What's more compatible VCD-R or DVD-R?

[roxics]

The question is in the title. Is a VCD-R or a DVD-R more compatible with most set top players?

Thanks

[Sefy]

I don't think anything can beat VCD on CDR in compatibility.

[Craig Tucker]

I would say DVD-R is more compatible. At least in my neck of the woods anyway. There are a fair few players that do not support VCD, and this appears to be a growing trend, Apex for example have removed VCD compatability from all their DVD players. There are also those DVD players that although support VCD will not read CDR or CDRW. I have a lot of friends with DVD players and the majority of their players will not play a burned VCD, they will all play a DVD-R though. It is something you have to look out for here, if you want to be able to play VCD make sure the player supports VCD and CDR before you buy it, don't make the assumption (like a lot of my friends have) that they will play them.

I have heard figures bandied about that DVD-R is supported by over 80% of DVD player, how accurate these figures are I dont know. But if you go to an electronics store over here and want a DVD player with VCD and CDR compatability, I am sure that the percentage of players that fall into this category is well below 80%

[Sefy]

I'm not so sure about that, for example, in Israel, although practicly no one
known about VCD's (not many anyway) the publicity on just about every dvd
that is released, is that it can play CDR/CDRW/VCD/MP3

And we get ALOT of those unknown brands which are "cheaper" of course.
Don't forget, VCD you can play on ANY PC (DVD requires DVD drive!) and it
can also be played on CDI Player and Portable VCD Players, and some MP3
Players also support VCD.

I Won't mention the Asian Countries, which even a Stereo System with a CD
drive can play Video-CD, ok, so I will mention it

Either way, VCD is alot more compatible then DVD in my honest opinion.

[Craig Tucker]

I'm not so sure about that, for example, in Israel, although practicly no one
known about VCD's (not many anyway) the publicity on just about every dvd
that is released, is that it can play CDR/CDRW/VCD/MP3

Like I said "in my neck of the woods", geography is going to be a contributing factor to compatability. From my experience, DVD-R seems to be more compatible in my location.

Don't forget, VCD you can play on ANY PC (DVD requires DVD drive!) and it
can also be played on CDI Player and Portable VCD Players, and some MP3
Players also support VCD.

The question pertained to "set top" (stand-alone) DVD players.

I Won't mention the Asian Countries, which even a Stereo System with a CD
drive can play Video-CD, ok, so I will mention it

Again, geography, I can only comment on the compatability of formats from my particular region. I know that VCD is extremely popular in Asia.

[Sefy]

Ok, so i'll ask, what the heck is a "Set Top Box DVD Player" ?

[Craig Tucker]

Ok, so i'll ask, what the heck is a "Set Top Box DVD Player" ?

I assumed it to be a stand alone DVD player

[Sefy]

Not from what I understand, it's some sort of self made or, well, I have no
idea to be honest, but it's not a regular standalone brand.

[letgoofmyears]

Well, until roxics posts again to clarify things, we can only assume what at what he meant. By definition, "set top player" doesn't specifically refer to stand alone dvd players. In that case, you would have to say that worldwide vcd is more compatible, since there are a buttload of vcd players out there, not to mention all the dvd players that support vcd. On the other hand, only 80% or so of dvd players support dvd-r. None of the vcd players will support them, for obvious reasons.

However, if you assume that he is referring to stand alone dvd players(which I am), you would have to say that dvd-r is more compatible, since vcd support is actually on the decline, at least from what I've seen. I should point out that I live in the U.S. and I'm basing these assumptions(because that's all they are) strictly on what Ive observed at the local Circuit City and Best Buy.

Either way, there are going to be a lot of "set top players" that will support whichever media you choose. So it's all a matter of choice, really.

[Craig Tucker]

However, if you assume that he is referring to stand alone dvd players(which I am), you would have to say that dvd-r is more compatible, since vcd support is actually on the decline, at least from what I've seen.

Agreed, and this was also my assumption.

[roxics]

Of course set top as in "TV set" top DVD players or DVD players that set on top of your TV. I thought this was a common term to describe a DVD player for a TV.

Thanks for the answers. That is shocking. Why is VCD on the decline? What reason do they have to do away with it? Isn't it only adding a little bit more software? I was kind of hoping we were leading to a point where all DVD players would support all types of disks.

[Craig Tucker]

I believe Philips own the rights to the VCD format, and hence manufacturers that include VCD compatability in their DVD players have to pay Philips for the rights to impliment the VCD format in thier players. I think Apex took the view that to keep the cost of thier players down they would do away with VCD compatability.