DVDR

[Mdanner423]

Hi,

I am thinking of buying a Pioneer DVD writer... Does DVDR work in ALL DVD players?

Thanks

Matthew

[Greg12]

It is best to wait.

Their is no industry standard.

Wait until one of these formats becomes the standard. Just like we have CD-ROM

[aldus4]

Before purchasing DVD-R you should familiarize yourself with the 6 different standards available. So far only DVD+R(W) promises to be fully compatible with all standalone DVD players - as it hasn't been released yet, it's something we'll have to experience first!

Visit the Q&A section of http://www.dvddemystified.com or for your interest in the different writing possibilities use this link http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html#4.3

[disturbed1]

The Pioneer DVR-A03 meets the industry standard for DVD-R (general purpose). These disks will play on ALL set top DVD players made after/during 2000. There are alot of people, myself included, that are having great success using these burners to produce compliant DVD's.

If you have the cash (~$600 pricewatch) go for it. Make sure you read everything you can, @ $10 for a blank, that's an expensive coaster.

BTW, Sonic's DVDit products do not support the Pioneer drive. You'll get an error every time. Of course Pioneer blames Sonic, and Sonic blames Pioneer. You can create an image file then burn either with the included Primo DVD, or VOB Instant DVD software.

[DVD Master]

THE PIONEER DVD WRITTER USE THE DVD-R AND DVD+RW FORMATS. DVD-R IS THE FORMAT MORE COMPATIBLE WITH STANDALONE PLAYERS AND DVD ROMS. IF YOUR DVD PLAYER DOESN'T READ A DVD-R IT WILL NOT READ THE OTHERS FORMAT.
TO BURN A DVD-R YOU CAN USE SPRUCE 1.1 AUTHORING PROGRAM. IT RECOGNIZES PIONEER BURNER AS SOON AS YOU INSTALL ITS DRIVES.

P.D. RIGHT NOW DVD-R ARE THE CHEAPEST DVD MEDIUM AVAILABLE. aBOUT $10.00/EACH

[aldus4]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-08-04 17:02:09, DVD Master wrote:
THE PIONEER DVD WRITTER USE THE DVD-R AND DVD+RW FORMATS.
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>
The Pioneer does NOT use the DVD+R format!!!!

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
DVD-R IS THE FORMAT MORE COMPATIBLE WITH STANDALONE PLAYERS AND DVD ROMS. IF YOUR DVD PLAYER DOESN'T READ A DVD-R IT WILL NOT READ THE OTHERS FORMAT.
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

As Pioneer admit themselves: "Some DVD-ROM drives and DVD-Video players cannot playback the DVD-R/RW media. A hardware or software DVD decoder is required for DVD-Video playback on the PC platform."*

*taken from: http://www.pioneer-eur.com/products/multimed/optical/dvrA03.htm

[alkieman]

As an owner of the Pioneer A03 DVD writer I thought I give my take on this subject.

The Pioneer drive writes DVD-R and DVD-RW for General Use. Professional studios use DVD-R/RW for Authoring which are slightly more compatible but also more expensive. The A03 CANNOT write to DVD-R/RW for Authoring. Incidentaly the main difference is that -R/RW for General support copy protection features whereas -R/RW for Authoring do not.

Also the A03 can NOT write DVD+R or DVD+RW as wrongly stated earlier in this thread. At the moment no PC based DVD+R or DVD+RW writers are available in the US or Europe. (in fact I don't think there are any stand alone +R/RW recorders available outside Japan either.

DVD+R and DVD+RW are technically similar to -R and -RW but of course, different enough to be completely incompatible with it.

The +R/RW camp assures us that their DVD+R discs will play on the majority of DVD video players but of course we have no way of knowing that for sure. My quess is the situation will be similar to the DVD-R situation where most stand alone DVD players will work but some will not.

Even Panasonic's new DVD writer for the PC writes to DVD-R for General as does the new Lacie drive too, although the Panasonic writes to DVD-RAM for rewritable use and not DVD-RW so is even less compatible with existing set top players in that respect.

If you want to get into DVD video authoring on your PC at the moment then DVD-R is the way to go, it exists and if your stand alone player is compatible, it works. My Pioneer 737 plays the DVD-R and DVD-RW discs perfectly, as does my friends Samsung VCR/DVD Combi player and another friends Sony 7700 (actually, the Sony plays DVD-R but not the -RW disc I gave him to test).

This is gearing up to be another of the VHS v Beta wars so it might be a good idea to wait and see what happens. Personaly my money is on DVD-R/RW because it's here now, is now at a price for many consumers to be able to afford, and works in most existing players. I just wish the price of decent, stable DVD authoring software would come down in price.

At the moment I have transferred precious VHS recordings to DVD but the not so precious ones I still transfer to VideoCD.

As one person has already said, DVD-R/RW is now part of the DVD Specification so it has been incorporated for playback in pretty much any DVD video player of the last couple of years. If your player is older then it's a question of trying it to see.

Maybe Pioneer/Panasonic etc. could make available a test DVD-R for people to purchase and try out. Most people would rather pay 10 dollars/pounds for a test disc they can try in their player to see if it works than shell out 600 odd and find the discs wont work in their players. They could even offer to refund the 10 dollars/pounds if you then buy the writer.

[leebo]

alkieman,

What brand of DVD-RW disc are you using?
I purchased a no-name brand that burned fine and plays back on my computers, but not on any set top players.
I've gone into two electronics stores and tested them on several players without sucess.

[Chopper21]

Its probably the way you burnt the disc. A properly authored DVD-RW should play in a consumer DVD. I had the same problem when I started.

[alkieman]

I have used Pioneer's own brand and Mitsui discs too. The DVD-R discs seemed to work fine and the DVD-RW discs did too in my own and the Samsung, but none of the -RW discs would play in my friends older Sony.

I have heard that the older Samsung 709 also wont play DVD-R/RW discs until the latest firmware is applied, once applied it apparently then works fine.

There's a small table in this months UK based Computer Video magazine that shows what top selling DVD players will play DVD-R/RW or either one but not the other. I'll dig it out and see about posting the details here, might be useful for some people to have a look at.

Another strange thing is that it could also depend on what DVD authoring software is used. I have MyDVD that came with the drive but also bought Spruce UP because it supported chaptering. I later found out so does the version of MyDVD that comes with European Pioneer DVR-A03 writers. MyDVD created a couple of discs that worked with no problems on a friends Philips player but the ones created with SpuceUP wouldn't play on his. They played fine on the others though which is decidedly weird. I also think MyDVD has a slightly detrimental effect on picure quality compared to SpruceUP, anyone else noticed someting similar?

[Leon]

And said above: DVD+R/RW is very promising and will be shipped fall 2001 in HP Home PC's, Dell etc... But we can't test it. The most supportive page is http://www.dvdplusrw.org/video/comparison.html

labDV ( http://www.labdv.com ) has gathered some DVD-R/RW users and DVD players comptibility list in their dedicated forum: http://www.labdv.com/forums/phpBB/viewforum.php?forum=15&11 and as Gareth posted there, its Samsung 709 wasn't compliant but it is now with new firmware.

I think a lot of manufacturers will provide updated firmware. And Sony a DVD+R/RW supporter is shipping Pioneer DVR-A03 with Vaio ( http://www.sonystyle.com/vaio/digitalstudio/index.html ) so it sounds that both standard will survive for a while...

Léon


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Leon on 2001-08-06 05:41:04 ]</font>

[igornt]

Bad news. Tested my Philips DVD718 yesterday. It does not/not support DVD-Rs.

[vitualis]

DVD-R (and DVD-RW and DVD+RW but NOT DVD-RAM) should work in most DVD and DVD-ROM drives.

The position they are in are similar to the compatibility of CD-R media to CD and CD-ROM drives when they first came. CD-R works in most CD and CD-ROM drives but not in all.

Regards.

[Mdanner423]

Hey,

I thought you would like to know I orderd a Compaq Presario with a DVD-R!!! I am really excited! Now all I hope is that DVD+R isnt going to come out and dominate the market and make my media 30 bucks a piece of something!!!

Matthew

[leebo]

If anything I would expect the extra competition to drive prices down.

[Leon]

You can see there that DVD-R as also a compatibility mode (I don't know more yet):
http://www.dvdplusrw.org/video/comparison.html#10

And for the Philips, maybe a new firmware ?!
http://www.ianc.net/philips/index.shtml

Léon

[alkieman]

Leon, do you work for Philips by any chance?.

[Auric]

Alkieman, you're right about the picture quality, especially regarding the menu backgrounds. MyDVD alias DVDit uses 640x480 resolution for bitmaps, no good for any serious work.

SpruceUp creates beautiful menu backgrounds. My Philips DVD711 won't play these discs but Yelo 800 does. I need to make a test to see if the authoring program has influence on the compatibility of playback.

[igornt]

I have tried to post an update on DVD players compatibility but it still not posted. Here it goes.
Philips DVD718: CD-R - yes; CD-RW - yes; DVD-R - no;
Kenwood 7030: CD-R - yes; CD-RW - yes; DVD-R - first it played a DVD-R pretty well, but in about 30 minutes blocks appeared on the screen and the playback just stopped;
SONY DVP-S345: CD-R - no; CD-RW - n/a; DVD-R - plays smoothly. Despite a few drawbacks, this was my choice!