OT: DVD Recording/playback

JR, Unfortunately, this is a common problem and can be caused either during recording or playback. The problem could be either tracking, wow and flutter or signal to noise ratio. You can do nothing about any of them after buying, but doing tests before you purchase is a really good idea. There is a bit of a salvation though. This can be improved by using better quality media. The bad part is you never know whch DVD is better, without testing and that can be pot luck even within the same brand, because it's batch related. The difference is in the sputtering, so pay attention to both brands and colors. You will find a flavor that will work best. Steve

Ok, we'll all top post!

I have an inexpensive recorder - a Pye. So far, everthing I've recorded plays on all the players in the house. And on the computers.

I get one (infrequently) that has problems, but it's rare.

I use whatever disks were cheapest at the time.

The recorder is set to 4 hour format - which may lose some detail, but since most were recorded from VHS, no big deal.

The next big trick is to get them stored on an external hard drive so we have movies on the boat!

Richard

Steve Lusardi wrote:

I've had problems with one low volume video product bought and supplied on recordable DVD getting corrupted in about a year with little viewing. It would no longer play reliably on my normal DVD player that had played them fine before, and about 5 out of 6 DVD readers or writers I have also had issues, 1 newest writer managed a complete read so allowed a copies to be made. Some research showed that DVD-R was a poor format for reliability and longevity compared to DVD+R and although the vendor insisted the DVDs were of the highest quality the 4 out of 6 were DVD-R and 3 out of 6 were deemed 2nd rate, 2 out of the 3 being of a brand known for degradation problems. The research showed that info is present on the DVDs and can be read to show the manufacturer ID and other information such as the burning software in some cases. That manufacturer ID was the info that showed the discs weren't from the maker stated.

I have a newer Sony upconverting DVD that is very picky. I suspect it is some sort of digital rights management Sony is using to screw consumers.

I did quite a bit of searching for reliable info on media quality/reliability and retention, after reading about poor quality archiving/backup media here in RCM (so there are probably others that have or will have these questions eventually).

Nearly all of the info I found stated a few common practices:

- use a disk identifier feature of the burner software (or separate software) to see the actual maker and characteristics of the media, and check lists that are available to see if the disks are worthwhile for archiving valuable data.

- always record at about half of the speed rating of the media, if the disks are rated 12X, then select 6X in the burning software (think sears horsepower numbers).

- many sources indicated that Taiyo Yuden is the best brand of disk, made in Japan, and that the best place to buy them in the U.S.A. (to avoid counterfeit disks) is SuperMediaStore.com

A couple of sites for info (or search DVD quality retention or similar terms)

As far as the video signal dropout situations, it's probably best to use an electronic signal enhancer device between the source and recorder. One of my cheap consumer DVD recorder/player decks will display an error, something like "low video signal level" when copying from video tape and even from another DVD source. Signal enhancers are intended to keep the input signal above a specific minimum level.

WB ......... metalworking projects

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sorry old habit, hard to break for me. ...

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This is the way to go. I've got about 2 terabytes on hard drive. Use

to copy to hard disk and Nero for playback. No more lost DVDs, no more DVDs that won't play.

Now I am needing some sort of database of movies I have. it would be really neat to bring up a synopsis, the stars, etc. with each movie.

Karl

If you're always on the internet why not put links in your database to retrieve the info from the IMDb.

strip the info from there and build your database. Karl

Maybe that accounts for my sucess?

I forgot to mention the GoDVD box between player and recorder. (sheepish grin)

I couldn't understand why people were having such problems. Forgot about that little detail until you mentioned it.

Richard

Thanks for the tips. Looks like a nice winter project.

Karl

On Sat, 27 Sep 2008 10:14:40 -0500, the infamous "Karl Townsend" scrawled the following:

>

With some of them actually grappling data from online databases to fill up your database, it might not take a whole winter. G'luck, and let us know what you end up with.

-- The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man. -- George Bernard Shaw

IMNSHO bottom line: they all suck. I've gone back to analog; no compaints. I get my equipment from ebay.