DVD type recommendations?

[Patrick]

Out of curiosity, has anyone used TMPGEnc to convert the DV avis for 'Pulse of Life' to MPEG2? Though this particular program has overall received high praise, one criticism I have heard a few times is the fact that it does not recognise many types of avis. Apparently, according to one source, TMPGEnc will not recognise Type-1 DV avis but will recognise Type-2 DV avis. Is there a way to convert a Type-1 into a Type-2 without affecting quality? An option does exist in TMPGEnc for recognising unfamiliar avis by changing the Direct Show Filter to a higher priority within the VFAPI plugin tab settings but supposedly, this method results in some loss in quality.

[Patrick]

The laptop at my father's work had spent over 27 hours downloading the DV version of 'Pulse of Life' (using Broadband with a wireless connection.) There was one hour to go till the finish and then a power failure had occurred.

Arrrrgghhhh!!!

We have now started from scratch again...hopefully this second download will finish on Sunday. If so, I look forward to my first viewing of the film.

[jhoneycutt]

I am currently downloading an AVI DV file to be burned to DVD. I must confess that I have never before burned a DVD in my life and I know absolutely nothing about the various types of blank DVDs on the market. The various + types and - types mean nothing to me. Would there be any particular one or ones that would be best, as well as being compatible with most DVD players?

The media called DVD-R is the most universal format. You will find that DVD-R media will play on more desk top DVD players than any other format.

If you make a movie and move it to DVD-R media, and mailed it to your aunt, chances are that her desk top DVD player hooked up to her TV will play it.

jack

jack

[mathis]

The laptop at my father's work had spent over 27 hours downloading the DV version of 'Pulse of Life' (using Broadband with a wireless connection.) There was one hour to go till the finish and then a power failure had occurred.

Arrrrgghhhh!!!

We have now started from scratch again...hopefully this second download will finish on Sunday. If so, I look forward to my first viewing of the film.

How often shall I write here that you should use a download manager which can resume unfinished downloads.... :? Everything else is suizidal.

[mattias]

Out of curiosity, has anyone used TMPGEnc to convert the DV avis for 'Pulse of Life' to MPEG2? Though this particular program has overall received high praise, one criticism I have heard a few times is the fact that it does not recognise many types of avis.

you can always use avisynth as a frame server. there are filters for most input types out there.

/matt

[Patrick]

Awww bugger. I just checked the instruction manual of my Yamaha DVD player and it accepts the +R and +RW DVDs, not the - ones. Mine must be one of the very few that is the other way around.

[jhoneycutt]

Awww bugger. I just checked the instruction manual of my Yamaha DVD player and it accepts the +R and +RW DVDs, not the - ones. Mine must be one of the very few that is the other way around.

Is this a desktop DVD player that is hooked up to a TV? Or is this a DVD player that is a DVD drive you have in your computer?

Can you post the model number?

Jack

[Patrick]

I'm not familiar with the term 'desktop DVD player' but my machine is hooked up to a TV in the lounge room. The full name of this model is a Yamaha DVD-S530.

An extract from the instructional manual:

'This unit is designed for use with DVD video, Video CD, Super video CD, Audio CD (CD text supported), CD-R and CD-RW (MP3 Supported), DVD+RW and DVD+R. CD-R and CD-RW cannot be played unless finalised. Only the first session of multisession discs is supported.'

[Angus]

Your Yamaha must be an unusual beast. Most regular DVD players (ie "desktop") accept the DVD- format.

I've got three DVD players (not counting computer drives). My Aiwa "desktop" accepts + and - discs, my Venturer portable likewise.....my Panasonic DVD recorder only accepts - discs but since that is the recording format for the machine it's not a surprise.

Many machines, even cheap ones, will now play both + and - formats. Computer drives can usually recognise + and - and DVD-RAM discs.

[mathis]

CD-R and CD-RW cannot be played unless finalised. Only the first session of multisession discs is supported.'

Well, then simply finalize your DVD-R. My Sonic DVDit does it anyway without further question.

[mattias]

even cheap ones

*especially* the cheap ones. those have always been and will always be better at playing weird formats, scratched disks, other video standards, regions and so on. my $40 "desktop" player plays anything that's round, reflects lasers and contains an mpeg stream of some sort. you can even burn a regular cd-rom with a mix of video and audio files and it plays it. standard components do that. it takes proprietary solutions to fuck things up. ;-)

/matt

[jhoneycutt]

I'm not familiar with the term 'desktop DVD player'

Sorry...
Some folks have a DVD drive in a computer. Some have a DVD "player" that they hook up to a TV. Mostly, when folks talk about a DVD player that they hook up to a TV they are talking about a "desktop" DVD player (not a DVD drive in a computer that will play DVD disks).

An extract from the instructional manual:

'This unit is designed for use with DVD video, Video CD, Super video CD, Audio CD (CD text supported), CD-R and CD-RW (MP3 Supported), DVD+RW and DVD+R. CD-R and CD-RW cannot be played unless finalised. Only the first session of multisession discs is supported.'

Sounds like your player will play the common DVD format called DVD-R. If you want the most common DVD format to make and hand out, this is the format to use. It is also the cheapest.

jack

[mathis]

CD-R and CD-RW cannot be played unless finalised. Only the first session of multisession discs is supported.'

Well, then simply finalize your DVD-R. My Sonic DVDit does it anyway without further question.

Oops, now I see they write about CD-R. But they do twice, so I´m pretty sure it´s a typo.

[Angus]

You're quite right that often the cheaper machines using off the shelf components play the widest range of formats. My cheapo portable will even play an mpeg film burned to a CD and search for .jpg and .mpeg files on a CD with other data stored on it.

Having said that my experience with cheaper DVD players is that the performance is NOT as good as expensive ones, nor do they last as long....but at the prices we have now they are practically throwaway items anyway.

[mattias]

my experience with cheaper DVD players is that the performance is NOT as good as expensive ones

in what way? i'm most happy with mine. it even outputs progressive rgb and 5.1 audio.

nor do they last as long.

that's probably true. my main concern is that the drive is really loud, mechanically that is. click, click, whirr, click, tak, tak, click.

/matt