The media is MPEG-2 (A DVDA stream) and the bitrate is 8.000. The audio bit rate is 0.192 (in AC-3).

No, by media, we mean the brand of DVDR disc you are burning to. There are free programs that will read the manfuacturer's ID off the disc, that's more significant than the branded name. Sellers such as Verbatim, TDK etc. may change their disc manufacturer, which can affect the quality of the discs. Many people on the forum only burn to Taiyo Yuden premium media, which is only slightly more expensive on a per disc basis.

First, burn from DVDA, not DVD Decrypter.

Second, DVD Decrypter can tell you what type (brand) of media you are using. I give you 95% confidence that the problem is that you are using lousy media. I would be very surprised if the problem is too high a bitrate (unless you exceed 8,000,000 bps average).

Most DVD blanks are really bad, and only a few brands are good Verbatim and Taiyo Yuden are the preferred brands. The later is the better of the two IMHO, and is only available online (I think).

To find the media ID using DVD Decryper, Mode -> ISO -> Read. You will get a screen something like this (the sample below is from a client DVD that happened to be in my drive, so don't take this to be a recommendation). The media is identified below as Disc ID: CMC MAG-M01-00. You can look this up at www.videohelp.com and see if others report problems with this media. SONY CD-RW CRX320E NYK5 (ATA)
Current Profile: DVD-ROM

Disc Information:
Status: Complete
Erasable: No
Sessions: 1
Sectors: 1,705,984
Size: 3,493,855,232 bytes
Time: 379:08:34 (MM:SS:FF)

Physical Format Information (Last Recorded):
Disc ID: CMC MAG-M01-00
Book Type: DVD-ROM
Part Version: 1
Disc Size: 120mm
Maximum Read Rate: Not Specified
Number of Layers: 1
Track Path: Parallel Track Path (PTP)
Linear Density: 0.267 um/bit
Track Density: 0.74 um/track
First Physical Sector of Data Area: 196,608
Last Physical Sector of Data Area: 1,902,591
Last Physical Sector in Layer 0: 0

Ahh, I see. The DVD brand I'm using is a Memorex DVD-R. Here's the media associated with it....


TSSTcorp CD/DVDW TS-H552D GA01 (ATA)
Current Profile: DVD-R

Disc Information:
Status: Empty
Erasable: No
Free Sectors: 2,298,496
Free Space: 4,707,319,808 bytes
Free Time: 510:48:46 (MM:SS:FF)
Supported Write Speeds: 4x, 8x, 12x, 16x

Pre-recorded Information:
Manufacturer ID: RITEKF1

Physical Format Information (Last Recorded):
Disc ID: 0@P-!-00
Book Type: DVD-R
Part Version: 5
Disc Size: 120mm
Maximum Read Rate: Not Specified
Number of Layers: 1
Track Path: Parallel Track Path (PTP)
Linear Density: 0.267 um/bit
Track Density: 0.74 um/track
First Physical Sector of Data Area: 196,608
Last Physical Sector of Data Area: 0
Last Physical Sector in Layer 0: 0

Do you guys suggest getting a different brand? And if so, how hard is it to find the brands you guys reccomended?

Not really answering you question directly, but my experience is that the best compatibility with older players comes from using DVD+R discs with the booktype set to DVD-ROM. Unfortunately, not all drives allow setting of the booktype on this type of disc.

Whatever you do you won't get discs that will play well (or at all) on all old players.

Mike

The DVD brand I'm using is a Memorex DVD-RYup, that's probably your problem. Memorex -- a great old name from the tape days -- sells some of the worst blank DVDs out there.

Here's a link to the videohelp.com page for your media:

RITEKF1 Media

Here's a link to at least one person's recommendations on what media to use:

DigitalFAQ

Your media is listed as "2nd class" media (there is a lower category of "landfill" media).

Well then it looks like I'm gonna go buy some Verbatim discs. Are they easy to find, or will I have to order online?

You should order online, and you should order Taiyo Yuden.

What Terje said. The cost per disc shipped tor TY will likely be close to what you'd pay for Verbatim in a B&M store. IMO, paying the extra nickel or so per disc is a nobrainer. Check meritline or supermediastore as an online source, I've ordered from both with no problems.

This is exactly what I order:

Taiyo Yuden Premium Line 8X DVD-R Media 4.7GB White Inkjet Hub Printable

I have ordered these perhaps ten times in the past few years. Not one bad disc, and not one return, and I've sent them to hundreds of different people.

Yup, I've used thousands of the exact same TY DVD-Rs in the past few years without problems.

I get them from www.rima.com.

Though if you are printing onto the DVDs, spend the extra few cents for TY watershield - the difference in appearance between those and the regular TY printable discs is stunning.

Well, I just got some Verbatikm discs. I plan to order the TY DVDs when these run oout. Thanks alot guys!

Regarding Memorex discs on your burner:

I just burned through 100 Memorex DVD+R on the same burner as yours and had 100% success. No glitches, no coasters.

One thing I always do is back off one speed setting when burning; if the disc is 16X, I burn at 12X, even though I've burned several test DVDs at full speed with no problems.

I just burned through 100 Memorex DVD+R on the same burner as yours and had 100% success. No glitches, no coasters.One thing you should do -- actually EVERYONE should do -- is use DVD Speed to test the results of your burns. This is by far the best way to tell whether one media works better than another.

The difference in burn quality between poor media -- and I am sorry to say that Memorex is typically the worst there is -- and great media like Taiyo-Yuden or Verbatim is H-U-G-E. The error rate is often 100:1 worse. This means that your player must correct far more errors during playback and, at some point, will not be able to correct and you will get glitches or freezes during playback.

Thus, you can often play back the results from burning on lousy media, if you happen to have a good burner and good DVD player, but you may very well be on the hairy edge of not being able to play. If that same poor disc is then put into a marginal DVD player, or it you wait a few years until the disc ages a little, you may find out that it now starts to hesitate on playback.

So, to everyone who reads this, every time you get a new box of media, ALWAYS test the first disc using DVD Speed (or a similar utility).

P.S. This testing program only works on some DVD burners or players, so you may have to use a different computer that has a compatible DVD drive. Also, ALWAYS use the same burner/player for the test, because you get different results on each drive. Finally, use the same speed setting for the test (4x is the standard used by most people who report results at places like videohelp.com, afterdawn.com, and club.cdfreaks.com).

I also only burn to ISO images using DVDA. Then I use the best burning software out there IMGBURN. And the best disks out there, TY. I don't think I've had one failure in three years.

I will second IMGBURN. I have used a dozen pieces of burning software (including the software provided by drive manufacturers), and all produced coasters or discs with glitches. IMGBURN has never produced a coaster in the past year I've been using it -- and I burn hundreds of CDs and DVDs on internal and external drives. I'm not usually one to jump in and recommend software, but IMGBURN works brilliantly.

Now to keep this on topic (glitches), I had used the previous version of DVDA and it always produced subtle audio glitches. I've hesitated to start using 4.5 and still use the old ULead DVD MovieFactory 4 because, despite its ugly options, the audio is clean and reliable. Has anyone experienced audio glitches produced by early version of DVDA, and are they gone in 4.5?

Thanks,
Dennis

The link in JohnMeyer's post above is a good resource. I have had a lot of problems until I found that page and downloaded the free software DVD Identifier. I was buying Ritek and lately about half to 2/3 are bad depending on which burner I use, so the burner does matter but the media is crucial. I live in the sticks to can't buy much local, have to order online and so far have good luck with Verbatim. I bought some TDK in the store which turned out to really be CMC, which is crap, and returned it. The Sony's are sold locally and are the good ones. This is one time when you get what you pay for.