No matter what software I use, either Nero 6.3, or EZCD 6.1...I just can't seem to get a mini-DVD burned that will play with my set top DVD. The set top DVD is a Pioneer, that says is DVD-R compatible. I have all the updates for either software, so the question I believe I need to ask, is what format is the best to encode from? .avi, mpg1, or mpeg2? Is there a codec I am missing? Has anyone used these software titles to encode and burn a miniDVD, or should I just stick to crappy VCD formats? Thanks.
A Mini-DVD is a DVD Resolution File Burned on to a CD-R, Mini-DVD"s will only play on a very Small ammount of DVD players so this is Probably your Problem and your DVD Player being able to play DVD-R has no bearing on if it will Play a MiniDVD as MiniDVD is On CD-R...If your DVD Player Plays SVCD then why don"t you Use that Format..If you do it Properly SVCD can Look allmost as good as DVD or Try XSVCD..I used to Make XSVCD"s useing a Mpeg2 file at 704+480 and a VBR Bitrate of 2000kbs Min & 5000kbs Max and Burned it as a Non-standard SVCD and they were close to DVD quality and I was able to get over 30 minutes on each CD-R...Why not just get a DVD Burner?? They are cheaper now than my CD-Burner was when I bought it....
I am burning the DVD-R's with a Lite-On Dual format burner...and at points, the video may make it to the menu screen, but at that point the DVD player will either freeze up, or shut off with "This player cannot read this type of disk...." I will try using mini-DVD format on a CD-R instead of a DVD-R.
I think you're missing the point. If it's not burned to a CD-R it's not a miniDVD - just a DVD. It sounds like either a media compatibility issue or a bad player. Just because a player reads DVD-R doesn't mean it likes all cheap media. What media are you using, and have you tried different media? Also, if you do burn the files to a CD-R you should make sure that the bitrate is low enough. In my experience (and from all the information I've found) video on a miniDVD is limited to between 4500kbps and 5000kbps due to the limited speed data can be read from a CD-R by your DVD player. That's with a 2 channel (192kbps) AC3 audio stream. With 5 channel audio it would be even lower than that. As Minion said, most players won't play a miniDVD anyway, but a much larger number will play SVCD and, if you're lucky, XSVCD (non-standard SVCD).
