New LG DVD Player not playing VCDs

[atlmallu]

I recently got the LG DV580H DVD/DivX Player : http://www.lg.com/ca_en/tv-audio-video/video/LG-dvd-player-DV580H.jsp

I tried playing various formats - DVD plays fine, Audio CD plays fine. But when I put in a commercial VCD(not burnt at home), the player gives a 'check disc' error. Looking in detail at the manual, I see that they don't claim to support .dat files, which is the formate in the VCDs.

Is it possible to make the VCDs work on this player? I am considering returning it otherwise.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

[aedipuss]

hard to believe they don't play mpeg-1 as it's free for the manufacturers to include. you could try extracting the mpg from the dat and burning that to cd to see if it will play.

[jman98]

VCD (and SVCD too) are NOT on the list of supported media types. That's why it doesn't work. You should have looked at the link you provided prior to buying it. Look at the link and go to Specifications and look at the PDF file. VCD and SVCD are not on the list.

You can do nothing to make an unsupported format work on this player. Return it. And please check to be sure that your next player actually supports VCD before you buy it.

[atlmallu]

Well..I assumed that supporting VCD format is almost universal these days...As aedipuss said, its hard to believe that there can be a DVD player out there without one of the most basic formats supported!!!

Anyways, looks like the only solution is to return the player. I don't want to go through the hassle of converting .dat to .mpg and burning it to a different CD.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

[Cornucopia]

MPEG1 is nearly universally supported - EVEN when not mentioned. Since DVD supports MPEG1, if your player supports DVDs, it supports MPEG1.

What's the real problem are 2 things:

1. The licensing of the VCD spec from Philips, et al.

Unless the licensing is free or nearly, it doesn't make a lot of sense for MAINSTREAM, MODERN settops to specifically support it.
Remember, VCD is -NOT- just raw files, it's AUTHORED. To support the authoring logic, you need firmware that understands it, and that still has to be licensed.

2. The firmware to understand the MODE2FORM1+MODE2FORM2 tracks of a VCD.

I'm guessing this is the major sticking point. From a software engineering perspective, it's probably a WHOLE lot simpler to support only CDDA (audio) tracks, and MODE1 CD/DVD tracks.

OP, Try this out...
Rip the VCD (using VCDEasy, ISOBuster, etc) to MPG1 tracks (*.MPG) and copy one to a MODE1 CD Data disc. If your player plays it, then it's got to be one or both of my listed reasons (and nothing else). BTW, if you want to hear the audio, you'll have to convert to MP2 first and remux before burning.

Always best to check here for compatibility, and bring test discs to the store when you're buying with "expanded formats" as one of your consumer feature requirements.

Scott

[atlmallu]

Thanks Scott. I went through the exact procedure that you described, and the player plays the resulting Mode1 CD! So the issue boils down to the two you listed.

So is it possible for me to proceed further and make the player 'VCD compatible'? Maybe I can try coercing LG into providing a firmware update

This is turning out to be an interesting personal project - learning about video formats and players!

Atlmallu

[jman98]

Thanks Scott. I went through the exact procedure that you described, and the player plays the resulting Mode1 CD! So the issue boils down to the two you listed.

So is it possible for me to proceed further and make the player 'VCD compatible'? Maybe I can try coercing LG into providing a firmware update

I'm sure that VCD licensing is very cheap, so it's certainly a firmware issue. There's nothing you can do except ask LG to come up with new firmware that supports it, but you will probably not be successful.

VCD and SVCD are actually poorly supported in North America because those formats were never official here. Some manufacturers support them still, but as time goes by many others are deciding that "nobody wants to play those old formats any more, so why should we waste time building support for them in the firmware?".

[jman98]

I suppose maybe I should rephrase what I mean by "official" in my previous statement. What I mean is that nobody ever commercially released VCDs and SVCDs in North America.

[atlmallu]

Just got a response from LG Product Support -

'Unfortunately VCD support cannot be added to the player. Currently none of the LG players offer VCD as a supported format.'


So I am returning the product back to them!!!

[Cornucopia]

I suppose maybe I should rephrase what I mean by "official" in my previous statement. What I mean is that nobody ever commercially released VCDs and SVCDs in North America.

I hate to disappoint you, but I've got (among others) a VCD from NASA while I was at the Smithsonian in D.C. in c.2000. So there was commercial/industrial official PRESSINGS, but VCD just never got picked up by H'wood, so never took off...

<<edit>>
OP: Sorry about the LG firmware, but I'm not surprised.

Scott

[cgmark]

I get so annoyed when I see that bluray players are not playing x format. The chipsets used are more than capable of playing anything a pc can play. They have the support and the majority of the software they need is already running on the boxes. It is just that the manufacturers don't care to support it.

They use a reference SDK, toss on the corporate logo and do the minimum needed to make it a bluray player. Extras are rare. Even the programmers are not happy about it. I found an interesting quote in some samsung firmware.

They won't give me the time I need to make this great, that bitch of a manager can f**k off.

[jman98]

I suppose maybe I should rephrase what I mean by "official" in my previous statement. What I mean is that nobody ever commercially released VCDs and SVCDs in North America.

I hate to disappoint you, but I've got (among others) a VCD from NASA while I was at the Smithsonian in D.C. in c.2000. So there was commercial/industrial official PRESSINGS, but VCD just never got picked up by H'wood, so never took off...

Very interesting. I stand corrected. I suppose I could say accurately that Hollywood never used the format in North America then.

[hech54]

I don't know.....returning a DVD player for not playing VCD is almost as silly as returning it for not playing VHS tapes. Call me silly I guess.

[SingSing]

I don't know.....returning a DVD player for not playing VCD is almost as silly as returning it for not playing VHS tapes. Call me silly I guess.

In Germany, they can call you silly. In State side, the only things you cannot return to store are underwear.

[hech54]

I don't know.....returning a DVD player for not playing VCD is almost as silly as returning it for not playing VHS tapes. Call me silly I guess.

In Germany, they can call you silly. In State side, the only things you cannot return to store are underwear.

Home Depot will take back skivvies if you make enough of a fuss about it....and they don't even sell skivvies.
(Now would be a great time for you to go and Google "skivvies")

[budwzr]

Why on earth would anyone buy a BD player to use with VCD? Those $30 DVD players at WallaceMart can do it (prolly).