Skipping chapters causes freeze up on some players

Bigglesvideo2nd wrote on 5/24/2015, 6:55 AM

I have a problem with a recently made DVD that has been distributed whereby a small number of people have issues when skipping chapters. Initially the sound and picture go out of sync but if you wait a while it does resolve itself. The problem seems to be when multiple quick advances are made or by selecting a later chapter on the disc menu, the picture freezes and the audio goes! As I said, it's only a problem on a small number of players so far! Any clues?

Comments

Steve Grisetti wrote on 5/24/2015, 8:25 AM

This is more likely an issue with the disc itself rather than an issue with DVD Architect's transcoding.

In my book (on Amazon)I recommend for best results:
1) Use only quality discs, like Verbatim, and stay away from bargain basement discs with names like Memorex.
2) Rather than burning discs directly from DVD Architect. use DVD Arch to make Prepared Files, and note their location on your computer. Then use a program like the great, free ImgBurn to burn the folder or ISO Prepared Files to a disc. ImgBurn has two advantages: a) it can scale back burn speed to give you a higher quality burn and, b) it has an option to Verify your disc after burn, virtually guaranteeing a near-perfect disc every time.
3) Never make a copy of a disc to duplicate a disc. Use the original Prepared Files, as described above, so that each disc is an original.

videoITguy wrote on 5/24/2015, 10:01 AM

The actual cause of the behavior the OP describes is likely from one of the following:

1: Poor quality media choice, be sure it is write once only disc type - not RW

2: Bit-rate choice is not optimal during the burn - likely the avg is too high and should be lowered a fraction

Once 1 and 2 are fixed - then burn at no-greater than 4x-8x speed choice of specific media

Bigglesvideo2nd wrote on 5/24/2015, 10:11 AM

Thanks for the reply Steve, I should have mentioned that this project was duplicated from my master by a well known duplicating firm that I have had no problems with in the past. They do use quality discs which is why I'm scratching my head! I have sent an email to the company to get some possible answers but I thought that I would check with other DVD Architect users to see if there was a known problem. Out of 200 discs only half a dozen or so are affected so a majority of DVD players don't seem to have an issue, it's just that with previous projects we have had a 100% success rate!

videoITguy wrote on 5/24/2015, 12:27 PM

Replication media and processes introduce a whole set of issues different from one-off.

You could still be submitting a master that has to high an average bit-rate. This is very likely from your end.

But since you introduce replication facility and minor run errors - let the problem fall on their shoulders for now.

PeterDuke wrote on 5/26/2015, 1:34 AM

Do multiple copies of your disc misbehave in the same way with a recalcitrant DVD player? If so then it would indicate an incompatibility problem. If not then it would indicate a disc creation problem.

dxdy wrote on 6/9/2015, 6:56 AM

Have you been able to determine the make, model and age of each of the balky players? Some of my clients have truly ancient players.

Having said that, I usually burn at no more than 8.8Mb/s, and use only TY media. Since using TY, I have never had a return.

videoITguy wrote on 6/9/2015, 8:21 PM

Burning discs and replication of discs are very different processes that each bring their own set of problems to a quality control.
YOU cannot compare them, and it seems spurious methodology to seek out bad hardware as the culprit in the consumer players...don't bother. If the player is old it is old.