I have also found that it is not the software package, but the brand of discs, brand of burner, brand of player that seem to be the dominant factor in selecting whether a disc will play or not.

My best level of success is with DVD+R discs, force the disc type to DVD-ROM and use discs with a slight purple colour to them

I use only Ritek Ink Jet Printable DVD -R Single Layer DVDs and have had no problem using them at all.

Make sure the DVD player supports the media you are using. For instance, if you are using -R discs, then make sure your DVD player can play -R media and vice versa for +R discs.

I just recently bought a new Samsung DVD Dual Layer DVD burner for my computer. It came with Nero 6 software, which allows me to set the book type to DVD-ROM when burning my discs. This feature is a thing of beauty as it allows me to play my burned discs in our old Panasonic home DVD player which does not support burned DVDs or CDs.

My original Sony DVD burner did not support setting the book type which then left me with trying to find out which type of media my customers DVD players supported.

Al

Thanks for everybodys input!

I am new to the whole video editing/creation and DVD process. I guess I was rather niave in thinking that creating DVDs would be as easy as creating CDs.

Here is what I have to work with:

HP a1320n, P4, 3.06ghz, 1meg ram, 200meg hd, WIN-XP home sp2
Lite-on 16x DVD(+/-)R/RW (+/-)R DL SHW-16H5S LightScribe drive
Movie Studio+DVD v4.0 build 42

After digging through the documentation for my pc, I ran across a DVD compatibility guide which indicates that DVD-ROM is the most compatible for playing in home DVD players. Unfortunately, it states that a DVD-ROM disk cannot be created with this drive. The compatibility for all other types of DVD disks with home DVD players "varies by model". I have been using Memorex DVD+R disks and DVD-R disks with limited success.

(1) Is the creation of DVD-ROM disks hardware or software controlled?

(2) If it is hardware controlled, should I invest in a new drive that supports DVD-ROM and if so, what is the best brand for creating the most compatible DVDs?

(3) If it is software controlled, do I need to invest in another software package that can burn the prepared files straight to DVD and if so, what is the best software for doing that?

(4) The documentation also refers to "(+/-)R DL". How does that differ from "(+/-)R/RW"?

I have created a video project for a Pearl Harbor survivor that I need to send out about 2 dozen DVDs with no idea what model of DVD players they will be played on. Any help will be much appreciated.

Thanks again,

Tony

DVD-ROM refers to the booktype on the DVD; each DVD has a field that tells the player what type of disk it is playing. As such, commercially stamped DVD's have a DVD-ROM booktype, -R's have a -R booktype, +R's have a +R booktype and so forth.

-R media does not allow you to change the booktype. +R media will allow you to change the booktype if you have a burner that also allows this and burning software that can do this. LG burners and Nero are usually a good combination, but to be sure on the burner, go to www.cdrinfo.com and check out the optical storage reviews - each review tells whether the burner allows changing of the booktype. Once you have a burner that allows this, then you need to enable that option in the burning prferences for the device in Nero.

DL refers to Double Layer - +R DL and -R DL each have their own booktype; if you're going to play with DL, I would suggest +R DL since it also allows you to change the booktype which will significantly increase compatability.

RW refers to phase-change or re-writeable media, again, rewriteable has its own booktypes.

In general, -R disks have about 90% compatability with players. +R has probably around 80%, +R with a booktype of DVD-ROM approaches (based on my experience) 100%, but still you can find players with issues (not usually related to booktype but do to things like bitrate and bitrate spikes).

Players older than 3-4 years old have more problems playing -R or +R than most newer players. As such, sometimes the only thing you can do is suggest that a newer player purchase should be contemplated.

--Scott

Scott,

Thanks for the info. This forum has been a great learning tool. It is a shame that more of this type of information isn't included in the VMS documentation. I checked out my dvd burner with cdrinfo.com and it does not write dvd-rom disks. Can you recommend a good drive capable of burning dvd-rom disks. Also, does the latest version of Sony Movie Studio support dvd-rom? If not, will both Nero (v?) and Roxio (v?) allow the book type to be changed and which is the easiest to use? One last question, is the dvd-rom more compatible with the older players?

Thanks,

Tony

Have a look at the LiteOn forum over at www.cdfreaks.com. The review for your drive states that it supports auto-bitsetting. This means that +R discs will automatically be written and flagged as DVD-ROM.

[Quote]
The Lite-On SHW-16H5S supports auto bitsetting, via burn applications such as Nero, and supports DVD+R/RW/DL media with DVD-ROM book type.

Here is how you could check if your discs are really written with DVD-ROM book type:

Start Nero CD-DVD Speed and click the Disc info button
[End Quote]

LiteOn make excellent drives, so you really shouldn't be having major problems. Check that yo have the latest firmware installed - yo can download it from the LiteOn website.

Regards,

Worley

Thanks for the info! Now, how do I go about determining what firmware release I have on my burner? Also, I know that Nero v7 is out now. Is there any advantage of using v7 over v6? Will Nero allow me to burn directly from my VMS prepared video and audio files?

Thanks again!

Nero will tell you which firmware release you have (Recorder / Choose recorder) or you can get hold of the latest firmware and try to install it - the installers will only update the firmware if it's needed.

Ian G.

I purchased Nero V7 and did a check on my Lite-On DVDRW drive and it showed firmware level "LP93". I then went to the LITE-On site and downloaded the latest firmware (Apr 06) update. When I attempted to install it, the following error message was returned.

"No match detected. Utility only for Lite-On DVDRW SHW-16H5S drive. Detected drive 4-0-0-0 E:Lite-On DVDRW SHW-16H5S LP93."

Is there something special about drives with firmware "LP93"?

I also downloaded and ran the Book Set utility with a +R disc and "DVD-ROM" did not show up as an option. From earlier posts, my drive should support auto-bitsetting. Can anybody tell me how to change the book type with Nero V7?

This is getting very frustrating. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Tony

Did the DVD drive come with your computer purchase, or was it an add-on after-market? If it came with your purchase, HP has most likely flashed their own version of the firmware onto the drive, so you'll need to go to the HP web site for any firmware upgrades. Also be aware that if the HP manual says the burner does not support changing the booktype for +R single layer media, then they have likely crippled the firmware to disallow this.

BY default this drive should auto set the book type to DVD-ROM for +R double layer media.

In Nero, if the drive allows the booktype to be changed, launch Nero Burning Rom, then on the recorder... drop down, select the recorder. From memory, If there's a button that says something like "booktype" on the lower left of the dialog box, then you can change the booktype - if no button, then the drive doesn't allow this..

--Scott

Scott,

The DVDRW drive did come with the system and it appears that you are correct about HP disabling the firmware code to allow changing booktypes. Thanks for the tip. You saved me from pulling out the rest of my hair. It looks like my next step is to add another DVDRW drive.

Follow up question here, guys:

If I buy a Lite-On drive :

http://us.liteonit.com/us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=157&Itemid=67&limit=1&limitstart=1

I guess it comes with Nero Express, right? Is that sufficient for changing the booktype of a DVD+R to DVD-ROM? Or do I have to buy the full version of Nero?

Seems there's no simple version of Nero. It's $80 for this super-ultra-lot-of-stuff-I-don't-need version. Kinda silly. Why not just have the burning software?

FYI,

I was having some issues with certain DVD's with my Lite-On and since using the SONY DVD-RW I have not had any issues. They have worked in several different manufactures type DVD machines.

I also tried to update the firmware but the latest version was still many years old. Older than my drive.