DV to DVD-R - Desktop compatibility issues

[Feuerwehr]

There appear to be a number of desktop players that play DVD-R's easily if the original video material is DVD ripped directly or reencoded, but the same players will not either not recognize any DVD-R if the source is DV or will exhibit major problems playing it. I am not claiming MOST players have this problem, but 3 out of 12 players I have tested do.
This may not be an important issue, but it can be if your goal happens to be to distribute your DV movies to a number of relatives or clients.
I have encoded a fair number of DVD-R's using a variety of media, and tried a lot of different software. I have encoded with TMPGenc, CCE 2.5. Pinnacle Studio 7, Movie Factory, Nero, and 1 or 2 others. I have authored with SpruceUp, Movie Factory, Infoedit, DVDit and burned with at least 4 different programs. I have tried just about every combination of the above with the same results: I can make a DVD compliant DVD-R that plays great on all DVD-R compliant desktops tested if the source is a ripped or reencoded DVD. Using the same media, and software for encoding, authoring, and burning some Desktops will simply never recognize any DVD-R if the source video is DV. I do not have any answers as to why. All I know is that the results appear to be consistent.
My DV video is interlaced of course, and DVD movies are generally progressive, and there are always differences in how a DVD movie is encoded vs. a DV movie but that should not be important. I have tried using the same bitrates for comparison purposes. I know that some players will not handle mp2, so I have tried to experiment with PCM or AC3 audio.
I am not exactly a newbie, but I am no computer guru either. What I would like is for someone to either give me an explanation for my findings, or to tell me why I am all wet and to give me some constructive suggestions.
Thanks

[Feuerwehr]

I have solved my problem with certain players that did not play DVD-R's from DV source material but would play DVD rips. It turns out that the source video format has nothing to do with it. Some desktops will not read discs that are less than approximately 2/3 full. I was stumped because ripped or encoded DVD movies would play on these players but not DV video source material. It turns out all of the DV home movies I tested were 2gb or less in size. Once I increased the length of my authored videos to > 3 gb they play fine.
Curiously, the same players will play "shorts" if I use DVD-RW media authored in exactly the same way.

[bb]

That's weird indeed. When I read your first post I double checked my calendar to be sure it's not April 1st...

bb

[Feuerwehr]

No, seriously, the players I tested that exhibit this phenomenon are:
1. Malata N996
2. Apex AD-800
3. Toshiba SD-2300
Other players tested don't seem to have a problem with the DVD-R "shorts." The Malata and the Apex are practically clones, both use the same "Mediamatics" chip.

[bb]

Hmm, I guess these players don't fulfill the DVD specs then...

bb

[TheRipper]

Hi,

I don't exactly where, but i read something about the dvd-standard.

It has to have at least 1 MPEG-2 video stream, and 1 AC3-audio stream.

MPEG-2, and MP2 only is not enough. you must have at least 1 ac3-stream.

DV doesn't have ac3, so if you create a dvd from a dv-avi, it will not comply to the dvd standard.

Some players will only work when the dvd is fully dvd-compliant.
and some other players don't care about that there is no ac3-stream.