how can i make sure my dvd will work in any player?

[el_nex]

hi, im new here and i would like to ask you for advice with a recurring problem ive had.

i have a little bussines filming social events like weddings and such, the final product is a dvd.
for editing i use pinnacle studio 10 and for the dvd authoring adobe encore cs3, this is where i burn the dvds as well.

a problem ive bumped into pretty often is that some of my clients are unable to see my dvds because they own cheap or old players. so i would like to hear some advice on how could i make sure the dvds i make will work in any kind of player my clients own.

Any kind of advice will help, what kind of media should i use, software, or burning options, whatever.

thanks a lot.

[Supreme2k]

The only positive way to guarantee compatibility is to have the discs professionally pressed. If you're a professional, you'll have to go pro all the way.

The fact is that some older DVD players simply do not play burned DVDs.

[tomlee59]

Without going to factory-pressed media, your next-best option is to choose the highest-quality media. Taiyo-Yuden and Verbatim are most often mentioned here as giving the best results. But there's still no such thing as a 100% guarantee. Burned media are physically different from pressed media (the reflectivity is lower for burned media, for one thing), so players may not always accept burned media gracefully.

That's the best you can do.

[el_nex]

ok so how would i go about getting disc professionally pressed? and isnt that very expensive?

[tomlee59]

It will certainly be more expensive than burning your own, so you have to make a choice: Low-cost, but not as compatible, or higher-cost and more compatible.

There are many companies that will press DVDs for you. Just look around in your area for such services and get price quotes from them. There's usually a fixed charge, plus a per-disc charge (which goes down as the volume goes up).

[el_nex]

well it certainly sounds like the best option but im not sure my operation is big enough to demand that kind of expense, ill have to look into it.
i guess for now ill just try changing media.

thanks a lot for your advice guys

[lordsmurf]

Use Verbatim DVD-R for best compatibility. That is the best second only to pressed discs.