Been making some expensive coasters today (four).

My problem is I cannot test on my computer - PC is powerful enough to burn them but not powerful enough to play them (Pentium 4 @ 2.8GHz, 2GB RAM, Radeon X300 video card, monitor has 1600 X 900 max resolution).

Is there a minimum size for a BD-R? My project is very small (680 MB - not even one gig).

Project Properties I've tried:

Original rendered video is M2V (1920 X 1080), audio is AC3

Video:
Disc Format: Blu-ray disc
Video Format: I've tried both MPEG2 and AVC
Bit Rate: 18 Mbps
Aspect Ratio: 16 X 9
Resolution: 1920 X 1080
Frame Rate: 29.970 interlaced

Audio:
Audio Format: AC-3 Stereo
Bit Rate: 448 Kbps

Tried burning at lowest setting (only has 2x).

Any suggestions?

My fifth anniversary is coming up - I may ask wifey for a new PC.... sigh

It's possible you got a bad batch of discs. That's happened to me before. About half of them were unplayable.

Verbatims are usually very reliable, and Maxells are also great values.

It's unlikely the issue is with your computer or your software. It could be that your BluRay player is just picky about home-burneds. (Have you tested a disc on a friend's player?)

But, more often than not, it's the discs themselves that are the weak link in the chain.

Hi Steve -

The player is the Sony BDV-E770W home theater system which claims to be able to play BD-R discs (it touts the ability to play many formats in the specs).

I will try another brand of BD-R's but I have always liked Memorex DVD's and have never had a coaster from those.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Anyone else have a clue?

Bruce

Check your DVDA properties settings to make sure that is set for Blu-ray at 25.You could try burning some BD5's (Blu ray on DVD, Blu-ray setting at 4.7) while testing as DVDs make much cheaper coasters than BD-Rs. I had issues with my Pentium 4 and HD material; basically it was nearly impossible to work with avchd or hd files. The problems all went away when I upgraded to a new PC (core i7, 12 G Rarm) so your issue may be your source material if your Pentium could not produce a good file for DVDA to work with. So an upgrade may be necessary.

It really matters NOT what brand is on the box. Recordable media is a commodity and your box of Verbatim discs may be manufactured in Taiwan, and the box of Verbatim discs right next to it could have been made in China. You just can't tell from the information on the box. Run DVD Identifier on the media to determine who made them.

http://dvd.identifier.cdfreaks.com/my_site/download.php

Also, never, ever burn any disc at the fastest burn speed. You are probably guaranteed to make a coaster.

It seems the E770W is the problem - I went down to a local CompUSA and tried the discs on a laptop w/BluRay player and it worked fine.

Then tried on a couple of Sony BluRay players and all would not read the disc.

Then tried on a Panasonic and it too would not read the disc.

Then tried on a Vizio and viola - worked perfectly.

My next step is to contact Sony directly - All the specs (brochure, box and website) for the E770W say it plays BD-R's (and many other flavors) and since the Vizio plays it, it's gotta be a problem with the Sony BR players.

FWIW - I found out that the firmware version on my unit was very old. I updated it to the latest version (750) and while the internet now works well on the unit I still cannot view BD-R's on it.

Still hoping someone here can help.

It's odd that the discs play on some players though not the Sony (and you're right, according to specs the E770W should play everything).

Try burning not w/DVDA but instead with ImgBurn (freeware). Leave ImgBurn settings at default. If the disc burns without error, and you still have problems playing it, post the ImgBurn log here or at the ImgBurn forum.

OK - Latest entry to this saga is I spent 3 hours on the phone with three levels of Sony support. The last guy I spoke with told me the E770W would only play BD-R versions 1 or 2, not version 3 and referred me to the WIkipedia site for BD-R.

My blank BD-R's say they're 4X and according to that site, BD-R version 3 was the only one to handle 2X or higher.

So now my question is how can I get DVDA 5.0 to create version 1 or 2 discs?

BTW - This has really soured me on buying Sony products in the future... Well, maybe other than cameras and software - Certainly will be my last Sony player.

Which part of "try ImgBurn" did you not understand?

Depending on your burner, you should at least be able to try the 2x speed and see if that works.

The Ritek BD-Rs that I use (BR2-00) can be burned at 2x or 4x. I suspect the Memorex you have can be as well.

Max -

I did try ImgBurn @ 1X and still had the same problem - I believe the problem is the media - Even though I burned at 1X, the BD-R blanks I have (Memorex) are capable of up to 4X, which, according to Wikipedia, would have to be BD-R version 3 (anything 2x or higher is version 3)..

I'm in the process of looking for older (1X only) BD-R's to try.

Birdcat/Max

I think you can add me to the list of frustrated VMS purchasers.

I've just tried to play my first Blu Ray on my Sony BDP760 and the disc is not recognised. It plays fine in my PC BD drive.

I note that on page 75!!! of the 760 manual it states that the palyer supports ver 1.1,1.2 and 1.3 BD-R and I have a pack of BD-4x so if I understood correctly this means I need the player to be ver 2 complaint which it is not. I wonder if a firmware update exists?

An update.

I have a pack of Panasonic BD-R x4 which is noted on the pack to be version 1.2.

I also have a Panasonic BD-RE x2 which is noted as version 2.1.

I have a Sony Blu Ray Player which is allegedly able to play these versions.

My PC can play the discs burned using DVDAS. The Sony player can't.

Can anybody suggest some options for me please?

I'm going to try to see if I can play them on another BDR player.

Thanks

I did try ImgBurn @ 1X and still had the same problem - I believe the problem is the media - Even though I burned at 1X, the BD-R blanks I have (Memorex) are capable of up to 4X, which, according to Wikipedia, would have to be BD-R version 3 (anything 2x or higher is version 3).. I'm in the process of looking for older (1X only) BD-R's to try.
Interesting--I've never heard of "version" problems wrt BD-Rs before! Sounds like you know what you're doing; I can only ask: did you look at ImgBurn's log closely to verify that

1. Your drive is shown to be capable of the specific BD-R media speeds

2. You tried all the "legal" speeds (possibilities given your drive firmware and media speeds)

At least ImgBurn will show you what is possible, and iirc it also displays a warning e.g. if you try to burn a disc at a different speed than the drive/media combo is capable of.

Serious bummer that a SONY drive shouldn't be capable of the SONY standard!!!!!!!!!?!!!!

Hi Max -

I've made about a dozen coasters so far - three with ImgBurn. In each of the cases, the BD-R plays on just about all but Sony players.

I installed he very latest version of firmware on my unit so it's not that.

I am going to try some other media (BD-RE for example) and see if that works - It's just a problem looking for a single or three-pack that doesn't cost $10 a disc. All they seem to carry in the local stores are ten packs or higher and I really don't want to waste any more $$$ at this time - It's bad enough I wasted $700 on the E770W!

Hi Birdcat/Max

I'm still trying to burn a BD-R with DVDAS that will play in my Sony BDP-S760 too.

I purchased a Verbatim pack yesterday and on the front it said "LTH Type". So I put this in my new PC and the BD Drive disappeared from "My Computer" and the disc got stuck in it.

So beware buying this type of disc !!!! I don't think this type of disc is compatible with all drives.

I'm trying to avoid IMG Burn as its yet another program to download (I already have the Cyberlink Blu Ray Suite).

The shop I bought the Panny BD-R 10 pack from has kindly offered to send me a sample BD-R from another company to see if ti works on my player.

To pool the findings from the three of us would it be fair to say that:

1. We haven't got any Sony player to play a BD-R (whether burned with IMG or DVDAS)
2. I've got my Sony player to play a BD-RE burned in DVDAS
3. We three are concentrating on finding a Sony compatible BD-R.

With respect to 3 my fear is that we are barking up the wrong tree (because of my success with playing the BD-RE).

I keep saying to myself that DVDAS must be able to burn a Blu Ray because we'd have heard otherwise by now but I have a nagging doubt that this could be where the problem is.

Let me know how you get on and I'll do likewise.

I'm even tempted to ditch the whole Vegas suite and go with something else that works because burning and playing the BD is the final deliverable without which it's just a lot of wasted time and cash.

So, I've taken my two BD-R coasters to a place where I can check out some other BD players.

Result:

Phillips player played neither- just as the Sony then
The Panny player played one of the two BD-R's
The LG played both of them.

Can anybody make any sense of this please!!!

Thanks

I see two people in this thread who are having trouble. I frequent several websites where BD-R(ecordable) playback is discussed and no one else has trouble with Sony players (including myself) and numerous different types of media. In fact, this is the only place I have seen any rants against BD-R and Sony players (other than the Playstation, that is) which is why I posted at all.

Max I don't think I'm ranting. I'm just trying to get some help to burn and play back a disc!

I'm glad you have posted though because you've just answered a question I've asked on a new thread - whether anybody else plays BD-R using a Sony player.

Just wondered.

Thanks anyway

Well, you seem pretty agitated. Take a look at this thread topic

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=144674

It doesn't even address BD-R specifically "because it appears that the majority of players will play a BD-R fully with menus etc without any problems."

Yes this thread is about a different software program. I author BD using DVDAPro but burn exclusively with ImgBurn and my BD-R and DVD+R blu-ray programs play on my two players (a Sony and a LG). Never had any problems with either, and I've used 5 or 6 different kinds of discs and 3 different burners, though always ImgBurn for the burning process.

Interesting. There's hope!

However ....."though always ImgBurn for the burning process...." would imply that DVDAS as the "software burner" hasn't been tested so is that the issue?

Hi Max -

Sorry if I seem like I'm ranting - One of the main reasons I selected the E770W (if not the #1 reason) was it's ability to play BD-R's.

I've spoken to Sony support (first three levels so far) and to be told that the unit, while advertising it plays BD-Rs will only play older versions wasn't a crowd pleaser to me after plunking down $700 on the system. I could have gotten a much cheaper home theater system that doesn't have this problem but the E770W seemed like it had just about all the features I was looking for.

It also doesn't help that I opened an online support ticket a week ago and haven't heard squat other than the autoreply that told me to look in the knowledgebase.

I'm still a huge fan of Sony video cameras and software (all the Sony Creative stuff) - Just a tad soured on their consumer electronics after this.

BTW - I've never had a problem with DVD's (+/- R, RW) that were burned in DVDA - Going back to the Screenblast version I started with through Pro 5.0. They played everywhere. Just not the BD-R's and the Sony units I've tried.