DVD freezes up close to the end of the movie.

[bushbaby1979]

When I burn DVD's they work fine up until about the end of the movie, then they start freezing up. In some DVD players it works perfect. I was wondering if anybody has had this problem. Could it be the DVDs or the dvd player?

[RottenFoxBreath]

yes its the dvds(media).
some el cheapo players will play most,but others WILL stutter at the errors.
just buy better media next time.

[Gurm]

BAAAAAD MEDIA!

BAAAAAD MEDIA!

(Sung to the tune of the Hallelujah Chorus...)

Seriously though, do you people read the stickies?

[louthewiz]

Cheeeaaappp media is the culprit!!!!

[Bodyslide]

Goto www.nomorecoasters.com to check your media. I agree with the bad media.

[cyflyer]

Just out of shear coooriosity, what brand media did you use ??????????
Not all cheap media is necesseraly bad.

[djblade]

more than likely finger prints on the disc, this is the only reason i've come across........some folks just dont know how to handle disc's, hold them like a plate.....

[jimmalenko]

I used to believe that it was cheap media causing this problem, until I tried a few things at home.

Take a particular backup - running time 128 minutes. I play it in my settop DVD player and it starts skipping at around the 1hr 40 mark. I pull that same DVD straight out of the player and into my DVD ROM and it plays flawlessly from that point on. Normally I would say that the ROM is less sensitive and will play anything. A couple of hours later, I put the same disc back into the DVD player and seek to just before the skipping. It then plays flawlessly through to the end.

I decide to experiment, and the next day, place a desktop fan so that it is directing cool air straight at my settop DVD player (my settop and TV sit directly under our central heating duct in the roof). I play the same DVD from start to finish without a hassle. I then take same DVD around to two different mates' houses. Same disc plays flawlessly in one, starts skipping in the other but not at the same point in the movie. We try the fan trick and playback is flawless.

My conclusion - when some settops get hot, it starts skipping. If kept cool, no skipping. So it's not always the media as a general rule.

[Gurm]

No, as a general rule it IS the media. You have provided a second possibility, but I doubt sincerely that the majority of players overheat in this manner...

[jimmalenko]

I know mine is self-imposed to a degree considering it is in a cabinet which is directly below a heating vent, but I have heard of various players being more susceptible to heat than others also.

[Gurm]

True, but I would submit that switching to better media will solve virtually all problems, even with hot players.

[Blazey]

I will also have to say media isn't ALWAYS the culprit. My XBOX laser is wearing out and it will do this to glass mastered dvd's as well as -/+R, but the discs are fine.

Sometimes hardware gets old.

[djblade]

And which media, in your opinion, is the best to solve this problem.

[RottenFoxBreath]

jimmalenko,the possibility of the heat "warping" the dye on standalones is a reasonable assumption,its been tested by me a few times.
but at the end of my test,it seemed to be more random than anything else.
some discs were just too spasmodic in there playback errors,but in all honesty,since using TY and datawrite greys ive never had a playback error again.

[jimmalenko]

jimmalenko,the possibility of the heat "warping" the dye on standalones is a reasonable assumption,its been tested by me a few times.
but at the end of my test,it seemed to be more random than anything else.
some discs were just too spasmodic in there playback errors,but in all honesty,since using TY and datawrite greys ive never had a playback error again.

I do agree that certainly more often that not it is the media, and I guess being a majority it is the general rule as Gurm points out.

I don't know whether it is the warping of the dye or just inconsistency in the way the lense reads. Just a heads up for those that say it MUST be/ALWAYS is the the media, that's all

[Gurm]

Oh absolutely there are other possible problems.

But look at it this way - we have, despite the stickies and guides, at least a half dozen people a week wander in here and say "hey my disc craps out at the end - why?"

They ignore the 3 other posts in the past 3 days saying the same thing, and post anyway.

So our immediate response is the one that will get the MOST of them to go away (or post more intelligently). "Get better media."

They don't have to get a lot of better media. Just a 3-pack of Fuji or Verbatim will do the trick. If it STILL happens after that, then it might be worth our time to look into - and we'll definitely keep heat in mind from now on, I'm sure.

[djblade]

[They don't have to get a lot of better media. Just a 3-pack of Fuji or Verbatim will do the trick. If it STILL happens after that, then it might be worth our time to look into - and we'll definitely keep heat in mind from now on, I'm sure]

Which -r Fuji or Verbatim do you recommend, i've just moved away from riteks, as i've had a couple of bad batches recentley, and gone with ty's, but i'm more than happy to try some of your recommendations......

i eagerly await your reply

[Gurm]

No no, Taiyo Yuden is usually just fine.

Fuji and Verbatim I simply use as an example of media that most in the USA can obtain locally at retail, and they USUALLY use reliable dye... as opposed to Memorex or Maxell or HP, all of whom have been known to use totally terrible dye on occasion (or often).