I have been backing up dvd's for about 6 months now and I'm running into a bit of trouble. I first backed up with usual programs using Dynex DVD+R's, I wanted to use cheap media since I was new to this, and results were perfect. I then bought Maxell's and Sony's and I am pretty sure they are not made in japan. I just did a DVD scan and the Dynex scored 0 as well as the Maxells but the Sony scored 74. Here is my problem if I back up a dvd I end up getting freezing, skipping, pixelation etc. regularly but if I convert .avi or .dvr-ms files to dvd and back up they work perfectly on these disks. Both processes Nero shows as burns are successful. I have read the forums extensively and have lowered my burn to 4x and I will start using better media (returned my spindle of Memorex!) but I am just curious why these disks work well one way and not the other? I am assuming it will still be a media issue but any thoughts would be appreciated! Thanks!
Less than quality media fail primarily due to their lack of consistancy, good one disc, bad, 5 discs, etc. Quality media consistanly give good results. Using cheap media is like running a marathon in a tow sack...
You can google and get DVD Identifier (free) for finding out who manufactured the media. As for Sony, it is a top grade product. The MIJ is Taiyo Yuden and the Taiwan product carries a Sony code. I use both with excellent results and many of the media forums rank both top grade. It's strange that conversions play well, but your regular DVD backups skip. That may indicate something you're doing wrong with the DVD backups. Since all we know is that you do DVD backups and conversions, we can only speculate. There are a number of factors that can affect DVD backups; firmware, media, size of content and software used. All you told us was some brands and your problem. You even forgot to mention what type scans you did. Sounds like something is dodgy there as well, does your equipment support all of the tests. I have 2 burners and neither supports all of the Nero scans.
Thanks Arniebear....I failed to mention that I did try that and ironically enough I was just on that website after seeing it posted in many other threads. I have a Ricoh DVD+RW RW-5240A and my firmware is 1.11 and the latest 1.19 so I tried to update but it failed and then decrypter said that I had no writer available which pretty much scared me but after a re-boot everything was back to normal. So I am hesitant to try it again...it there a thread, couldn't locate one, that is a guide to installing firmware? It looked pretty straight forward but not for me! Thanks again!
It is straight forward. Occasionally a particular drive will have a special sequence. If so it would be noted in the manufacturer's support where you get the download. Follow directions. If none, you simply download and run the update. If you feel uncomfortable doing the flash, get someone who is.
@brobear Glad to hear Sony was okay and that I didn't choose all crappy media! The way I was backing up then was rip with DVDdecrypter, then DVDshrink, then burn with Decrptyer. After awhile playback would be choppy so I began using Nero and DVDfab hoping this would help but it hasn't. I can't recall the program's name in Nero but it is the one the checks CD/DVD quality and surface scans. DVD backups have surface errors but avi conversions do not. My equipment seems to run every test fine. It just puzzles me how back ups used to work but are not very successful now and conversions work flawlessly. Thanks to all for all your help!
What are the sizes of the DVDs you're backing up that cause problems? What you're describing sounds a bit like compression errors. Did you use the "quality settings" when using DVD Shrink? With the Nero CD-DVD Speed tests, if any are grayed out, then the results are unreliable. You have to be able to get the jitter an Pi tests as well as read scans.
Sorry I'm at work so I don't have shrink in front of me but I believe I am still using the default quality settings in shrink, actually I know I changed one of the options to smooth hoping that would help and I always do deep analysis. In shrink I choose just movie only, hoping this would help and removing subtitles and other languages and the compression is typically around 80-90%. I also changed target size to 4300 as recommended in Nero. I just think its funny how I used this no name media and had no problems. I will double check the read scans when I get home as well. I will try to de-frag and update the firmware and hope this helps. I will buy better media and see if this makes a difference as well. Speaking of media I once read Ritek was good but now I am reading conflicting opinions, there is a store down the street which sells Ritek which is convenient for me.
Ritek is no longer what it once was, but still should be decent media. I opt for Taiyo Yuden when possible. Sony +R made in Japan is TY. The Taiwan Sony +R is good as well. Most brands with the MIJ can be counted as good media. Use DVD Identifier (free) or Nero to find the manufacturer. You're doing the right thing in eliminating firmware and media as a possibility first. However, if you're using the same media and recording converted files with success and the DVD backups are causing problems, it tends to support the idea something is heading south in the backup process. Doing the read scan in CD-DVD Speed, were you getting a lot of bad sectors?
With the back up copies when I was in CD/DVD speed surface scan I did get bad sectors (red sqaures) to the point it actually stopped reading the disc, but the same process with converted there were no bad sectors. As for the quality score scan, it stopped scanning the back up with gave a decent score of 74 for converted files. Converted files have worked 100%; Dynex discs when I first started backing up worked 100% (even with quality scores of 0!) but it is the maxells mainly and the sony's I have problems with. I have no more maxells which is what i was mainly using so I hope by doing some maintenance my sonys will work as well. I will defrag first and update firmware tonight. Perhaps I should re-install shrink? Also I found a retailier who sells TY's here in Canada nearby so I will definately switch since it seem to have solved many problems. Thanks very much for your time brobear!
You're welcome. If that doesn't get to the root of the problem, come back and we'll see if we can't nail down what's happening.
