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  1. I routinely make video DVDs for other people. Although I have never had a report of a problem, I have had a problem with one DVD player that I own. In the interest of making robust discs for other users, I wonder future problems of this kind might be prevented at the DVD authoring stage.

    The problem is that when I insert a certain DVD (which I have made), the player (a Panasonic DVD-S700) says it's resuming. Then it plays about about a half second of video and turns itself off. The section of video is the same section each time, from near (or at?) the end of a particular title. There's nothing special about this piece of video. It's just like any other on the DVD, and it's not at the beginning or the end, or at any break that I am aware of. I have had the problem previously with this player (on other DVDs) but not with any other player or computer.

    The problem seems to be with the player, but it is specific to some DVDs. The player has an amazing "resume" function. After pressing STOP, you are supposed to press PLAY/PAUSE to restart from where it left off. The manual states: "This position is memorized even after power outage (Power Resume). However, if the restart position is misaligned or depending on the media and playback conditions, the unit may not operate normally." Unfortunately, it doesn't tell how to recover from the problem, but in this one instance solved it by pressing "Stop" twice while the video was playing, and then I could go to a menu. Now the video plays normally and the problem is gone.

    The problem is not with the burn or the media or the burner. I have burned the disc in different ways (from the ISO file or from the PS files) on different computers and on different media. I have even rebuilt the ISO, and it STILL causes the player to crash. Other DVDs built in the same way do not show the problem. Apparently there is something about the disc contents and the interaction with the player.

    I would not want this ever to happen to another user. I don't see any problem in the intermediate xml file that the video is built from. I have seen hints that the resume function can be enabled or disabled at the authoring stage. Is this possible? I'm definitely not an expert in video DVD construction. Does anyone have a clue what's happening and how to prevent it?
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  2. Member DB83's Avatar
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    'Resume' can be edited in very advanced authoring programs or you can use Pgcedit to set the 'Prohibited User Operations' at Video Title Level of which 'Resume' is one.

    But edit that and your customers may also complain that the dvd is not working as expected. A 'No Win' situation.
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  3. Yes. Users hate "prohibiting operations" while navigating thru DVD. Remote controls are being smashed as a result
    It just sounds like a buggy player. It might have a unique feature but it backfired somehow.

    Or there might be something in the DVD structure, caused by dvd authoring software, and that gives a fit to that particular DVD player. So it is not affected how it is burned because a problem is already there within code. The problem could disappear if project is constructed again. Hoping not to repeat the problem or bug. Or just using different DVD authoring to confirm that was or was not the case.
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  4. Thanks for the replies. All the clips are short, so there's no need for a resume function. And yes, the problem would probably disappear if I constructed the project again, as long as I changed enough.

    Now that I think of it, it probably is a quirk in that player that may never occur on other players, so I'm not sure if countermeasures are warranted.

    Pgcedit sounds very useful. I have had plenty of problems with DVDs, and that could be just the thing.

    Thanks very much for the comments.
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  5. I just want to add that the Resume feature is a standard option, as well as the Stop twice trick to disable it. In theory, all DVD players should implement it, but unfortunately it's not really frequent. But to resume, the disc must not be removed from the player, and the user must press Play. If the disc is removed and re-inserted, the player should play it "normally" (by following the navigation commands starting at the First-Play PGC). So, if you don't press Play and you player resumes anyway, there is a bug in your player.

    Also, you wrote "Then it plays about about a half second of video and turns itself off." That's strange too. A player should never turns itself off, unless it reaches an "Exit" VM command. I have never seen an Exit command inserted automatically by an authoring program, so I don't think that it could be the reason of your problems, but of course I can't be sure. Verify with PgcEdit. Also, if there are no commands in the post-commands section of a PGC, when that PGC has finished playing, the player might be confused, and instead of playing automatically the next title (as it is supposed to do), it may stop. Again, you can verify easily with PgcEdit.

    If you want more info, open the DVD in PgcEdit, select the PGC containing the short video your player plays when it resumes, then use the Info -> PGC menu, and post the output here. I will try to locate the problem...
    r0lZ - PgcEdit homepage Hosted by VideoHelp (Thanks Baldrick)
    - BD3D2MK3D A tool to convert 3D BD to 3D SBS/T&B/FS MKV
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