Using the mplayer SwScaler instead of doing scaling manually (sometimes this dies with sig FPE when not using -vc mpegpes with mpegs (I find it unlikely it would only happen on mpegs though)) Using detection code to check if using NTSC or PAL/SECAM and setting appropriate resolution and GOP-Size based on this information. It now generates a valid mpeg1 stream instead of a hybrid mpeg2 (with mpeg1 headers).