Help me Understand the lingo when buying...

[trashsmasher]

I have dvd's with mpeg1's written as data on them. I know stand alone dvd players can play these discs but some can and some can't. Tell me what technical spec I need to look for (on the box) when I go to Target or Walmart to get a player. I bought one that said it could play mpg, I put the discs in and no worky work. Thanks in advance for replies.

[trashsmasher]

Oh one more question........is this feature of players going out of style or date? Or will newer models be able to read plain old mpeg1's (vcd kind) as data of dvdr's?

[junkmalle]

I think the trend is towards more features rather than less. It starts with the small companies looking for an edge over the big names. They add features like DVD MPEGISO (MPEG files on ISO DVD disks -- what you're refering too) Divx, etc. Initially the big companies don't want support headaches so they stick with only standard movie DVDs at first. (They also don't want to encourage piracy because many of them are also media companies.) But eventually they have to add the features to keep up with the little guys.

You can use the DVD player list at this site https://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers to check for DVD-MPEGISO compatability.

[jimmalenko]

I believe that this feature is referred to as MPEGISO for playing off CDs and DVD-MPEGISO for playing off DVDRs - that's what it's called on this site, anyway. There's an entry for it here in the Glossary. AFAIK, any divx/xvid-capable player can play it. My Zensonic Z330 lists it as being able to play "Raw MPEG" FWIW.

[lordsmurf]

Here:
https://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers.php?DVDname=&Submit=Search&Search=Search&dvdmpegis...y=Name&hits=25

[trashsmasher]

Ok you guys rule! Thanks for being nice and not snotty to us newbies. Thanx alot.

[trashsmasher]

Ok kinda got logjammed.........when I search for DVDMPEGISO compatible players on this site I find I bunch......BUT, when I take the model numbers to like walmart.com or target.com they don't have them in stock. So next I went to the stores.....walmart and target. I wrote down the model numbers of every player they each had and brought the numbers home to search on this site. NONE OF THEM were dvdmpegiso compatible! For such a "common" feature it sure is hard to find a player in the real world. Can anyone give me some weblinks to online stores that sell these players?

[junkmalle]

Consider the Philips DVP 642. It plays MPEGISO and DIVX ISO. ~$70 at target.com, many other places.

[lordsmurf]

Cyberhome 300

[trashsmasher]

That cyberhome 300 doesn't play them. Just bought one and tried many discs.