?DVD-R or SVCD with Pioneer DV-F727?

[mabrolat]

Has anyone yet gotten this megachanger to play DVD-Rs or SVCD's? I have a ton of coasters...and I'm getting broke. I've been trying to digitally archive home movies (yes, I'm a camera-happy mommie) taken on a Sony TRV-20, edited in Premiere 6.1 (NTSC), and encoded with TMPGEnc/tooLame as suggested in these posts. Output burned either with Nero 5.5.4.0 (for VCD/sVCD) or Sonic DVDit SE with new Panasonic DVD-R/DVD-RAM drive (DVD).

Output plays well on my PC, but problems on Pioneer DV-F727:
- blocky/grainy DVD-R (problem with encoding or player?!?)
- no output with sVCD (VCD played, but can't stand the quality!).

If sVCD is truly not possible, I'd like to stop spending the money on the disks. Plus, at US$10 a piece, don't wanna go thru a million DVD-Rs. Haven't yet tried other formats [x(s)VCD]--should I?

Any feedback greatly appreciated!
-m

[Jerry]

Hi,

Well I really can't help other than to say I have a Pioneer 727 and wanted to try svcds as well. I read in the dvd compatibility that it won't play svcds but possibly will xvcds.

I'm changing over from a mac because it would only easily create vcds, I hope in a few days to be up and running with a pc. If I have any luck I'll let you know and please keep us posted on your progress.

Thanks, Jerry

[Greg12]

check the compatibility list here on this site.

dvd-r is a better way to go because ur getting true dvd quality video and audio.

[mabrolat]

Thanks Jerry/Greg.

DVD-R is probably the better way to go, but like I mentioned, I still haven't figured out how to keep my video from being too grainy, and I figured it'd be cheaper to work out any mpeg-2 problems on CD at US$0.50 rather than DVD at US$10 a try. Plus, a lot of my "mommie-shots" are pretty quick films--miniDVD or svcd may suffice. I'd love to know your encoder settings and how they work with this player!

I put in an email to Pioneer today. I'll keep y'all posted. Thanks a lot!
Peace!
-m

[mabrolat]

Received a response from Pioneer as follows:

"Dear Marla,

"The DV-F727 is rated to play VCD's that are bought in retail. As far as burnt VCD's, the unit is not specified for that function.

"PIONEER CUSTOMER SERVICE"

Not very helpful, I'm afraid. Didn't address sVCD's at all. Any luck out there?

-m

[Jerry]

Hi,

Well I'm still trying to get my computer set up, but I was able to burn the "test" xvcd sample and it played great on my DV-F727. I tried to burn the svcd sample but since you can't use Nero to burn it I'm not sure I did it right. Anyhow it wouldn't play. I would really like to make svcds as well. Could the use of cdrw's or something else help svcds to play on these players?? I would appreciate any help more knowledgeable people might have as well.

Thanks, Jerry