I have been making DVDs (DVD-R) with DVD Arch1 that will play in many DVD players, but not in others. It will play on my computer, my home DVD player and about 1/2 of the DVD players belonging to the people I give them to. Anyone know what I could be doing wrong?
1) Does the DVD player support burned DVDs. For instance, I have an older Panasonic home DVD player which will not play anything burned, DVDs or CDs. Just store bought.
2) Does the DVD player support the format you burned your DVD to? For instance, if you burned to +R, does the player support that or just -R and vice versa.
Some DVD players just don't play writable disks. Some only support -R, some only +R. If you buy one right now, more than likely it will read anything you throw at it. I just bought a DVD player for $35 at Sam's Club and it reads writable disks just fine. My brother-in-law has a $300, 5 DVD changer at home, and his won't read the DVD's I give him.
Chances are, if you can get the DVD's you make to work in at least one DVD player, you're not doing anything wrong, it's just an old player.
If your DVD writer firmware allows it, set the BookType=DVD-ROM to maximimize DVD video player compatibility. Third party DVD writing software like Nero allows BookType control, should your particular DVD writer's firmware allow user control of the BookType field.