Can someone from SOFO answer this????

clearvu wrote on 6/27/2003, 5:18 PM
THere are many posts about issues with 4x DVD burners. It seems there are various problems with DVDA using this media.

Is there in fact an issue that we all should be aware of? Is anyone NOT experiencing problems?

In my case, I can not burn disk with DVDA that play on anything. I can use the files that DVDA makes with a third party software and everything is ok. However, I should NOT have to do this as it is part of why I purchased DVDA.

Please respond.

THanks.

Comments

dvdude wrote on 6/28/2003, 8:30 AM
I have a minor issue with DVD-A and 4x +R's that doesn't seem to affect the end result.

2 weeks ago, I distributed 40 memorex 4x DVD+R's that were mastered in DVD-A although most were burned using RecordNow DX.

My phone number is on all the case inserts as I anticipated having issues. To date, only 1 person has had a problem. I burned another copy to the same media and the problem persisted (Panasonic CP-67 changer I think) so I genned another using Sony DVD-R media and that worked okay.

A 2.5 percent failure rate doesn't seem so bad really (particularly as that was a media compatibility issue).

Andy
clearvu wrote on 6/29/2003, 9:33 PM
The main problem that I'm seeing is that while DVDA indicates a successful burn, when I play the DVD on my TV player, is seems to work fine up to a certain point only.

For example, in one case, I had a DVD with 10 chapters. 1-7 worked fine, after that the player locked up. I tried the DVD on my computer and the same thing happened.

The disk doesn't seem to allow access to anything over chapter 7, even when attempting to do so via "scene selection".

However, when I take the same files that DVDA is using to burn a DVD, and I burn a DVD with Nero, all worked fine.

So, from what I can tell, DVDA is certainly doing something wrong.

Again, is there an issue with DVDA in buring DVD's with a 4X drive? This problem did not exist when I had a 2.4X drive.

Brian
philfort wrote on 6/30/2003, 12:45 AM
I just tried, for the first time, a DVD I burned with DVDA at 4x on my HP 300i, on a set-top player today, and it worked fine, played the whole way through. Used Memorex media. FWIW.
clearvu wrote on 6/30/2003, 6:59 AM
Can you elaborate on what your DVD consisted of? eg. chapters? how many? how many video clips? etc...
dvdude wrote on 6/30/2003, 9:30 AM
In my case, the DVD contained 8 chapters, all 8 are accessible.

Andy
rwizard wrote on 6/30/2003, 9:03 PM
A few days ago I burned three copies of a dvd master, authored in vegas / dvda burned with nero on pioneer a05.

1x plays fine (pioneer disc)
2x plays fine (verbatum disc)
4x has problem playing (meritline disc)

The problem is that the program freezes on the screen. No hits or sync loss, it just stops, and sometimes continues after a pause. Going back past the point and playing again will not result in the same freeze at the same spot.

I master at 8 cbr and have never seen this problem before burning 4x.

It looks as if the sony dvd player is filling a buffer for output then stopping.

Could this be why 4x discs as so slow coming to market? I have no idea and can't say I'm particularly interested other than wishing those turning out discs and burners would communicate more fully with purchasers.

Richard




clearvu wrote on 6/30/2003, 9:37 PM
So, overall, there somehow SEEMS TO BE a problem with 4X disk. The problem seems to vary but I can certainly see a pattern.

Where exactly the fault lies, I'm not sure.

I too can successfully burn a 1x, & 2.4 disk. I originally had a 1x burner, and then a 2.4X and now I have a 4x. Every other burner has been fine. The 4x one is giving me problems. However, it does NOT seem to be a problem with the burner itself, but seems to point to the software. Why else can I burn successfully with software other than DVDA? To me it seems clear that DVDA is having trouble with 4x disks.

By the way, since SONY has taken over, SOFO people seem to have vanished. Are they still around? It seems that they aren't posting things or responding to issues anymore.

Brian
philfort wrote on 6/30/2003, 9:59 PM
-intro media
-5 menus, one with music
-4 clips, one of which had 13 chapters
-everything was DV avi, and I let DVDA render it to mpeg2.

It did just flake out on randomly on my DVD-ROM drive though. PowerDVD just "hung" after 10 or 15 minutes. I closed it down, popped out the disc, tried again, and played about 30 minues of the disc no problem.
This has happened with 2.4x burns too though... I think DVDA has issues burning in general - the resulting discs don't work as well as commercial DVDs - but I haven't noticed any difference between 2.4x and 4x.
SonyEPM wrote on 7/1/2003, 10:16 AM
Sony hasn't taken over (yet).

For best results, with maximum player compatibility, we advise burning at 1x. Same thing with CD masters- 1x is preferred.
Bear wrote on 7/1/2003, 11:32 AM
I burn at 1 x even though I have a Sony dru500a. Have burned at 2 x using verbatim with no problem but fee to give the customer the best quality I will continue to burn at 1 x
clearvu wrote on 7/1/2003, 10:43 PM
Nice to see that someone from SOFO is still there. Thanks for responding.

You bring an interesting point up. I thought that burning at faster speed was just that, FASTER burning speed. Is there a difference with quality? Is there a difference with the end result of the disk, namely better player compatibilty?

Did I just waste my money buying a 4X burner when I should not burn at that speed?

Please clarify.
BillyBoy wrote on 7/3/2003, 9:14 AM
The real issue is are you making a MASTER, from which many other discs will be made or are you simply making a copy or two? If the former, generally a slower speed is better only because there is less change of introducing problems mainly in the audio portion. I'm trying not to write a long response, so for more specifics do a web search on CD burning speed which has similar issues according to some people. For normal conditions a faster burning speed should work fine. I have an older model that runs at 2.4X and I've had no problems at all with any disc burned at that speed, but I'm haven't used as a master.
clearvu wrote on 7/3/2003, 9:48 AM
I was actually told by a retail sales person and HP themselves that 2.4X is the maximum speed one should burn DVD's at. That's probably why you haven't encountered any problems.


Brian