Is the "DVD high compatibility mode" option effective ?

[Sir Didymus]

This option (of Nero) seems to act by filling DVD-VIDEO datasets with padding sectors until the minimum size of 1 GB of data is written in the burning session.

I have never seen in the documents I read any reference stating the need or the effectiveness of this option, and I personally never had problems with burned DVD of little size.

Nevertheless an interesting discussion is going on in the Italian forum on the matter, with a couple of users reporting troubles with the playback of such small titles on some players and no playback problems, of the same disc on other players.

Until now I supposed it was something related to a singularity of Nero, but I noticed that other Burning sw (e.g. Smart DVD CD Burner) have the same option, recommending to set it in case of playback troubles with titles of small size...

So, I am now someway less skeptical on the matter.

Have you any specific opinion about ?

Cheers,
SD

[setarip_old]

Hi!

Other discussions regarding this point seem to indicate that this option is useful/required only regarding playback on some older standalone players. In the Italian forum, with those indicating playback problems, you might want to ask the age, brand, and model number of their players...

[Sir Didymus]

These are reported from one user:

DVD size < 1 GB, option "high compatibility" off:

amstrad dxs3500: not read
daytek: not read
samsung: not read
nikenny: read OK
brand unknown: read OK
ps2: read OK.

Same DVD, re-ripped and remastered with the option "high compatibility" on:

amstrad dxs3500: read OK
daytek: read OK
samsung: read OK
nikenny: read OK
brand unknown: read OK
ps2: read OK.

The age of the standalones seems not a factor:
daytek, nikenny, ps2: 3/4 years old
samsung: 2 years old
brand unknown: 1 year old
amstrad: dicember 2005

[blutach]

Hi SD :)

This is NOT a requirement. It is more something for daemon tools to recognise it as a DVD and not a CD. D-tools uses 1Gb as the cutoff between it saying "this ISO is a DVD"

If you wish to have d-tools recognise a small DVD as a DVD, mount the MDS. You can mount a very tiny MDS this way (say 200kb).

I have made dozens of "little" DVDs without incident on any of my players.

Regards

[Sir Didymus]

This is NOT a requirement. It is more something for daemon tools to recognise it as a DVD and not a CD. D-tools uses 1Gb as the cutoff between it saying "this ISO is a DVD"

That's good to know, but here the point is that it seems the size of 1 GB is a factor for some standalone players to interpret the dataset as a valid DVD-VIDEO or not.


I have made dozens of "little" DVDs without incident on any of my players.

Me too; exactely the same... :)
So it would be interesting to hear from somebody who have had such incidents...
The implications are quite interesting - if it is demonstrated it can really improve the compatibility - for example as suggestion to include such option in ImgBurn...

Cheers,
SD

[r0lZ]

As long as it's an option, I agree. But it is important to keep the possibility to burn images of less than 1GB. I have often made mini-DVDs on CDs, and that works well with my players.

[LIGHTNING UK!]

There is an option in the MMC spec for when you close (finalise) a DVD plus format disc.

You either close with minimal radius (30mm), or you just close it at the current size.

The drive does all the padding and it says it's done to increase compatibility with read only devices.

This is on page 306 of MMC5R03C.PDF which can be downloaded from www.t10.org

[Sir Didymus]

As long as it's an option, I agree. But it is important to keep the possibility to burn images of less than 1GB. I have often made mini-DVDs on CDs, and that works well with my players.

Of course! 100% agreed !

Quite interestingly, the same user who reported the above troubles, stated also that the players not compliant with the DVD-VIDEO of small size, are also not reading Mini-DVDs...

There is an option in the MMC spec for when you close (finalise) a DVD plus format disc.

You either close with minimal radius (30mm), or you just close it at the current size.

The drive does all the padding and it says it's done to increase compatibility with read only devices.

This is on page 306 of MMC5R03C.PDF which can be downloaded from www.t10.org
Thanks a lot for the reference! It is exactely something I was looking at (I mean, some documentation base justifying this "exotic" option of Nero).

Anyway it is quite strange it is just for DVD plus :confused:

If it is meant in order to increase the compatibility (of DVD+R respect to DVD-ROM I suppose) what happens to printed DVD-VIDEO titles closed at a radius below 30 mm ?

Do you know if such printed DVD just exist ?