DVD+RW on a non-DVD+RW player?

[tlachev]

I have a Panasonic CP67 DVD player and the manual says that it can't play DVD+RW disks. Indeed, I burned a video using Sonic MyDVD and the player failed to read it (sort of hang trying to read it).

I read on this website (feedback section about this player) that DVD+RW is supported. A reader said that DVD+RW can be played with "compatibility set". Can someone tell me what this means and is there a way to play DVD+RW with players that do not support DVD+RW?

[Bob W]

I did a search on your player and it looks to me that the player will play both formats as seen here.
https://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers.php?DVDname=CP67+DVD+&Submit=Search&Search=Search

I would try another program to burn a DVD+RW besides MyDVD which IMO is not a good program. Try using MovieFactory2 or NeoDVD Plus or just rip a single layer (DVD5) disck and burn using RecordNow Max or Nero.

[tlachev]

Thanks for your reply. I wonder how DVD+RW was found to be supported with this player since the the manufacturer claims that only the following standards are supported:
DVD-Video, DVD-R, Video CD, CD, CD-R, CD-RW

http://www.prodcat.panasonic.com/shop/NewDesign/ModelTemplate.asp?ModelId=16777&show_a...goryId=%202977

Anyway, I will try your suggestions and hopefully will find that MyDVD is the culprit.

[Bob W]

Here is what one user posted about the player.
"Good quality progressive scan player with Faroudja DCDI chipset. Plays most DVD+RW (with compatibility set) and DVD+R discs."

I don't know what is ment by "with compatibility set" maybe something in Nero.

[VCDmonger]

When he said "compatibility set" he meant "compatibility bitset." A lot of DVD players will accept a DVD+RW disc, however a minority will give a disc error. This is corrected by changing the bitset to DVD-ROM (so the player thinks a DVD-ROM disc has been inserted). More info can be found here.

Bitsetting can now be done in Nero or with a utility called DVD Bitsetter. For info on that, click here. Another utility, called DVDInfo can also perform this task. The downside is that not every +RW burner can do this. I know for a fact that the Sony DRU-500A/X cannot, and attempts to contact Sony with regard to adding this feature in future firmware have been in vain. They seem to not want people to be able to do this.

Anyway, to find if your drive is capable, do a little searching or download the utilities and test them out! I hope this info helped.

VCDmonger

[tlachev]

Thanks for the useful information. It looks like the DVD industry doesn't fall behind in prolifiration of standards than the software industry I am in. On trying to make my disk "DVD-ROM" compatible, I confirmed what the articles you pointed me to are saying. My NEC DVD burner model, which BTW comes will all DELL computers, doesn't support setting bitwise compatibility. Also I learned that I should at least have 5 min on recorded video so my player laser system can "adjust". Will spent some time over the weekend to see whether I can make more progress. If not, will go DVD-RW.

[VCDmonger]

I would suggest that you don't switch over to the -RW format for a couple of reasons:

1) It would be cheaper and less of a hassle to just buy a DVD player that plays the +RW format rather than returning your DVD burner and buying a new one. I have an Apex AD-1500 that plays everything just fine and only cost me $65. Click here for an Apex AD-1200 (which plays DVD±R/W) for $44.99 with free shipping.

2) +RW has many advantages over -RW. Besides the basic recording speed being 2.4x (as opposed to 1x on -RW), you don't have to erase the disc each time you want to record something on it, which takes a long time. When I record onto a +RW disc that I already have a movie or something else burned to, Nero asks if it should write over it. After clicking "OK" it does a quick format, which by NO exaggeration takes about 3-5 seconds, and then starts burning. The resulting disc plays back fine in all DVD players I've tested (XBOX, PS2, Apex AD-1500, a Sony, Kenwood in-dash player, etc.).

I'm not a +R/W format advocate, I just like the + side when it comes to rewritables. Advantages like lossless linking and +VR editing are excellent reasons to stick with +RW (I know there is also -VR format, but it does not retain DVD-Video compatibility). For various other advantages, read the FAQs on this page. I actually own a Sony DRU-500AX, and I love using -R media because of the cheap cost, but +RW for all my rewriting and testing needs... as a multiformat burner, it's the best of both worlds.

VCDmonger

[tlachev]

After trying a few things it looks like everything leads to buying a new set-top player that supports DVD+RW.

I ripped a single layer DVD to a DVD+RW disk using the DVDDecrypter but I couldn't played it on CP67. My NEC ND-1100A burner doesn't support setting the book type (a.k.a bitsetting) so I can't "cheat" my player that this is a DVD-ROM disk. It doesn't write to DVD-R(W) so this is a bummer too. There must be a conspiracy going on among the DVD manufactures to force consumers into buying hardware

Well, I wil probably wait for the prices of the set-top writers to come down and buy a DVD-writer (like one of the Panasonic writers with HDD) and be done with it. All I wanted was to transfer video from my camcoder to DVD but the things are not simple.

Any other suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone for the help!