What the heck! Beats me.

I have made back up DVD's using decrypter and shrink and they all play fine for me on all my DVD players and the one on my computer. I use dvd-r media. My predicament is not actually my issue but my sisters dillema. Ive given her some of my copies to borrow but for some mystery they dont play very well on her machine connected to her tv. She sais that they flicker and "jump". To add to the mystery she has two portable dvd players and when she connects these to the av in rca sockets on the same tv they play fine. What the?

She has a panasonic dvd player which seems to have some sort of incompatability or some other problem. Is there anyone who might be able to give me an idea what may be doing this?

I hope I posted in the right section. I look forward to any suggestions.

 

Hi Herbsman,
I have it recorded in Pal format. I am in Australia and I believe that this is the format here. I thought of that but thought why does it play via the portable DVD player hooked up to the TV av ins. I cant understand it. Her DVD player is maybe 4-5 years old. It plays all of her dvds but not the ones Ive backed up. They all play in my JVC unit and its a good unit. They also play in 2 other independant units. It seems to be something attributed to her DVD panasonic player. Im not sure how she has got it connected up in the back. But due to it playing other DVDs it makes me a bit frustrated to diagnose this situation.

I thought that maybe her lens might be dirty but this cant be because other DVDs play ok!

This is very odd! It must be the connections in the back of the unit. I have to check what she has it set on Pal or NTSC or multi. It just does not make sense.

Im lost for a logical explanation. Im sure it may be a simple setting issue. Who knows???

 

there are plenty of reasons why certain media brands won't play in other players:

1. burning speeds: burn at 4x so there will be less writing errors (rule of thumb is to burn at half the rated speed of the disk--8X disk burn at 4x).
2. read manual for your stand alone player and use the disks that will play in your player. If your player is less than 2 yrs old then it should play the + or - R disks! I said SHOULD that's why you read the manual.
3. try booktyping your drive to DVd-ROM so it will make your +R disks more compatible to players. Read this:
http://k-probe.com/bitsetting-booktype-faq.php
4. make sure that there are no finger prints or scratches on your disk that make it hard for the player to read the disk!
*******5. use good quality media (rule of thumb....buy the ones that are Made in Japan.)Taiyo Yuden is the only brand I use! Verbatim is also top notch disk and is the only exception to this rule....some Verbatims are made in Taiwan and they are top notch! Using quality media that is most recognized by players/recorders stop MANY problems like the ones you are getting!
6. and don't burn too close to the outer edge of the disk ..... which will make the disk unreadable! but using good media you will be able to burn close to the edge better than lesser quality media. Just in case I only burn no closer than 4400MB, so if you can set your programs to that, all the better!

follow these little tips of the trade and you'll have better success! good luck.

also read this:
http://www.cdfreaks.com/reviews/Why-DVDRW-is-superior-to-DVD-RW/
why the +R media is better than the -R media

 

I have also experienced the same problem where certain players prefer certain brands of DVD's regardless of the +/-. (may be the age thing) If you can see about borrowing different brands from friends or even some that have already been burnt and try them on her machine to find out which brands that player favours. Then supply her copies only on that brand.

 

if the firmware is up to date and your burner is not too old then it should be able to accept all the blank media out there now! The stand alone players are finicky! If your player is less than a 3 yrs old or so then it should accept all the disks that it's supposed to accept no matter what brand of disks..... sooooo if that player is supposed to be able to play an +/-R disk it shouldn't matter what brand..... [bold]Unless you are using crappy media to burn to! Read my reply as stated on June 4th to this thread![/bold] you can't change those facts...... if you deviate from what I mentioned above you may have problems! that's why I always use +R disks and booktype them to DVD-ROMs and my disks have been playing on all players that I have and more (even my friends players!). I have yet to have a compatibility problem in well over 1200 backups!

 

Sorry I was not trying to undermind what you had said. One should always use undamaged/clean media as well as not maxing out the capacity as well as the burn speed in order to improve the odds of success. I have just found that even though an old stand alone deck reports being able to play a + or - DVD that it still can be selective to a specific brand of disk such as Memorex, Sony, TDK, Fujifilm, Maxell etc. I would presume without being technically minded that these brands should meet the specs required to achieve the + or - specs as they are endorsed by these companies. As I do not consider these sources as crap manufacturers such as the unknown ones found is shops like Best By or Future Shop. I have found that my new NEC 6650A +/- DVD drive does not always detect the media speed rating on some of these other brands and hense defalts to 1X's. In those cases I over ride to half the rated speed. In to-days market where companies outsource how can one besure that a brand is made in Japan or will continue to be made there?
One should still be able to identify what the older machine likes and if you adhere to it your success rate should almost be 100% thereafter.

As for your tips on booksetting that is new to me and I looking forward to reading up on this. Thank You

 

here is another way to booktype your drive...... DVDInfo Pro will do it if it can be done with your drive ..... and it should..... Nec drives can be booktyped:

 

Thanks for the effort but it looks like I will have to do without as the Bitsetting is only available for the NEC 1300A's modified versions as per DVDINFO pro. I guess that is why I was getting an error in DVD Decrypt while trying to apply it there. Oh well such is life. You can't always get what you want. But not to worry I have newer stand alone DVD players (Walmart $25 Cnd disposables) Xmas specials that play anything. My Samsung Home Theatre plays anything as well. I am very happy with my Slimline NEC ND6650A 8X DVD +/- burner in my lappy. I too stick to DVD +R's.

 

Thanks guys for the info and tips. Im still studying the great info on booktyping. So why do manufacturers such as JVC professional dvd recorders require DVD negative disks as the preferred medium. eg
http://www.expandore.com/product/JVC/Professional/JVC_DVD_Recorder.htm

Why do these companies opt for the DVD negative disk.

http://www.jvcpro.co.uk/item/index_html?item=BD-X200E
http://pro.jvc.com/prof/attributes/features.jsp?model_id=MDL101541

 

Thanks guys for the help. I have read the link explaining DVD formats and is useful. However according to my initial post I am most confused. I have a JVC unit and my sister has a panasonic dvd player. As stated in the article......

"DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD-RAM
These formats are supported by Panasonic, Toshiba, Apple Computer, Hitachi, NEC, Pioneer, Samsung and Sharp. These formats are also supported by the DVD Forum."

The dvd - format should be acceptable between the 2 units. Why does it therefore not play as required on her unit. As I have stated she has two portable units for her kids and when these are connected to her tv via AV ins they both play my dvd backup with no problems. Incidently both these portables are different brand from each other.

Unbelievable what a bizarre predicament. It has to be connections of the panasonic to her tv I think.

 

as stated above, and it can't be too hard to understand, that different players will accept certain manufactered disks of different brands..... these player/burners have firmware (software/memory built into the player/burner that tells them how to read certain disks, etc). If that player/burner is old and you're trying to read a newer disk it may not be ABLE to read that disk because of OLD FIRMWARE or the firmware was never updated at all because the manufacturer of the player/burner might have moved on to newer models and won't address a firmware update for it's older models! Soooooooo, certain players will only play certain disks and there for you get the situation like what your sisters has:

when manufactures changed from 2.4x media to 4x media many drives had to have firmware updates so those players/writers would be able to recognize those disks and play/burn to them! Just because a player SHOULD be recognizing a +R media doesn't mean that it will. If that player doesn't recognize the disk it's because the firmware doesn't have the description of that disk in it's memory/software. That player might only read 4x disks and not 16x disks! so it does depend on the manufacturers to keep the firmware as up to date as possible and to keep disks that play in their players readily available to the public so that the player/recorder has a better chance of reading more disks that are out there. I can't explain it more details than that. If I made an error here or there this is what was explained to me and I hope I conveyed it correctly. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

 

steve austalia is not as advanced as we all might think (dont quote me ihoe or loco).4 to 5 years ago your uppergrade dvd players couldnt play burnt dvds.

JVC and panasonic for us were top of the line then, and with the difference in specs and disc qualities not every thing will play with each different machine.As time progresses your older machines cant handle the newer technological changes and as such skips and shudders on playback are a more common occurence.

You may just need to spend $50 and purchase a tongtel or hifu dvd player.They'll probably only last about 6 months, being cheap chinese imports but hey they at least will play anything you throw at them.Harvey norman, aldi, even coles or safeway have them these days.

Maybe this is the solution you need.............

guy

 

Oh OK it looks as though that firmware might be the cause. I thought that firmware was for computers rather than stand alone players.

Firmware cannot be upgraded on a DVD player I assume. So stand alone players will eventually be unable to play newer dvds sometime in the future. I guess I was under the assumption that this would not be the case. One thing that must be mentioned she has no problems playing purchased dvds that are current editions. If firmware is the case then why do these play? I dont want to seem lame to all here on the forum for I have no issues so far with any DVD myself but just seek a remedy for someone elses issue as I would also like to help someone that might be able to benefit from my experience if at all valuable.

I have to check a few things for her on site to check if their is a different aspect to this situation and if in fact it may be a firmware issue. I will try a simple experiment by taking an original bought dvd and a copied backup from my system and place both of these in her unit and see if it really is in fact a firmware issue, age of player being at fault or some other problem to eliminate an issue yet to be diagnosed. Her panasonic is a relatively expensive model that would be a dissappointment if it was faulty. I will check the dubbed DVD with the Original at the same time and see what happens then.

 

@SteveDVD.....the store bought DVDs are DVD-ROMs and should very well be compatible to MOSTLY all players (99.9999%). Sooooooo your sister's player should have no problem with the store bought DVD. It's the backup DVD. Which has to do with what I wrote above on June 4th, June 8th and today..... saying again..... it's the Backup DVD! Your sisters player either needs a firmware update (if it can be updated) or get disks that her player can play and recognize so you burn to those. Her player is finicky and only wants to play what it wants to play, [bold]because of it's firmware![/bold] The only other thing could be if you recorded the DVD directly from a TV/DVD recorder which has different file formats and sometimes won't play in older DVD players..... no matter how expensive those players were. good luck.

 

Thanks IHOE I guess its a learning curve all this DVD technology.

I have to read up on DVD-ROM formats. Are these a special medium that no matter what cannot be replicated? Is that why most DVD media have a coloured back rather than the silver ROM characteristics?

I have to do a search so as to get a better insight to a DVD rom.

Thanks all who have helped.

 

@SteveDVD....blank media has that purplish backing because it's made for burners to burn the media. Store bought DVDs are done with professional machinary and are made differently .... so the color is different.

It's not so much to understand but to get experience in and the only way to do it is to dive right in and try you luck and learn through hands on training. Asking questions and reading AFterdawn will teach you. You've come to the right place. Happy learning and keep on burning!

 

Well folks just got around to having a look see at what the heck is goin on!

Couldnt get to it earlier because my mum has had major surgery and couldnt get round to it.


Went to have a first hand glimpse at my sisters place to have a geezer at what her player is doing! Well firstly shes bloody exaggerated more than actually was comin round! It turns out that the dvd has a monentary freeze and several areas of pixelated noise happening.

The dvd plays fairly well but from her description on the phone she made it sound far worse than it actually is. Bloody woman on hormone therapy! LOL

Having a look at the dvd it turns out her kids feed these dvds with some caked on smudges that dont remove easily with a tissue. It actually is like sugar jam or bloody wax who knows what? So I decided to clean these dvd plates she has let those monsters handle and you guess it........they work perfectly! What the? All this for dirt! lol

She showed me some of her originals and they have scratches, gunk, and fingerprints on them and she reckons these play ok! What the?
She thinks that the backups ure more sensitive and are more effected by pizza and fish and chips? Oh well I thought there was a major thing happening but as it turns out those rascals feed these dvds than their mouths. This has become really funny. So as most of us budding techs would think of the firmware and other issues bloody plain old dirt is the culprit in play in more ways than one.

I just had to post this so that sometimes just simple things and neglect can give a guy a real head ache.

Thanks to all who helped but it seems exaggeration together with kids would really be cheaper by the dozen than one by a million! This event has boggled my mind for no real technical fault.