DVD -R will not play on all stand along players

[jzemanek]

I made a DVD of old 16 mm film and have distributed copies to family members. Of 13 distributed so far 4 do not play on their stand alone players. They play fine on my stand alone.

I use a Toshiba 2x DVD -R -RW. The discs are (from what I understand, they are the least troubling):
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Unique Disc Identifier : [DVD-R:TYG01]
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Disc & Book Type : [DVD-R] - [DVD-R]
Manufacturer Name : [Taiyo Yuden Co. Ltd.]
Manufacturer ID : [TYG01]
Blank Disc Capacity : [2,298,496 Sectors = 4,489.3MB = 4.38GB (4.71GB)]
Recording Speeds : [1x , 2x , 4x]
[6x And Higher Might Not Always Be Detectable]

The discs are burned with Roxio's Easy CD and DVD Creator 6. Is there a DVD format (-R or +R or ±R) that will play on all stand alone DVD players? At this point, my only option short of having the family members go out and buy a new DVD player is to furnish them with a VHS tape.
I would appreciate any comments or opnions. Thanks, joeZy

[The Geek]

Hi,

what is the brand and model of the players that refuse to play your DVD-R ? Does the specs of these players say they will play DVD-R ?

Chances are, that your DVD-R is not correctly burnt, and some players will have a problem with it. I don't know about EZ CD and DVD Creator, how it burns. I know that Nero, for example, is very version-dependent, some versions burn a DVD video fine, some not.

Try this. After you created your DVD files (VOB, IFO, BUP), use ImageTool (http://www.coujo.de/ib/index.php?act=html_include&incl_name=download) to create an Image, and burn that Image using DVD Decrypter (www.dvddecrypter.com) (ISO mode). That should give you the best burning result.

Your discs are very high quality, so that shouldn't be the problem. Also, what authoring program did you use ?

The Geek

[blutach]

Hi jzemanek - welcome

This is particularly vexing, isn't it?

Refer here (http://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers) to check for player compatibility.

IMHO, +R with bitset (if your burner can do this) is the closest thing you're gunna find to DVD-ROM, which players should accept. However, this article (http://www.digitalfaq.com/othervideo/dvdformats.htm) is also pertinent.

IMHO, the best way to burn is a slight variation of what The Geek says. See here (http://www.videohelp.com/guides.php?link=735) for why.

As for Roxio and indeed Nero, throw them away - you don't need them. Your disks are very good - they aren't the problem, unless you gotta bad batch and you can check for CRC errors after a burn. I like to use Nero's CD-DVD Speed for this (freeware at http://www.cdspeed2000.com/)

Regards

[jzemanek]

The Geek & Blutach: Thanks for the reply and sorry for not having answered sooner. I kept trying with what I had and I now have eight expensive Taiyo Yuden Co. Ltd coasters. I feel like the proverbial wood worker that kept showing his friend how he lost his finger in the table saw and each time he lost another finger.
My problem escalated into DVD's that didn't play on standalone players, they wouldn't even play on my computer after I had just burned them. I believe this started when I upgraded Roxio's EZ CD and DVD Creator from web downloads. I could burn the first copy but then the 2nd, 3rd, etc were coasters.

I uninstalled Roxio and reinstalled but same results. Hence eight coasters. I used my Sonic MyDVD and no more coasters even on multiple copies. MyDVD is slower but I'm satisfied with the results. This still doesn't answer my original of the DVD's not playing on some standalone players but I believe I'll let the recipients of my DVD's buy newer players.:-)

Anyway thanks, joeZy