My opinion is that SVCD, at an enough large bitrate (don't try to squeeze more than 55' on a 80' CD-R) have awesome quality.
Instead, I still doesn't know well KVCD . The 'core' of KVCD is CQ (constant quaity), and it means that even 352x240 KVCD are VBR, but I don't know what can be an acceptable 'very good' value for CQ.
Careful, the default value for CQ (60) that is placed in the templates is too low, to give a decent result. You have to place a new one by fixing 'I want to fill 2 x 80' CD-R. Which CQ value must be put to give a 1660 MPG?' and this is very hard to find, sine depends on the movie. I founf only the way to create the test movies at 'motion search precision = lowest quelity (very fast)' and multiplexing the M#V videos to the MP2 audio stream. But this method is veeery slow!
The only well known fact is that the K(S)VCD bitrates ranges from 300 to 1800 kbps for KVCD (instead of 1150 CBR) and from 300 to 2500 kbps for KSVCD, apart the different conventions of the screen resolution [352x240 or 528x480 for MPEG-1; (528 or 352)x480 for MPEG-2 SVCD... see http://kvcd.net/dvd-models.html ]
That is, there are many many options. The CQ value must be put as a function of how much room you can fit (2 CD for a KVCD and 3 CD for a KSVCD, for instance). From a theoretical point of view, KVCD are better that VCD, since 300-1800 VBR is better than 1150 CBR, but KSVCD? SVCD is already VBR , and I haven't still compared KSVCDs to SVCDs.
The fact is that calculating the 'ideal' CQ is hard.
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Read http://www.desitorrents.com/forums/faq.php?faq=how_do_i from 'convert DVD to KVCD?' (soon I'll write a guide myself..)
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It isn't easy....
My conclusion is: K(S)VCD are more more complicated then SVCDs.
SVCDs, if well made (with CCE or, if you've lot of free time, TMPGenc) can give awesome results, and any limitaton depends mainly on the input movie.
But, maybe, joining the KVCD.NET forum ( http://www.kvcd.net/portal/index.php ) could be a solution, but, alas, they want to be paid.
My opinion is: beware of the input movie's quality! If you start with a 600 MB 2h movie, don't expect awesome results even from a DVD Movie made from it, if compared to a lame, standard VCD.
I still haven't found a free internet guide for this, sorry, I'm a too poor expert...
