DVD Playback issues

[Edward Troxel]

Not all DVD players are equal. Some can play just about anything you stick in it. Others aren’t so good. Some can do -R, some can do +R, some can do both but maybe not equally.

Also, not all DVD media is equal. Some media is better than others. Memorex is usually not listed in the “top media” lists.

A couple things you can try:
1. Try -r instead of +r
2. Try a different brand of media. TY is generally touted as the best. I’ve had good success with Verbatim.

Edward Troxel

[Terry Esslinger]

I agree with ALL of Edwards comments.
He may have been a little kind about Memorex discs – they seem to be a major problem.
I assume that your client is having problems playing the discs?
Have him/her try them in a different DVD player.

My grandson received a DVD from Netflix the other day. It would not play on his DVD player without skipping and freezing. I USED TO SAY that they should play in a computer DVD player but it would not even recognize it. Tried it in a newer Toshiba player and it played flawlessly. And this was a pressed commercial disc. It was not in the best of condition though, as many discs from Netflix are. But I digress as this is not the problem with our burned discs.

I have a burned DVD that I provide my client before the project starts that I have them play. If it plays then we proceed, if not I ask them if they might want to get a new DVD player. For better clients some individuals are actually giving DVD players with the DVD order. I have found that the cheap Cyberhome ($35.00) player doesn’t seem to choke on anything.

[Allen Zagel]

What is “Memorex’exPressit”? I hope you’re NOT putting paper labels on DVD’s! That could also be one of your problems.

So my suggestion which included those in the posts above; use only hogh quality media like TY. Use only -R, not +R’s and get printable surface media and print your labels directly on the disc.

Epson has a $99 printer that will print on CD/DVD/s directly. For black and white printing you could get a thermal printer. Mine also about $100 came from DiscMakers.

Allen

ASX Media Group, Inc.
https://www.asxvideo.com

[Ron Shook]

Randy,

All good suggestions for you so far. I wouldn’t trust Memorex at all. TY or Verbatim are what I use with consistently good results. The only possible issue that hasn’t been mentioned is the total data rate of the DVD you burned. If you pushed the envelope up to 9+ mbps that could also be part of your problem. Some players like it to be less. If you hold the the data rate to 7.5 mbps or less you’ll have near universal compatability on good -R DVDs. It doesn’t matter how short the DVD is. Keep it to under at least 8 mbps and you’ll have less grief.

Ron Shook

Ron Shook
Shoulder-High Eye Productions
CreativeCOW Forum Host for Discreet edit*

[Linda O’connell]

How do you find out what your MBps are in Sony Vegas or DVD Arch?
If they are too high, how do you cut them back?

[Mike Kujbida]

In Vegas, if you’re not clicking the “Custom” button next to the Template box when you’re doing an MPEG-2 render, then you don’t need to worry about it as the default settings are well within allowable limits.