Can't Fix Blocky Video & Choppy Sound - Nothing Works

[cpmusick]

I realize there are posts about blocky video and choppy sounds on SVCD's, but none of the methods seem to help me.

On SVCD's I burn on CD-R it starts getting blocky and the sound is choppy. For every single one it happens in the same place every time. I've tried various speed settings. I've also tried using two different burners, and different burning programs as well.

I'm able to burn an SVCD to a Memorex (High Speed) CD-RW at any speed and the SVCD works perfectly. However, if I use a CD-R it messes up. I know it's not the DVD Player because I have other SVCD's on CD-R that play just fine on it. I've tried Maxell and Great Quality (GQ) CD-R's.

On the GQ CD-R's it has the blocky video and choppy sound problem. However, on the Maxell CD-R it's a different problem. It will play to a certain point and then just cut off and stop playing (and it's not the end). Also, on the Maxell, if I "Search Forward" with my DVD Player, at a certain point it will start having trouble searching furthur forward until it finally just stops.

If anyone has any idea how to help me, that would be great.

Do you think that if I spent money on a third (different) brand of CD-R's that it would work right? If so, what brand(s) would you recommend?

[cooljoe666]

I would save yourself all that money and buy a new DVD player because that sounds like the problem. At least if all the things you say are indeed facts then buy a new player. I say this because I have used many different brand cd's until I finally found the cheap 50 pack of DuraBrand for $11 at WalMart. I have NEVER burned a cd that didn't play using the highest burn speed.

If you are burning the same video file onto several different cd's having the same problem maybe it's the video file. Are you making absolutely sure there are no errors on the source file BEFORE converting it?? Even 1 single error can ruin half the movie.

Blocky video and choppy sound was my latest obstacle until I threw out TmpgEnc and started using CCE.

I don't care what anyone says about Blank media, any cd will work fine if you have a good dvd player. My is a super cheap APEX 1200AD and it plays everything.

[cpmusick]

I forgot to mention that I have 2 SVCD's that I burned several weeks ago that work perfectly. Also, they are burned on the Maxell CD-R's as well, and were bruned at a high speed (40x). I'm sure it's not the video file because I've tried a couple different videos, but they all mess up at the same spot.

As for my DVD Player, there's nothing wrong with it. Not just because it's brand new (christmas gift), but because the other 2 SVCD's work. It's a Panasonic S25 multi-format DVD Player and fully supports VCD's as well as SVCD's.

I do have something else I'm gonna try. I'll try using the VCD header trick on the SVCD's so that they are detected as VCD's when being played. Maybe that will work for some reason. I'll post my results once I test it.

[cooljoe666]

I don't think the header trick will fix it simply because all the new players should play svcd's w/ no problem....if I wrong..well...great. I am sure there are players out there that have trouble reading every brand of media....I just know my cheap APEX 1200AD from last christmas has played everything I could throw at it. Also, I can only burn at 4x speed so you maybe oughta bring down the speed a notch unless you've already tried this. Remember too, if your encoded SVCD is 29.97fps and the player reads it as a vcd it may not play anyway since vcd is 23.976...but I leave ALL videos at 23.976 no matter what because the player will adjust it automatically.

Good luck.

[cpmusick]

Well in the manual it says it doesn't have support for SVCD's. However, whenever I insert it into the player it says "SVCD Inserted" and can play it. But maybe it doesn't play them all that well.

[cpmusick]

Well I just tried the VCD header trick. It didn't help any with the playing problems. However, it did allow me to use PBC (play back control) so I could use chapters and everything. When I use SVCD headers it doesn't allow PBC, maybe because my player doesn't support chapters and stuff for SVCD's.

I guess I'll just have to try a third brand of media. I'm pretty sure it's the media, since it works perfectly on the Memorex CD-RW's.

[cpmusick]

Well I tried another brand and it worked! I'm using Philips CD-R80 cd's and SVCD's work perfectly. I've burned up to 16x with no problems. Haven't tried higher speeds yet.

[npaulie2000]

Even so-called "good media" can have glitches: certain batches of product that produce errors. I recommend buying the cheapest media of a "reputable" manufacturer; i.e. any company you have heard of! In general, blank media should cost 15-20 cents for cdr etc. stuff or more of course for dvd, about a dollar or so. Also,Pls remember, not every video is worth the worry to encode and burn.

[cooljoe666]

I'll have to remember that one. SO far, I havent had any problems using the cheapys'.