VCD compatibility? Suggestions?

[Magix1999]

I'm new to authoring VCD's, and have run into a road block. My DVD player, which is a Sony DVD-C660, can read CD-R, but not CD-RW. Here's what I don't understand. There are DVD players, take the Apex AD-500 for example, that can't read CD-R & CD-RW, or DVD-R & DVD-RW, yet can still read VCD. Can anyone tell me how to author VCD's that will be compatable on any DVD/VCD player? I appreciate your help!

Brandon

[KoalaBear]

Commercially mastered VCDs are stamped into an aluminized substrate just like audio CDs. In fact, the very same equipment can be used to manufacture both. The bits that make up the recording are represented by physical pits and lands on the disc.

Homebrew VCDs aren't stamped, but "burned" into a layer of dye. The dye is formulated in such a way that the recording is either permanent (CDR) or temporary (CDRW). The dye formulations have different reflectivity characteristics which determine the kind of laser needed to read it.

In either case, if the DVD player supports VCD but not CDR, it can only play discs that are stamped. Some people have discovered that they can use certain brands of CDRW with these players, but this is more by accident than design.

Fortunately, only the oldest and/or least expensive DVD players have this limitation. Newer models incorporate a dual laser design that allows them to play virtually any kind of stamped or burned recording -- CD, CDR, CDRW, DVD, DVD-R, DVD+RW etc.

But because there's such a wide latitude of compatibility in the installed base of DVD players, you're not going to be able to make discs compatible with 100% of the VCD-enabled ones unless you resort to an industrial glass master and press your discs in large quantities.

In practice, I've found that so many DVD players can handle CDR that I don't fret about the rest. The only people I've seen have trouble with them were the ones that went out of their way to buy the cheapest players they could possibly find, and you get what you pay for after all.