DVD burning

[Carl 3]

I was wondering why some people couldn't view some of the DVD's that i've burnt off. I could watch them but towards the end of the disc they'd do some funny stuff and on my flatmates player they just wouldn't play at all.

Turns out it's the DVD recording format, the +R format is substantially better than the -R format. The -R format just doesn't handle dvd video and some dvd players just can't read a dvd burnt in the -R format.

So Matt, that explains why some of those DVD's just don't work, if you check them they'll probably be DVD-R format. The ones that do work will be the +R format. Somewhere along the line I bought a 50 spindle of the -R format without thinking. Have had to reburn them all onto the +R discs.

[bezzal 1]

Never had any problems with DVD-R's playing or recording.

Software:

DVD decrypter

Nero V6

[Carl 3]

I'm using DVD Decrypter, Nero 6, and Daemon Tools.

It's not the PC DVD-ROM that has the problem, it's the DVD players (DSE, Panasonic, Sharp etc) that don't like playing movies burnt on DVD-R. Some work, some don't.

I've traced it back to the DVD-R format discs that I was using in that the Mitsubishi discs are just plain crap. The imitation DVD-R discs work better so i'm assuming it's teh reflective quality of the dye but both the mitsi and imitation dvd+r discs work perfectly.

That's just my own experiences but my flatmate swears by the +r format and I have to now grudgingly agree with him.

[m325i 705]

i thought that older dvd players responded better to -R? maybe i was confused.

I have been using +R for ages. They dont work on a couple of my mates players, but perfect on mine. Phillips brand discs.

crap dvds are so much more a factor than crap cds.

[my_e36 43]

I once read somewhere, if the discs are of equal quality, -R are more compatible than +R in normal DVD players.

That said, I found no problem on either on any of my friends and family's computer, laptop or DVD players.

My trick is write them slow. 2x if you can, 4x tops. Higher the speed, the discs vibrate as it spins and create writing problem towards the outside edge (end of movie).

I agree with m325i that cheap DVD are just not worth the trouble. Just get some good ones and you'll never have problems. I use combination of Imation, Ricoh, SONY brand media and Nero 6.

[m325i 705]

write them slow

its so hard though, you so wanna max out you write speed.

[Jimocles 0]

try DVD Shrink, very easy to use

and good quality

[Carl 3]

It's not the software that's the issue but I use nero as DVD shrink is no good at creating new dvd's with chapters taken from different movies ;-)

Good point on the speed as I write the +R's at 2.4x and the -R's at 8x

[my_e36 43]

DVD shrink is no good at creating new dvd's with chapters taken from different movies ;-)

depending how the chapter are split, you can use "Re-author" in DVD Shrink.

Had the season 1 Pimp-My-Ride from 3 discs down to 2 disc with that.

[Carl 3]

I can go better than that.

I just got the latest sony dvd/sacd player that plays divx movies so I have all of Lost season 2 on one dvd, all of Takeshi Kitano's movies on one DVD, etc etc etc.

Works a treat for grouping movies together and removes the need for using dvd shrinking stuff, just rip to divx instead and voila, no need for piles of dvd's.

E: Only down side is divx encodes audio in mp3 format so you lose the dolby digital signal. Having a good home theatre receiver can make up for that though

Edited March 23, 2006 by Carl

[m325i 705]

all of Lost season 2

all what has been released so far...

I was gonna say DIVX player would be good. Does it play XVID too? But your getting into media pc territory there.

I so wanna spoil lost for these suckers watching it with adds.

BTW New episode out. How badass is Ecko.

[martyyn 2]

A whole series on one DVD is going to be using some serious compression, cant imagine it would look too good on my 32' HD LCD

I have an HTPC with 500Gb of disk space and a dual layer DVD burner....so no shrinking for me....everything in its DVD and DTS goodness

[Carl 3]

DivX really is fantastic especially impressive with the divx pro codec. Each episode comes in at <400MB allowing you to fit 12 episodes onto a 4.7 DVD...that's enough to fit in a season

Animated movies compress extremely well, i've got one DVD with Shrek 1+2, Monsters Inc, Ice Age, Incredibles, Wallace and Gromit, and something else, all using high bit rates. Expect to get around 10+ hours of movie time on a DVD using divx at 1Mb/s.

[m325i 705]

A whole series on one DVD is going to be using some serious compression, cant imagine it would look too good on my 32' HD LCD

I have an HTPC with 500Gb of disk space and a dual layer DVD burner....so no shrinking for me....everything in its DVD and DTS goodness

Most stuff is HD and thus BETTER than DVD.

Lost for example looks better than DVD. (the 'LOL' rips)

You burn on dual layer discs? That's expensive.

BTW a full season is 24 episodes.

There will eb a torrent out soon with Simpsons, Seasosn 1-17, all in one. You know you need it.