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On this page I briefly show you a list of available video recording types. Many people download movies from the internet (for example using eMule or NewsGuy) and of course you'd like to find the best quality there is! A common problem is people who start downloading a movie, then wait for it to finish, only to find out that they're not happy with the quality and thereby search again for a better one. I often use websites like www.vcdquality.com to see which movies are released, by what group, and most important; in what quality they are. In this article I will explain the different formats so that you can make sure that you are downloading a good quality movie. Tip: Additional rule of thumb (besides the suggestions in this article) is that a good quality movie is at least 600 to 700 Mb in size. So with a 300Mb file, it's pretty safe to say that the quality will not be great. Read the Disclaimer!

Article by: Glenn Castillo

Recording Types

Note: Recording types should not be confused with Video Formats. In essence te difference is "From what has it been recorded/copied" versus "how has it been stored".

Type 1 - CAM - Filmed with a camrecorder

POOR QUALITY

Some dude uses a regular or professional camera to record the movie at the cinema.

These are often in a half-bad/half-good quality.
Sometimes you can even see the crowd. You really get that "home cinema" feeling.

Type 2 - TELESYNC - Filmed with a professional camera

SEMI-OK QUALITY

Telesync is a copy filmed in an empty cinema or from the projection booth with a professional camera. Also the sound is recorded directly
from the source. The quality of a telesync could be acceptable.

Type 3- TELECINE - Copy from the reel

GOOD QUALITY

This is a direct copy from the reel to a digital format.

The result is usually in good quality.

Type 4 - SCREENER - Copy made by the movie company

VERY GOOD QUALITY

A screener is a copy made for the critics before the movie has been released.

These are in good quality although there might be some warningtexts shown or the color may shift sometimes between
black/white and color. But this is not too disturbing though.

In general: the source is a DVD, so you can expect the same good quality as a DVD copy.

Type 5 - DVD-Rip - Copy of a DVD

VERY GOOD QUALITY

It's a direct copy from a DVD.
But it doesn't mean that ALL the contents of DVD is in the copy.
Usually some bonus materials have been left out or subtitles and such.

The quality is either DVD quality or pretty close!

Then what is DivX/XviD, VCD and SVCD!?

Well, actually, these are just names of different formats and doesn't really say much about the quality of the movie.

A DVD-Rip could be encoded to a VCD just aswell as a CAM could be encoded to a DVD.
In this case the VCD most likely has a better quality than the DVD ...

These formats have different attributes, but let's just the story short by saying that people use these formats to minimize the space used when transfering their movie to a disc and/or making it playable on a standalone player.