Testing DVD burns...

[OldMonk]

Hi I am having a problem determining if my DVDs are working...

When I burn a DVD I test it on my DVD players (on the computer, and the DVD player I hook up to the TV) I have no problems - the DVD works fine.

However, if I give the DVD to a friend and they try it out, often times they notice that the DVD freezes up or has issues.

Is there program that will test how good of a DVD I burned?

Note: I am burning in Encore.

Thanks,

Ben

[Baldrick]

test with dvdinfopro, nero cd dvd speed
and read http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm

[wwjd]

When you test the problem DVD's on your stuff do you play them all the way through? I used to pop mine in my players and if it started up and played ok in the first few minutes then I assumed the burn was good, which turns out to be a bad assumption.

You may want to try burning with DVD Decrypter and have it verify the burn. That will take extra time but may find problems.

Other possible causes are bad media or that the DVDs you burn are not compatible with some other brands/models of DVD players. For example, a lot of older DVD players do not like +R.

I went through a spell where I purchased a bunch of CompUSA discs, burned them and tested them by playiing them for a few minutes. I was happy until I started playing them all the way through. They started freezing up, mostly towards the end of the DVD but not always. I switched to TYs and to burning with DVD Decrypter and have not had the problem since.

Also, some people claim they can burn lots of discs at 16X with no issues but that has not been my experience. I have a 16X burner and I burn 8X TYs at 8X. When I burned them at 16X I did occasionally get a DVD that would freeze or get glitchy when played back. Mind you these were 8X TYs that I was burning at 16X. There are lots of posts around that support the notion that if you want a ensure a good burn, burn at no more than 2-X.

[jtoolman2000]

Do as Baldrick has suggested. This will tell you if there are any problems throughout the WHOLE dvd. Secondly, please don;t use ENcore to burn. Our your project as DVD folder - AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS then burn that in a dedicaded burning app. In Nero you can tell it to burn a DVD/ Movie compilation. Drag the files inside the VIDEO_TS folder that ENcore created into the VIDEO_TS folder that NEro create and burn. Never fill the disc to capacity. A hard drive will probably cease to work if you fill it to capacity. If it still can, it will probably not operate very well. Set your DVD file limit to around 4300 mb so the last rim of the dye layer is avoided. After burning scan in dvdinfopro, nero cd dvd speed as baldrick suggested. If your drive finds a sector it cannot read ( freeze or stutter whe you give it your firends ) it will display either a yellow sector or if really unreadable as RED. If all is well it will be all green. You can also tell Encore to Build a DVD Image which can be directly burned to DVD with DVD Decrypter in ISO Write Mode which will almost insure a good burn. Like I said, just make sure you NEVER fill the disc to capacity. Leave a bit of elbow room and it will fine... and oh yeah, use the best media you can afford.

[OldMonk]

Thanks a lot. You all have given me some really good info...

wwjd, I have had the same problem you described (where it freezes if you play through) but I have also had it where it works fine on mine on doesn't work on another DVD player.

I should note that I only burn on DVD-R's having previously read the digitalfaq article about media types.

I downloaded DVD Decrypter and will try it out within the next day or so.

jtoolman2000, I trust your advice about Encore, but am curious... do you know why Encore gives bad burns. It is an expensive program so I expect it to do a good job.

Also, how close to full capacity would you recommend burning?

Thanks again.

Ben

[harley2ride]

As said above, anymore, the only thing I will burn is Taiyo Yuden, as Verbatim seems to be having some quality issues that are cropping up. As for - or +, I only burn +r's and bitset to -rom. I get much better compatibility that way.