DVD-R's from DV less desktop compatibility than ripped DVD's

[Feuerwehr]

Fewer DVD desktop Players are compatible with DVD-R’s authored from DV sources than from ripped Movies. I make this observation based on fairly extensive experimentation. I have made a number of DVD-R’s from home movies and have also backed up a quite a few NTSC and PAL DVD Movies from my personal collection. I find that many more desktop players will recognize DVD-R’s made from ripped DVD’s than from movies originating with my Sony TRV-900 DV camcorder. 6 of 7 different desktop players I have tried play ripped movies without a hitch. Only 2 of the same 7 players play DVD-R’s using DV movies as the original source material. This remains consistent using different encoding and authoring methods.
In order to level the playing field I have tried to encode AVI files from my DV sources at the same rates as the re-encoded ripped movies. I have tried both CCE and TEMPGEnc. I author with SpruceUp and burn with either Prassi or Nero.
Without going into details, I will say only that my methods are standard, obtained mostly from VCDhelp, and a few others. They work! None of my DVD-R’s from ripped DVD’s or from DV movies are coasters! The quality is great in either case; only problem is my DV movies are compatible with fewer desktop players.
My burner is a Pioneer 104. I have used Memorex, TDK, Princo and DVDPro media. They all work great, but the media brand makes no difference with the 7 Players I have tried. I have also tried authoring with Ulead Movie factory, and DVDit SE. Both work, but do not help with the compatibility issue.
My questions are: “Am I missing something basic here?” What else should I try? Has anyone else had similar problems?
I only care about the Player compatibility issue because I wish to convert both old and new home movies from my DV camcorder to DVD-R and distribute them to family members. If my home movies were as playable on different Players as ripped movies I would be perfectly happy. I know that a number of older players will not do DVD-R’s at all.
Any help or comments would be very much appreciated.

[Thorn]

That's a disturbing thought... I am almost to the point of sending some relatives some DVD-Rs authored from DVD material... I've only tried the discs on my apex and have had no problems with TDK (or princo, but I haven't watched the whole thing from those discs).

The first think I'd like to know is what kind of failure do you have? Disc not recognised? Video skips? Player thinks it's a different kind of media?

My first thought here would be field order. DV is bottom field first, while it seems that the other way around is common for other formats. Another thing to consider is that many DVDs are at 23.97fps, while DV is typicallyat 29.97fps. Also, unless you converted the audio separately to 48KHz then many authoring programs won't notice (also DV is 2 channel but most backed up discs would be 5.1 channel, but that shouldn't cause a problem). Also, I assume you decode your DV audio to wav or encode it to AC3. Note that these observations (except the needing to have audio at 48KHz) are just some things that are likely different between the working and non-working discs, to start you thinking.

One thing to try (if you can spare a disc or a RW) is encode a ripped disc to DV, then encode to DVD format (or something similar to that). Not sure how much info you'll gain from this, but it could be useful to differentiate between DVD and DV sources.

[Feuerwehr]

Thanks for the comeback. I don't know which Apex you have, but the Apex AD-1500 is one of 2 desktops I have tried that DOES play the DVD-R's encoded from a DV source beautifully. However, an Apex AD-800 will give either a "disk error" or "no disk" reading, and won't play at all. The AD-800 will play any DVD-R from a ripped DVD though.
I realize there are differences between DVD and DV. Although I am no technical guru, I am not a complete newbie, and take the differences into account when I encode and author. DVD is generally 23.97fps, progressive, "A" field first, and usually has AC-3 audio, whereas DV is 29.97, interlaced, "B" field first and has 48 khz stereo, etc. I take all of these factors, into account when I encode. With CCE I de-multiplex audio and video when encoding. If I use TMPGenc I usually leave the audio with the video. I take pains to use DVD standard bitrates and resolutions. THE DVD-R's are GREAT! THEY WORK! The quality is fantastic, no artifacts or motion problems at all. I couldn't be more satisfied. EXCEPT........DVD-R's encoded from DV are not recognized by MOST of the same desktop players that play my DVD-R's from ripped DVD's.
As I mentioned before I have also made successful DVD-R's using Pinnacle and Ulead encoders. The encoding quality is inferior to CCE or TMPGenc, and they only play on the same 2 desktop players.
Players that do not recognize disks usually give either a "disk Error" message or "no disk."
I have never had a similar problem with SCVD's.
I am frustrated, but I will keep experimenting. If I find a way to improve the compatibility problem I will report back.

[The village idiot]

A question... When you are authoring your DV, are you using LPCM audio or mpeg? I've had a few players that don't like mpeg audio. I've also had a few that don't like discs burned with NERO 5.5.9.6 or lower. Best luck for burning has been with DVD moviefactory. Have you tried to de-interlace your DV, and then author as a frame based (progressive) type of video?