DVD Playback troubles - media problem?

[CU]

Hi there

I'm having a bizarre problem burning DVD's that I hope you guys can help me with. I recently bought a DVD burner, so I'm rather new to this scene - but I've been encoding and burning SVCD's for a while now.

I usually use DVD2SVCD to take AVI (xvid/divx) files and encode them into Mpeg2's, then burn the resulting muxed file to an SVCD. I am now using DVD2SVCD's DVD-mpeg creation option to do the same thing, except at a much higher bitrate, and fitting two movies onto one DVD.

I do this by encoding the mpeg, then using TMPGEnc DVD Author to create the DVD with some simple menus (using the separate sound and video streams from the DVD2SVCD output) and then use Nero 6 to burn the DVD itself onto disc. In Nero, I select DVD-video, Joliet and all relaxed restrictions turned off, then I drag across the VIDEO_TS directory and burn.

The first DVD I created like this worked like a charm, both in my PC dvd player and my stand-alone DVD player. Every DVD after that has had the same problem in my stand-alone: the first movie/track plays fine, right up until some point in the last 1 or 2 chapters (10 min chapters) at which point it starts jerking, and then freezes altogether. The second track/movie does not play at all (DVD player just does nothing) and in some cases, I can't even access the second movie's title/chapter menu. The bizarre part is that these discs play flawlessly in my PC.

I then did an experiment, whereby I copied the VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS (empty) directories from one of these burned DVD's to my hard drive, and then burned those exact directories to a DVD-RW disc. Amazingly, this played back flawlessly on my stand-alone and my PC.

I can only assume from this that this is a media error, and that the Memorex 2x DVD-R's I'm using are faulty - but then surely they wouldn't play back on my PC either?

I'd appreciate any ideas - and thanks for taking the time to read through this if you did.

[Gees]

There have been probably at least half a dozen threads in the last day or so describing that problem. So, you aren't alone. If you search you can read through all that's been stated already.

You need to rule out what it might be, which you've attempted already. But, generally speaking, when you have problems towards the end of the disc - it is the disc. These problems show up in players, rather than PC. And, even more confusing - not all players.

To confirm if it's disc or process you'd need to duplicate everything and change only one factor. Not more than one. Like you've done burning to RW rather than R second time. But for next time, repeat from same original burn process with RW or different disc type/brand.

You can look up your media (for this time and for future purchases) in DVD Media on the left for other users' experience with them.

Most people who have problematic discs, limit burn speed and max size to about 4 GB or so until the discs are used up and they purchase alternatives.

[CU]

Thanks for the advice. I went out and bought a pack of Princo 4x DVD-R's and burnt the same files (VOBs etc) to one of them, stuck it in the stand-alone player and it played absolutely perfectly. I guess this'll show me that saving some money on cheaper brand discs isn't always a good idea!

Thanks again.