my dvd plays on my Xbox360 but not my magnavox dvd player

[ProfessorDubbs]

I've been experimenting with burning DVDs all week. So yes I'm a newbie. I started with an .AVI and using ConvertXtoDVD3 I burned a DVD. The DVD plays just fine in my Xbox360. When I try to play it in my stand alone Magnavox DVD player it doesn't play. I ran the file through GSpot and it didn't show up as NTSC or PAL. I'm a newbie so I'm not sure if this is an issue with .avi files.

I also burned some DVD files I have on my harddrive (.vob, .bup, .ifo) using CloneDVD2. I have the same issue with the burned DVD. I tried two different sets of files from separate sources. Funny thing is when I ran the files through GSpot one set came back as PAL, but both DVDs play in my Xbox360. Neither one plays in my DVD player.

My friend says its a codec issue and I have an older DVD player with out of date codecs. I don't believe that is the issue either. One I thought DVDs have a standard codec. And two I can play other burned DVDs on the same DVD player. So help me out please. I hope I've included enough information. Oh yeah I'm using Sony DVD+R. Can that be the issue? Please before I run out to Wallie World for more DVDs.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[yoda313]

Did you burn it as a true dvd? You day say one of them was vob files. Were they in a video_ts folder? If its not properly authored some strict dvd players won't like it. Use dvdauthorgui for a free authoring program and imgburn to burn the disc. Also try a different brand of disc as well.

As for the avi you didn't just burn the file to disc did you? If so its a miracle the 360 even played it. Unless it was a divx or xvid which the 360 can play but the 360 doesn't have the most robust file support.

Make sure you author the dvd correctly and use a decent burning program like imgburn. And be sure to try a different brand blank disc.

https://www.videohelp.com/author

That is a place to start for a newbie.

[ProfessorDubbs]

Yoda thanks for your response. I must be unclear about what I did.

Did you burn it as a true dvd? You day say one of them was vob files. Were they in a video_ts folder? If its not properly authored some strict dvd players won't like it. Use dvdauthorgui for a free authoring program and imgburn to burn the disc. Also try a different brand of disc as well.

Yes I burned a true DVD. All the Disc have both video_ts and audio_ts folders. If I'm using .vob files, then why do i need dvdauthorgui? ImgBurn will burn .vob files to a DVD. I've tried this since your suggestion and I got the same results.

https://www.videohelp.com/author

That is a place to start for a newbie.

This IS where I started. I've since then read as many threads as I could find relating to my issue. That's how I discovered GSpot. No one seems to have a true answer or fix for my problem.

[neomaine]

ProfessorDubbs,

Then it looks like your DVD player doesn't like the media you're using. Try some Verbatims and see how that works.

[ProfessorDubbs]

neomaine thanks a lot for your suggestion. I went over a friends and tried the DVDs in their player. No problems playing them, well except for the PAL DVD. Funny thing is it was a Magnavox also. Not the same model, but the same manufacturer. So I stopped at wallie world on the way home. They didn't have any Verbatims on the shelf, so I picked up some Memorex DVD-R and they play just fine on both the Xbox360 and the stand alone DVD player.

So in conclusion the right media is just as Important as the data you're burning. And it appears the Xbox360 can play PAL DVDs. Anyone know more about this?

[hech54]

Why would anyone suggest changing media when this is an obvious PAL / NTSC issue? Now the OP(who is a newbie) has a stack of junk memorsux discs.

[jman98]

ProfessorDubbs - You were told to buy Verbatim for a very good reason, although it turns out that yes, hech54 is quite right that you have a PAL/NTSC issue and not a media issue. Memorex discs suck! Dude, seriously, WalMart is not the be all end all. If we tell you to buy X and you don't find it in WalMart, buy it online! If I was supreme dictator of the universe, I would destroy all WalMart stores. But lucky for you I'm not. BestBuy does sell Verbatim discs, but be warned that their cheap DataLife series is NOT recommended at this time. If the packaging doesn't say "DataLife" then the discs should be OK. And please do not confuse DataLife with the excellent DataLife Plus series which you will only find online. If you don't have a BestBuy near you, just buy online at rima.com, supermediastore.com, etc. Honestly, the prices are typically NOT better in local stores than buying online. Sometimes even after adding shipping it's still cheaper to buy online.

Yes, many DVD players sold in North America are completely incapable of playing PAL DVDs. The only fixes are to either buy a DVD player than can convert them to NTSC or do a painful conversion of the DVD yourself to NTSC, noting that you will lose the menus as a result.

[ProfessorDubbs]

Thanks again for all the responses. Let me say this a 3rd time, with hopefully more clarity. First of all this was my first experience burning DVDS. I was working with 3 sets of files.

1. avi file needed to be authored to a DVD.
2. a set of NTSC vob files
3. a set of PAL vob files. I didn't find out the third set of files was PAL until I ran one through GSpot.

I might be a newbie, but I'm not an idiot! I know that North American TVs are NTSC. But why does the Xbox360 play the PAL DVD?

I know it was recommended that I buy verbatim DVDs. At 1:30am Wal-Mart is the only place open. And I was impatient. I didn't want to wait to the morning to go somewhere else. I didn't go buy 100 dvds just 10. I'm experimenting here fellas. I'll go to tigerdirect and or best buy here in a little bit and see if they have Verbatim disc instock. Thanks for the advice about using DataLife discs.

[jman98]

It would seem that you got lucky and the Xbox360 is a converting DVD player. But as I don't own one, I cannot personally confirm that. But the evidence points to it.

[hech54]

1. avi file needed to be authored to a DVD.

Just to clarify something....not sure if you are aware.
Just because it's an "AVi File" does not mean your PAL/NTSC worries are over....especially if you are trying
to convert that back to a playable DVD.

[ProfessorDubbs]

hech54 how do i know if an avi file is PAL or NTSC? When I put avi files in GSpot it doesn't show if its Pal or NTSC. And since I know the one set of files are PAL, I'm not trying to burn them on disc anymore. I'm only working with what I know is NTSC.

ps. I just left TigerDirect/CompUSA with 50 Verbatim DVD-R and I don't see the words DataLife on the blue and orange label anywhere.

[yoda313]

@professordubbs - pal will be 25 fps while ntsc will either be 24fps or 29.97/30fps (frames per second).

Also if its dvd rip pal is 720x576 and ntsc is 720x480 resolution.

[ProfessorDubbs]

thanks yoda.