Insights, observations, head-scratchers....
From responses to my thread "DVD-R won't play anymore?" and a similar one about a DVD hanging at random spots, I got some ideas to try. I'll share my results
Our Sony DVD player started hanging and pixellating on DVD-Rs that it had played just fine, before. A response to my post indicated that Sony DVD players tend to glitch after a while. A note in its manual about "Disks to avoid" mentioned any DVDs with stickers or tape on them. Our worst-playing DVD-Rs had DVD labels put on them, and the DVD-Rs that it played better had no labels. Odd, but real. Still under warranty, getting the Sony serviced would mean shipping it to a Sony service center, and including some of the DVD-Rs that it didn't like. It would take 3 or 4 weeks, "or so." We started shopping for a replacement, not made by Sony. The current Sony was a replacement for a previous Sony that quit working entirely.
The JVC XVN50BK player that we use upstairs plays all the DVD-Rs that we've thrown at it, old or new, with labels or not. Although it has progressive scan output, it's kind of a low-end player. However, it does work very well.
I read an excellent, highly-technical review of the Pioneer DV-563AS. It has higher quality video and audio output than less expensive players, it specifically claims to play DVD-Rs, and it will also play DVD-Audio and SACD disks. We got one. It looked much better and sounded much better than what we'd gotten used to. It also glitched on the first DVD-R that we put into it.
In the other thead I mentioned, I saw discussion of recording DVD-Rs at 1x, rather than 2x or 4x, so we tried that. It made a difference! I mean, it fixed the problem, for now. The DVD-R cut at 1x played flawlessly in the Pioneer.
I've found three sets of variables that could be affecting what disks play well in a consumer DVD player:
1. Whether or not it has a DVD label stuck to it. This is easy to test - I'll retest the new DVD-R that we cut at 1x, make sure it is still playing right, and then stick a label on it. Will it still play?
2. On the Sony and Pioneer, the DVD-Rs that had the most problems were the ones that had been played a *lot*. (These also were the ones with labels.) Will a frequently-played DVD-R degrade over time? This will take time and play-cycles to answer. The possibility will probably result in us archiving DVD directories that we really like.
3. The *one* DVD-R that we cut at 1x seems to play perfectly. None of the ones cut at 2x or 4x do. This is a really small sample size, but I think I'll take the minor extra time to cut my DVDs at 1x, from now on.
The only solid conclusion that I have so far is that the JVC XVN50BK has excellent compatibility, the Pioneer is finicky, and the Sony's have been unreliable. Reasons are unknown, but I have some interesting hypotheses to test.
Comments?
Peyton
From responses to my thread "DVD-R won't play anymore?" and a similar one about a DVD hanging at random spots, I got some ideas to try. I'll share my results
Our Sony DVD player started hanging and pixellating on DVD-Rs that it had played just fine, before. A response to my post indicated that Sony DVD players tend to glitch after a while. A note in its manual about "Disks to avoid" mentioned any DVDs with stickers or tape on them. Our worst-playing DVD-Rs had DVD labels put on them, and the DVD-Rs that it played better had no labels. Odd, but real. Still under warranty, getting the Sony serviced would mean shipping it to a Sony service center, and including some of the DVD-Rs that it didn't like. It would take 3 or 4 weeks, "or so." We started shopping for a replacement, not made by Sony. The current Sony was a replacement for a previous Sony that quit working entirely.
The JVC XVN50BK player that we use upstairs plays all the DVD-Rs that we've thrown at it, old or new, with labels or not. Although it has progressive scan output, it's kind of a low-end player. However, it does work very well.
I read an excellent, highly-technical review of the Pioneer DV-563AS. It has higher quality video and audio output than less expensive players, it specifically claims to play DVD-Rs, and it will also play DVD-Audio and SACD disks. We got one. It looked much better and sounded much better than what we'd gotten used to. It also glitched on the first DVD-R that we put into it.
In the other thead I mentioned, I saw discussion of recording DVD-Rs at 1x, rather than 2x or 4x, so we tried that. It made a difference! I mean, it fixed the problem, for now. The DVD-R cut at 1x played flawlessly in the Pioneer.
I've found three sets of variables that could be affecting what disks play well in a consumer DVD player:
1. Whether or not it has a DVD label stuck to it. This is easy to test - I'll retest the new DVD-R that we cut at 1x, make sure it is still playing right, and then stick a label on it. Will it still play?
2. On the Sony and Pioneer, the DVD-Rs that had the most problems were the ones that had been played a *lot*. (These also were the ones with labels.) Will a frequently-played DVD-R degrade over time? This will take time and play-cycles to answer. The possibility will probably result in us archiving DVD directories that we really like.
3. The *one* DVD-R that we cut at 1x seems to play perfectly. None of the ones cut at 2x or 4x do. This is a really small sample size, but I think I'll take the minor extra time to cut my DVDs at 1x, from now on.
The only solid conclusion that I have so far is that the JVC XVN50BK has excellent compatibility, the Pioneer is finicky, and the Sony's have been unreliable. Reasons are unknown, but I have some interesting hypotheses to test.
Comments?
Peyton