Hi there, Most playback issues on your DVD Player can be related to most/all of these: 1- Cheap Media Quality 2- Burned too fast 3- Burned too close to the edge of the media 4- Use DVD-R media on older DVD Players [bold]or[/bold] use DVD+R and booktype them to DVD-ROM 5- Do not stick labels on your media A) Use quality media: - Taiyo Yuden (Media ID: TYGx, YUDENT) - Verbatim (Media ID: MCC, MKM) - Maxell [bold]Made In Japan[/bold] (Media ID: MXLRG0x) One of the worse media on the market, if not [bold]the[/bold] worse, are made by CMC Magnetics Inc. Media ID: CMC Mag. Keep away from [bold]Memorex[/bold] media, lots of us will call those MemoSux I also read someone call them [bold]LandFill[/bold], it says it all ! Here are 2 good sites, to learn about media quality, and what media id to look for: http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm http://www.videohelp.com/dvdmedia B) Burning too fast, may cause playback issues: If you have cheap media, several of us will suggest not to burn those higher than [bold]x2.0[/bold] If you use quality media, some of us will suggest burning at [bold]x4.0 max[/bold] to prevent playback issues. - Skipping, Freezing etc... Some people will say they have success burning at x8.0, and they are right. But keep in mind, if you are going to burn at x8.0, make sure you have lots of free memory, and use [bold]quality media[/bold] like listed above. - Stop all background tasks, Antivirus software, Anti Spyware software - All those little software that you see on your system taskbar I don't think anyone will suggest burning higher than x8.0, even if using new 16x media. Some will argue they burn at 16x successfully, but several other users has proven with PIF/PIE scanning that the end results are poor quality burns. I have read a few times, people suggesting burning at half the speed of the media certified speed: - Burn 16x media at x8.0 max - Burn 8x media at x4.0 max - Burn 4x media at x2.0 max This is a rule I follow myself (Personal Choice) C) Here's a few quotes I picked up from AfterDawn: - Set target size to 4300 (Custom Size in DVDShrink) to avoid further failures towards the end of the movie. - Poor quality disc will not burn right up to the edge. - Many DVD blank discs have uneven dye around the outer edge So we don't want to burn that far. D) I have read several times, that older DVD Player will prefer [bold]DVD-R[/bold] media. - You can also use DVD+R and booktype them to DVD-ROM. - Not all DVD burners can do this, so read your manual. E) I have read several times, that people have having issues, after sticking labels on their media. - It makes them unstable, and will cause playback issues, if they play at all. F) A little tip that several of us will suggest, always use the latest firmware on your DVD burner and use the latest version of the software. - Not sure what DVD burner you have ? - Not sure what firmware revision is installed on it ? - Not sure what media it can write to ? - Use tools like [bold]VSO Inspector v1.1[/bold] or [bold]DVDInfoPro[/bold] to get all these information If you follow these rules, you should have success !!!
Problem is a person has to sift through it because some of the info is dated and some is sheer bunk; like not burning to the edge of media because the dye at edges is bad. They should follow your other advice, use good media. Then they wouldn't have to worry about the other. Labels are okay as long as they're put on with a tool that centers them properly. Balance issues crop up when they're not straight or when the adhesive fails. Coming loose can be seen. To prevent the eventual adhesive failure, I went to just using a marker. I have some discs nearly two years old with labels and they've never caused a problem. Burning too fast? How fast is that. Normally I burn at 4X, but sometimes I forget and the resulting 8X burns are good to date. But I use good media, good software and good equipment. A friend of mine burns at 6X all the time. I don't know about 16X though. That media isn't plentiful yet anyway. All the stores I frequent are selling 8X and sometimes there may be some closeouts on 4X. So 4X no longer has to be the reasonable limit many have come to say. It's the way of quotes, they start and then people just keep using them. As for CMC, I'm not about to take up for them. But, there's some funny happenings that aren't widely known. CMC may have helped tank Memorex, but CMC media is sold under a number of brands. Most often Verbatim is said to be one of the best brands. They sell some of the CMC media. Imation, Philips, Speer, and Samsung are just some of the others that are selling or have sold CMC without it damaging the brand name. Either CMC is getting better or people just aren't paying attention. I'm not worried about it, I try to buy other media and so far I've been pretty lucky. You could shorten that list to Use good media and equipment, and keep the firmware up to date. That would cover many of the problems. To date I've not set burn limits and some apps don't have the option. I've had no problems and I have an extensive video library that I've backed up. I also know from experience that one doesn't have to burn at 4X if they use decent equipment and media. As for booktyping DVD ROM from +R, not all drives will do that. I never use that function as a requirement for buying a burner either. If memory serves me correctly, it's the Ricoh type drives that support it. PLextor is one of those that do, I think LG is another, there a bunch that do, then there's a bunch that don't. If a person runs across a standalone that won't play anything but -R, it's cheaper to buy a new player that will handle multiple formats than to buy a burner; heaven forbid having to have one installed.
