format conversion problem

[JPE]

Please note: I am not a programmer and am not very technical . . .

After reading an article on eHOW, I downloaded VLC Media Player for the purpose of converting .avi files to a compatible file format that can be burned onto DVD's and played on my DVD player which is connected to my TV (such as mpg, mpeg, mkv, mp4, etc.).

However when I use VLC to convert (by clicking on the "media" tab, selecting "convert/save", and then selecting the profile (I've tried both MP4 and MPEG-2), the converted file is of lower quality and has distorted "pulses" which occur roughly twice per second for the entire length of the clip (except for the first 3 seconds, which seem okay).

My questions are:
1) am I doing something wrong with the conversion? I have tried both the MP4 and MPEG-2 profiles and had the identical (bad) results

2) Are there certain toolbox settings I should be using for this conversion which will maintain the original quality, and simply convert the .avi clip into a format which is playable on my DVD player (like MP4 or MPEG or MKV or MPG, etc.)?

Thank You!
JPE