Well i have hundreds of vcds & i can say that 
VCDs can be good ro bad quality...  

The good quality ones are ones which have been 
mastered from a good quality source.  Many DVD 
rips are so good that you need to really pay attn 
to notice that it isn't.  If it is something u 
desperately want then you should pay more & opt 
for DVD & u'll get all the extras as well.  But 
if pirce is your main concern then vcds are a 
good choice.  

Hong Kong does not really produce pirates 
anymore.  Many times when i went vendors were at 
every turn but now it is hard to find more than 
the odd one as the government seems to have wiped 
them out.  

I almost fainted when i heard they had done it 
with so much success.  Packages which look like 
cds are also routinely opened & checked by postal 
service or police!  Even the few still in 
operation, they are afraid to take your oney 
directly.. you have to put your money in a bag & 
then someone grabs it & then someone hands you 
your goods like soem drugs deal.

I personally go for originals cos most 9/10 of 
the pirates were cammed from cineams & you end up 
listening to conversations rather tahn the 
soundtrack.  But i do think that pirates did some 
good in that they made the original retailers 
lower their prices...  Original VCDs in hk are so 
cheap that there is really no reason to buy 
pirates. [this is coming from no1 cheapskate!]

Ok back to quality of original vcds.  THey vary 
greatly, especially in asia.  Things to look out 
for are the company.  Most US films that are 
released are great quality but anime varies.  
Loads are just converted from VHS & often i can't 
help but think they are just using really cheap 
equipmemnt.ment.  Even withthe high quality vcds 
you can notice pixellation if u look closely but 
with the poorer quality ones it is quite bad. 

My friend has converted many original vhs to vcd 
& they are pretty bad. Usually good packaging 
means the vcd is good quality too.. i know it is 
dumb logic but it is a good rule i find.

If you are gonna do screen captures for cels then 
be aware that vcds miss out some frames so your 
exact scren may not be there.

I'd advise to keep away from real player format 
vcds...  I have yet to see anything even average 
quality on them.

While vcds have not made much impact in the west, 
in some asian countries they have basically 
replaced VHS due to their price & portability & 
relative quality.

I think their popularity is increasing int he 
west as they can be viewed on PCs & many DVD 
players which enable video cd playback (they are 
region free).  I don't think dvd will kill off 
vcd since they have not done so in asia & due to 
the price of dvds now.. well at least in the UK...

In taiwan they are not really pirated cos they 
have not signed up for the Byrne convention so 
ppl can buy & sell with few restrictions.  Notice 
how the US pressured China & India into signing, 
yet it's buddy Taiwan still has not signed.  I 
think the same goes for Indonesia & Malaysia.