to create an ISO file out of that 25GB MP4 file, having selected PAL 25 fps. Who knows, this may do the trick...

[Steve Grisetti]

I don't see much difference between the two screen captures.

What is the quality issue you're trying to address?

[michaelf15839100 · Accepted solution]

You really can't see it? Have you tried enlarging the images? The difference is quite significant, especially when you see the people moving.

Update: Just converted the MP4 version (the entire film as a single file) into the ISO file, played it, and the quality has definitely improved.

[michaelf15839100]

I wonder why I have those black stripes though, on the second image.

But there is definitely something wrong with the programme, otherwise how do you explain others complaining about the same issue? Somebody said that the quality deteriorated after they had upgraded from Elements 8 to Elements 11.

[Steve Grisetti]

As I say, "quality" is very subjective. It can mean any of a number of things.

I can't see a loss of quality in the images you've posted, and I don't see a loss of quality (resolution, color reproduction) in my videos. And I've been using every version of this program since version 1!

[michaelf15839100]

You're right, of course, quality is highly subjective. But it's like, if you go buy a loaf of bread (which can be yummie or can be a third-rate product) and then you get something stale and tastes like it's been of date for over a week, which you complain about to the store manager. I mean, yeah, sure, it's subjective, but there are limits where you know: this can't be right. Now that I've used to MP4 and converted it into the ISO format and it's worked quite well, I know that there is something fishy if the conversion of the source material results in worse quality than the conversion of a video file generated from those source materials.

Of course, as I mentioned, I watched on big-screen TV, where you can't help but notice such things.