OT: Comparing burned DVD version to Original

bazooka13 wrote on 4/26/2006, 9:29 AM
I am trying to find out if there is anyway to compare a final burned DVD disk to the original file without having to watch it to make sure there is nothing wrong with the burned copy. I have to burn about 20 copies of a hour long dvd and that would kill me time wise. Anyone have any suggestions?

Comments

ScottW wrote on 4/26/2006, 9:53 AM
If you burn with Nero you can select the verification option, and Nero will do a comparison of the DVD contents to the source files after the burn.

As long as you are using quality media it probably is not necessary to compare every single copy, and a lot of times the burner will detect if there are any major issues during the burning process.

--Scott
DavidMcKnight wrote on 4/26/2006, 9:59 AM
Question about that and burn speeds - a lot of talk has gone back and forth about 2x vs 4x vs 8x in regards to compatibility and such; as long as the verify comes back ok, does it really matter what speed you burn at?
John_Cline wrote on 4/26/2006, 10:20 AM
As Scott Pointed out, Nero has a "Verify" option that will compare the DVD to the original file. This can only be done right after the burn phase. If you'd like to burn and then compare the discs later, check out this free utility:

CD Check

CD Check is also useful for comparing two files or a set of files in separate folders as well. While CD Check can be downloaded for free for personal use, if you're using it for business, then a license is suggested and the fee is quite reasonable.

John
Former user wrote on 4/26/2006, 10:37 AM
Nero also comes with some CD/DVD checking utilities called CDSPEED.

Dave T2
craftech wrote on 4/26/2006, 11:20 AM
You would also be wize to burn a single copy and play it in as many different DVD players as you can access. Visit some people with the DVD and try it out on their sets.

Nero can't "verify" compatibility.

John
bazooka13 wrote on 4/26/2006, 11:58 AM
Thanks for all of the tips and suggestions. These will be very useful to me this weekend.
johnmeyer wrote on 4/26/2006, 4:34 PM
Question about that and burn speeds - a lot of talk has gone back and forth about 2x vs 4x vs 8x in regards to compatibility and such; as long as the verify comes back ok, does it really matter what speed you burn at?

There are really two independent questions here. First, the verify function merely verifies that the information read back from the DVD matches the original source. However, it does NOT give you any information on how many errors happened during the process of reading the disk. Remember, any media -- but particularly CDs and DVDs -- includes a tremendous amount of redundant information so that simple missing bits (from a fleck of dust or fingerprint, for example) can be reconstructed from the missing information. Virtually every read from optical media includes errors that are automatically corrected. Thus, by the time a verify operation fails, you've got REALLY BIG problems.

What the CD/DVD Speed and similar utilities do is actually look at the raw data coming from the disk, before error correction, and gives you some idea of how many errors have been corrected and therefore how good or bad your disk is. I HIGHLY recommend you get this free utility (CD/DVD Speed). You can then test burns at different speeds, burns on different media, and even burns on different DVD burners, if you have more than one.

This leads to your second question about burn rates. Here is a link to a thread where that was discussed:

Does bitrate and burn speed affect DVD compatibility?

With good media, I believe you should burn at the fastest speed your media and burner support (although if your media is 8x and Nero offers to burn at 16x, I'd stick with the 8x). Using the utility, you can determine this for yourself with your own setup and your favorite media.

DavidMcKnight wrote on 4/26/2006, 4:41 PM
Excellent! Thanks John.
DavidMcKnight wrote on 4/26/2006, 6:24 PM
johnmeyer - stupid question time. Which of the plethora of tests do you use? ScanDisc seems the obvious choice.

Do you have a Nero CD/DV Speed "Recipe"?

thanks,
David
johnmeyer wrote on 4/26/2006, 6:33 PM
Which of the plethora of tests do you use? ScanDisc seems the obvious choice.

Scandisc offers no value in determining the quality of a DVD burn. I use the CD/DVD Speed utility I linked to earlier. The other favorite is DVD Info.
riredale wrote on 4/26/2006, 7:30 PM
John, I think he was refering to the "ScanDisk" tab on CD/DVD Speed.

I like looking at the "Disk Quality" tab data, just because it shows so much information. Problem is, a disk that looks pretty bad on that test actually plays pretty well usually. It's because there are so many error-correction levels.

Many times when you see a DVD burner review they will run an error-rate test such as the one done by the Disk Quality tab, but they also will run a read speed test such as the one done by the "Benchmark" tab. This is because what matters is not so much the number of errors, but whether the volume of errors forces the DVD reader to really slow down in order to re-read that portion of the disk. If the read speed slows down too much, you get skips and hesitation in DVD-Video playback.

But in general I'd be happy with a disk that gets a 70+ on the "Quality" score (Disk Quality tab, lower-right corner).
johnmeyer wrote on 4/26/2006, 9:08 PM
John, I think he was refering to the "ScanDisk" tab on CD/DVD Speed.

Oops, you're absolutely right.

I use the Disk Quality tab.
DavidMcKnight wrote on 4/26/2006, 9:23 PM
Thanks guys.

RITEKG05: 97