RiData DVD media

[halls19]

My first post in this forum. I have been using RiData DVD5 for a while now. No problems, until now. I have a TV Tuner card, record my favorite TV shows and burn to DVD. The recording process through Nero works fine, the DVD plays fine on the PC, and plays fine on the stand alone Sony DVD player. But when I go to play the DVD again in the player and the PC, the picture freezes. When checking the DVD with Nero Speed test, the surface scan results in vast areas that are now unreadable, but the DVD worked before. I tried this on several DVDs I have burnt, and the same result. What has happened here? Did the DVD player damage my disks? Is the laser damaged on the player? The odd thing is that the DVD won't play on the PC burner either? This seems to tell me the DVD media is the culprit. I have read mixed reports on RiData media. I am about to try these DVDs on another DVD player and see if I get the same result. Friends I have spoken to say that it is my DVD player. Lasers only last a couple of years. Is that right? Any suggestions as to what I should do?

[redwudz]

Generally, on a player, the mechanism will wear out before the laser. And the player laser is too low of power to damage a DVD.

I would try a different brand of media. They sometimes vary in quality, even in a cakebox of discs. If other good quality brands have the same problem, then that would point to your burner next. Some problems can be caused by the burning software, but not usually a physical problem with the surface of the disc, such as rapid deterioration.

And welcome to our forums.

[videobread]

Ridata/Ritek is crap. It's the media. Buy only TY or Ver. Buy the good ones - no "value line". Plan on replacing thoses Ridata now before they all go bad. Don't buy cheap media anymore.

[halls19]

Thx redwudz. But how has the media deteriorated after just one playing? I could undersand after 100 plays, or if it was dirty or damaged, but there is no visible scratches, blotches, dulling or any evedence of marking at all. When I try the discs on another player tomorrow I will report back.

And videobread, how can I replace the crap discs if they are unreadable? Any recovery software you can recommend?

And pardone my ignorance, what is TY or Ver.?

Back tomorrow...

[hech54]

Once again:
New Ritek/Ridata is pretty crappy. I still buy 8x Ridata and have absolutely no issues with them at all. My old 4x Riteks are still going strong with absolutely no signs of any problems whatsoever.
From someone who at least used to be a Ritek/Ridata fan...naked silver topped rated at 8x and under are great....but becoming very hard if not impossible to find....but when I do find them....I buy them with confidence for use with everyday backups.
I also buy Taiyo Yuden silver topped as well...I'm not completely stupid....

[redwudz]

TY= Taiyo Yuden = One of the most respected DVD media manufacturers. Sold under several different names, depending on the type of disc.

Ver.= Verbatim = A good brand, depending on the particular disc type. Their Dual Layer seems the most reliable for that format.

There are other good manufacturers. The name on the disc isn't always the manufacturer. That's why the 'Media Code' is important. It tells you who really made the disc. You can see the media codes for most brand discs in 'DVD Media' to the left. And you can find out who the manufacturer of your DVD is with programs that are available in 'Tools', again to the left: https://www.videohelp.com/tools?s=113#113

One site that has good info on DVD media is :lordsmurf's site. He is a frequent poster here: http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/index.htm

As far as the media deteriorating? I'm not sure. I suspect it could be caused by an underpowered burn. That is commonly a burner problem, but it could be that the burner misidentified the media and used the wrong template.

But more likely it is a problem with the media itself and a unstable burning layer in the disc. It's easier to try different media to rule that out than to first blame the burner. If you do this and all brands have the same failure, then the burner is the next suspect. Sometimes cleaning the laser lens helps, or upgrading the firmware on the burner may help. But I would still try different media first.

[Super Warrior]

Ritek/Ridata used to be pretty good, and i was at one time a Ritek-only guy(see my outdated avatar).

But they went down in quality a few years back, and the newer riteks i'd burned started to pull a princo on me, breaking down into coasters 7-12 months after burning. Ritek is just not reliable any more.

Now that the cost of even the highest quality DVD media has come down in price nicely over the years, theres no need to even bother with budget brands like Ritek.

I now only use Tayou Yuden- Which has a reputation for High-quality media, and pretty cheap too these days.

[Super Warrior]

My first post in this forum. I have been using RiData DVD5 for a while now. No problems, until now. I have a TV Tuner card, record my favorite TV shows and burn to DVD. The recording process through Nero works fine, the DVD plays fine on the PC, and plays fine on the stand alone Sony DVD player. But when I go to play the DVD again in the player and the PC, the picture freezes. When checking the DVD with Nero Speed test, the surface scan results in vast areas that are now unreadable, but the DVD worked before. I tried this on several DVDs I have burnt, and the same result. What has happened here? Did the DVD player damage my disks? Is the laser damaged on the player? The odd thing is that the DVD won't play on the PC burner either? This seems to tell me the DVD media is the culprit. I have read mixed reports on RiData media. I am about to try these DVDs on another DVD player and see if I get the same result. Friends I have spoken to say that it is my DVD player. Lasers only last a couple of years. Is that right? Any suggestions as to what I should do?

Some advice:

#1.Ditch the Ritek.
#2.Buy Tayou Yuden
#3.Copy all your Ritek DVD's to fresh Tayou Yudens(and hope your Riteks have not degraded to the point where the data cannot be properly read/extracted).

And DO IT NOW...or be sorry later...

[halls19]

Super Warrior, thx for the tips. Well I took 4 of my Ridata DVDs to my neighbour and asked if he would mind me trying them on his DVD player - a 6 year old Sony. They all worked perfectly. Normal play speed, fast forward, scene selection. Fine. I also flashed my LG DVD burner with the latest V511. But it still won't play the DVDs. One other thing, after playing a DVD on my Sony player, the disc it pretty warm. A friend told me that to fix a dodgie DVD put it in the freezer for a couple of hours...
Is this correct? apparently worked fine after low temperature incubation...
I have afeeling my DVD player is dieing. Otherwise hwy did the discs work on another player. Soo I am going to try the 4 discs on anohter player later today. I will be back.

[cyflyer]

G'day sport ! Listen Halls, I'll ad my tupence worth and say listen to the advice that everyone here has given you. Dump the Ridatas, go for the quality suggested here. 101% as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, its your Ridatas at fault, don't try to persuade yourself otherwise. The fact they played in your neighbours' dvd player is pure fluke. Don't just flick throught the movie, sit through the whole thing and you will see.

Incidentally, are we talking about putting the dvd disc or player in the freezer ?

[redwudz]

Freezing the media (or the player ) won't help. The likely reason the disc is warm is that the player is having a very hard time playing it. The longer it tries to read, the warmer the disc will become. It you listen to the player, it probably has 'seeking' problems and is trying many times to read the same data. You may be able hear it slowing down, speeding up as it tries to read.

If you had this problem on a computer DVD player/burner, it would likely cause it to revert to PIO mode and you would have to reset it to DMA to get it back to normal speed. This is one indication of a badly burned or corrupted disc. In your case, it is probably the media or your player. The media is easier to change. In the case of the player, this can be caused by dust/dirt on the laser lens or just a worn out player. If it only has the problem with that media, then the media is the problem. It's either incompatible with the player or is corrupted from a bad burn/bad data.

[RonBoy]

Most of the Ridata 4x I bought were RICOGJPN R01 and these were in 100 pacs.

The Ridata 4x I bought in 25 pacs were Ritek.

These are all still doing fine.

[halls19]

Well, I have just returned from my in-laws. They have a Sanyo DVD player, virtually brand new. I tried 10 different DVDs, all burnt to Ridata. They all worked perfectly. No, I didn't watch them all the way through, but skipped to chapters, played a bit, fast forward, then back chapeters, etc. Absolutly no problems. None of these DVDs worked on my Sony player, they will not go to chapters, will not fast forward, and some won't even bring up the start menu. Whilst I hear what most of you say about Ridata, and I will heed your advice next time I buy blank DVDs, I really think my Sony player has died. Time to go shopping for a new player.