Can copy new DVDs with old method, but they won't play

[TooNew]

Hmmmm.... Title's not that great. Here's the actual deal

I have been successfully burning DVDs for the last year (most of the them from the same company) using Smart Ripper, DVD2One, and RecordNow Max by burning VIDEO_TS AND AUDIO_TS files.

The one important thing that I've had to do is to make sure that RecordNow isn't set to recognize the VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS files per DVD specifications... this has been very successful. I've been able to play every single DVD on my relatively new Panasonic RV27 (I think that's the model) until now. I have a new batch of DVDs that I can burn perfectly fine using the same method and the same media, and they play on the computer and in the playstation, but not in the the Panasonic or a Toshiba that I borrowed to try them out.

I'm totally guessing that this is because of the new original DVDs, but I'm not sure. Is there anything I can do using the same programs? Change a setting or change my approach? Any ideas would be helpful. My family and I actually use these DVDs a lot, so I really love having backups... they do save me tons of money.

Thanks!

[Phil Thomas]

Not too sure from your post whether you have changed your media.

If so, that is probably your problem.

Try some Ritek disks .... these will be much more compatible with standalone players.

[matthewmalay]

Try using Imgtools to create an iso file and burn with DVD Decrypter. I have a Panasonic RV-32 and this method has worked very well for me.

[TooNew]

I mentioned that I am using the same media. I had a huge pack of 50 that I've been using since the beginning. I JUST ran out, though, but the last 8 that I burned that won't play were with the same media I'd always been using.

Can you explain how I would use Decrypter? In order to use RecordNow as I am, I needed a very detailed explanation on how to get started I'm just not very good at this stuff.

Thanks

[matthewmalay]

First I suggest you should pick up a couple of good quality DVD-RWs to test on, according to the DVD player list here DVD-RW should be compatible with the Panasonic. Then you can see if the problem is in the transcoding/burning process or the media itself.

You'll need about 4.3 gigs extra on your hard drive to burn a video DVD using Imgtools and DVD Decrypter than you would RecordNow Max. After you have transcoded the DVD using whatever program you use, DVD2one in your case, put the VIDEO_TS folder in another folder. Then open Imgtools Classic, select the folder in which the VIDEO_TS folder is located in (not the VIDEO_TS folder itself) as the source directory, then click on the target file icon to name and select the location you want to save the ISO file. Then give a name in the volume ID. I suggest using all UPPERCASE letters with no spaces between the words like example MY_MOVIE. If your hard drive is FAT32 file system you need to split the img files (settings->split Img-file) or make sure that the total output of all the files created by the transcoder is not bigger than 4 gigs. Now click on image and Imgtools will make an ISO file of your DVD.

At this point I like mounting the ISO file in a virtual drive using Daemon tools to see if the image will play properly on my computer.

Now open DVD Decrypter and go to ISO write mode (click on mode->ISO->Write or press W), select the ISO Imgtools created and burn the image file by click on the hard drive->DVD-R icon.

All of theses programs are free so you have nothing to lose except a little time.