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  1. Hello all,

    I hate to be the arse that pops in from google to ask a question, but...

    I recently started burning DVDs, which I'm doing fine in, but I ran out of DVDs.

    I remembered that the person who taught me about burning DVDs used to do VCD, and I thought I'd give it a go.

    I downloaded a video, and used AVI2DVD to convert the file to SVCD (remembering that SVCD is higher quality than VCD). Then I couldn't find a program to write the BIN/CUE, (I have VCDEasy, WinAVI VideoConverter, and AVI2DVD, but none of them have built-in writing software.) so I wrote the BIN/CUE to a CD-R with Ultra ISO.

    It said it burned ok, so I popped it into my DVD player, an SV 2000 TV/DVD combo, and nothing... I can't find any information on the TV/DVD anywhere that says whether or not if the player plays VCD. I don't know the year or model, sorry.

    So I tried burning another disc with Magic ISO, using the "Burn a VCD/SVCD on the fly" feature. Burn ok, nothing when I pop it into my TV/DVD.

    When I open the CD-R with VLC Player on my computer and specify that it's a VCD, it plays fine. I haven't tried it on another DVD Player, but I don't think that my DVD Player is the problem.

    Thanks in advance for your help. If you need more info, let me know and I'll pull up Everest and get all the info I can on my computer. I may try to flip my TV/DVD to get a look at the model number today, but it's attached to all my game systems, and it's just a pain.

    Thanks!
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  2. Mod Neophyte Super Moderator redwudz's Avatar
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    A lot of newer DVD players won't play VCDs or SVCDs. I would also check the VCD to make sure it adheres to the VCD specifications. You mention VCD and SVCD. Which format are you using? They are quite a bit different.

    You could drop the converted video file into MediaInfo and see what the formats and settings are, then compare that with what the specifications are for them. See 'WHAT IS' VCD to the upper left on this page.

    But it would be easier to just abandon both of those older formats and stick with DVDs if they work for you.

    And welcome to our forums.
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  3. Thanks for the quick reply!

    I've converted the video to SVCD, sorry about that confusing bit.

    I'll have to look to see if I can get any info on the TV/DVD, it's a 2003 model, I believe... something from Wal-Mart.

    I fully intend on going back to DVDs just as soon as I get some... lol... but I'll give the "What is VCD" a look and compare.

    Thanks for the info. (And the welcome!) I'll get back to you ASAP.
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  4. Mod Neophyte Super Moderator redwudz's Avatar
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    SVCDs are even more problematic with newer DVD players than VCDs. I would check the specifications of your DVD player and see if it lists VCDs or SVCDs. The TV and the computer itself likely don't have much to do with your problem.
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  5. I'll see if I can get specs for just the DVD and post them up, but it's a El Cheapo Wal-Mart combo player. Ugh... what a pain. It seems like I just need to buck up and buy the DVDs.

    We'll see.
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  6. Mod Neophyte Super Moderator redwudz's Avatar
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    When I made SVCDs years ago, I used DVD2SVCD and it worked very well. Burn them with ImgBurn . I would try that before you give up completely. It usually took 2 CDs for a regular movie. I still have a lot of those around and except for some bad media, most of them work fine. But I play them on my computer, not a set top player.
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  7. Banned
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    Even "back in the day" VCD/SVCD support was pretty spotty on many DVD players sold in the USA. Philips and Pioneer and no name brands from China were pretty good to support them, but with any other brand it was hit or miss as best I remember. Most Americans have never heard of VCD and SVCD and nobody released media in those formats in North America so there was little risk in not supporting it. I well remember my best friend telling me around 2004 or so how much he love his Toshiba DVD player because "it will play anything". That's an actual quote. Yeah, well it didn't play VCD and SVCD as he found out. With a Walmart sold combi player I wouldn't expect it to support those formats.

    As redwudz points out, it's getting even harder to find VCD/SVCD support these days. I'd say that most BluRay players won't play them at all.
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  8. Originally Posted by jman98 View Post
    As redwudz points out, it's getting even harder to find VCD/SVCD support these days. I'd say that most BluRay players won't play them at all.
    I did a quick search on google shopping, and I've only found one BluRay player that supports VCD/SVCD. You would think that companies would build on what they have instead of scraping the whole thing and starting over.

    Case in point, Sony. Aisian company... you would think they would have kept VCD support on their newer players.

    The actual ability and parts it would take to just build on would probably cost less than what they have done now.

    Ugh... it's just annoying. I'll probably pick up some DVDs on my way home next time I'm out.

    As for the media info program, I suppose I have to unpack the BIN/CUE to view the actual media information?
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  9. I had a previous Toshiba DVd player which DID play everything .. and thAt includeD SVCD AND VCD. I ended up putting most of my svcd on disk. Most cheap Chinese made players will play vcd as that is where the format was most popular (and india).
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  10. Mod Neophyte Super Moderator redwudz's Avatar
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    VCD is still popular in some Asian areas of the world as CDs are still much cheaper than DVDs, and most probably watch the videos on smaller format TVs. But in the US, VCD was never that popular, SVCD even less so.

    Now that the price in the US for most DVD media is reasonable, not much call for the lower quality VCD or SVCD formats here. And, as noted, not a lot of support for either format with newer DVD or BD players.
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  11. While this is far from a thorough market study, I just took a quick look at CD and DVD prices at Walmart:

    Maxell 100 pack DVD+R $24.84
    http://www.walmart.com/ip/Maxell-100-Pack-16x-DVD-R-Spindle/4990024

    Maxell 100 pack CD-R $22.54
    http://www.walmart.com/ip/Maxell-Standard-120mm-CD-R-Media-100-Pack-Spindle/5090336

    This pretty much matches my impression that CD and DVD prices are pretty close, at least in the USA.
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  12. Member classfour's Avatar
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    The only reason the manufacturer would drop support (assuming the BluRay would play music CDs) would be licensing. I believe VCD, SVCD and audio CDs use the same laser.
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    Beyond anything already mentioned a number of media players turned up on the market and some dvd players adopted the divx/xvid codec. Now multiple format bluray players (DLNA certified players) are plentiful. For the most part people don't see the need to take the extra steps of converting a video file when it's frequently no longer necessairy to do so.
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