Some VCDs don't play with Panasonic DVD-S35

[avp952002]

Hi,
I really hope someone can help me with this basic
issue. I have a Panasonic DVD-S35 DVD player
connected to a NTSC capable TV.

When I play some of them play ok.
Others don't play well, picture scrolls fast on
the TV. I think they are all PAL VCDs.

1. How do i findout the format of the VCD
(may be use some software on the pc?)

2. Why some VCDs play and others of the same format don't?.

All these play ok on a PC.

Thanks,
AVP

[budz]

Hi,
I really hope someone can help me with this basic
issue. I have a Panasonic DVD-S35 DVD player
connected to a NTSC capable TV.

When I play some of them play ok.
Others don't play well, picture scrolls fast on
the TV. I think they are all PAL VCDs.

1. How do i findout the format of the VCD
(may be use some software on the pc?)

2. Why some VCDs play and others of the same format don't?.

All these play ok on a PC.

Thanks,
AVP

From reading the manual of the panasonic model it does say the unit is can play PAL & NTSC but your television must match the system used on disc.
http://panasonic.com.au/content/library/files/F000787.pdf

[jman98]

1) Go to http://www.tecoltd.com and download the free Teco Bit Rate Viewer. Open a *.DAT file on the VCD from the MPEGAV directory in the Teco Bit Rate Viewer. Look at the resolution and frames per second. Basically, 352x240 and 29.97 fps is NTSC and 352x288 and 25fps is PAL.
2) If your DVD player can play both PAL and NTSC, probably you need to go the setup menu and look at the TV output setting. Unfortunately, most DVD players have a default output setting of "ANY", which means that it sends the same output to the TV as the disc has. If you have a PAL VCD, it's sending a PAL signal to your NTSC TV, which will never work. Change the TV output to NTSC and you should be OK.

[avp952002]

Hi Budz and jman98,
Thanks for your response.
I had read the manual and was aware of
the dvd player playing pal and ntsc but
the requirement that the tv should match the
vcd system.

I wonder why some pal vcds play and some don't?.
This is with the same NTSC TV?. I have chosen NTSC
as the output in the DVD player.

Thanks,
AVP

[jman98]

I wonder why some pal vcds play and some don't?.

My best guess would be that they aren't PAL VCDs. You admitted that you don't really know what format they're in. Use the Teco Bit Rate Viewer and find out for sure. It could also be that even if your DVD player was setup OK for NTSC output earlier, that maybe somebody did something not by the book on some of these VCDs that is causing your player to have problems, such as too high a bit rate. VCD should have a constant (NOT variable) bit rate of 1150 Kbps or less. Anything much higher might cause playback problems.

[louv68]

I would try experimenting with different brands of CD-R's. I had the same problem with a Panasonic player I own, and switching CD's did the trick. Some players are finicky that way. I have an old Sony that will not play any CD-R's in any format, be it WAV, mp3, VCD's; only some CD-RW's play. I believe it has something to do with the discs reflectivity.

[jman98]

I would try experimenting with different brands of CD-R's. I had the same problem with a Panasonic player I own, and switching CD's did the trick. Some players are finicky that way. I have an old Sony that will not play any CD-R's in any format, be it WAV, mp3, VCD's; only some CD-RW's play. I believe it has something to do with the discs reflectivity.

You are 100% correct. I had totally forgotten about this as a possibility because modern DVD players rarely have this problem any more, but it certainly would explain why the original poster has problems with some VCDs.