dvd's I burned do not always play on television

[geminidreamer]

I recently downloaded some Michael Jackson videos for someone who wanted a dvd compilation. I used DVD Flick to combine them, then used DVD Shrink to burn them into a dvd. I am not very proficient in this area but I've done this before and it works pretty well. The only problem is that the dvd I created for my friend will play on the computer but NOT on the television. I have done this before with other downloaded movies and they play on the television just fine, yet I did the process the same way. Why do some of my burned dvd's play on the television and others do not? Is there a better way to create these dvd's to ensure they will play on both the computer and the TV? (and we're talking a fairly new SONY HDTV I'm using for playback). Any help would be appreciated.

[Baldrick]

Did you make a NTSC or PAL DVD(You should be able to select that in DVD FLick)? A PAL DVD might not work on all dvd players in US.

Be sure to use good DVD media also.

[Bjs]

Welcome geminidreamer

You have little control over what may play the disc once it has left your hands ... even when previous discs where successful

Might be worth noting

1: If the same media brand has been used previously ... you can always get a disc in any batch which is problematic even when burn was successful
2: Some players are more sensitive to changes in media
3: Drive compatibility issues (liteon vs philips vs lg, ect...) ... plenty of info around the web on these problems

You might also restrict the burn speed to 2x ... this is a test disc ... most players are only 1x / 2x readers

Burning discs slower than 8x is a well known piece of advise ... considering players are only 1x / 2x readers

[geminidreamer]

Hi and thanks for the tips. Settings are on NTSC and DVD Shrink is set up for region-free format. I had not played around with the speed but usually I leave it at the default values (maybe it is something I will play around with later on). I only use quality disks (like Verbatim); I read lots of reviews before I buy. I built my system myself; I'm not going to compromise it in the end by using cheap media, yet I do understand there may be some coasters in a case of 100.
I'm pretty much a creature of habit so if Verbatim media is highly touted and Lite-On (my burners) are compatible, I stick to the same brand to avoid problems.
Do you think I should try different software and/or a different process? As much as I read about how to do this stuff, there is so much I am admittedly clueless.

[redwudz]

DVDShrink can not actually burn discs, it uses a outside program, Nero by default or the old DVD Decrypter. ImgBurn is the better choice. There is a ImgBurn enabled version of Shrink available in our DVDShrink tools page. ImgBurn is the successor to Decrypter for burning and works very well.

[JohnnyBob]

Try a different DVD player. I have several because some won't recognize certain discs. This could be caused by the firmware, media type, or a marginal burn.

[Ai Haibara]

Also, some old players may not like Region 0 ('region free') discs, which is another reason to try it on a variety of players.