DVD-ROM vs DVD Players (?)

[zhdenny]

Why are DVD Drives in Computers SO much better than DVD Standalone players used to plug into Televisions?

I know all of you have this problem.......You are watching a burned movie on your DVD Player hooked into your TV. All the sudden it starts skipping, stopping, whatever....its messed up. You may have multiple DVD players hooked into your system but they all fault at the same spot.

Now you put the exact same DVD in your Computer and it works perfectly. Furthermore, this isn't just with a few DVD's....this is with ALL DVD's. Whenever there is a problem with playing a DVD on your Standalone DVD player, the computers DVD player never skips or anything.

Why is that? What's the difference? Also, why can't Standalone DVD Players be like the DVD Drives in Computers? If there are Standalone DVD players like DVD Drives in computers, could someone direct me to them? All the skipping is just pissing me off.

I understand there is a computer processor working behind the DVD drive in a computer...but I really wonder if its the computer processor fixing all the skips or if its a difference between the DVD Drives. Also, playing a movie smoothly doesn't really take up that much processor power so why can't DVD Standalones have that much power.

SOMEONE HELP ME

[budz]

Your problem could be the brand of dvd discs that you're using. What brand of dvd media are you using and what is the media id code? Freezing and skipping is mostly caused by using cheap dvd media such as MEMOREX. Brand names don't mean much, it's the media id that is the important factor. Many manfacturers will outsource their dvd media to other companies. Also another thing to consider is your dvd burner in the pc. Does it have the latest firmware to accomodate the newer dvd media? It would be helpful to complete your computer specs in this forum site. That way it would be easier to assist you with your questions.

[zhdenny]

I will update my Computer specs right now

Also, I have tried out many different DVD media in the past. I've been using Taiyo Yuden 4X DVD-R Media (Media Code: TYG01) for a year now. Aren't those pretty damn good DVD Media?

[Krispy Kritter]

Try testing a few of the discs that don't work with a program such as DVDInfo Pro or Nero Drive Speed. If the discs test good, then you are having issues with your standalone player. If the discs are showing errors, then you are having media and/or burning issues.

[lordsmurf]

It is also your choice in DVD players and DVD-ROMs. For example, a Toshiba DVD player will perform much better than some cheap crap no-name DVD-ROM (like Mad Dog).

[SingSing]

It is your choice in DVD players and DVD-ROMs. For example, a Toshiba/JVC/Pioneer DVD player will perform much better than some cheap DVD-ROM (like Mad Dog, which is rebadged NEC).

[zhdenny]

ok I tested a couple disks that had the speaking problems with DVDInfo Pro. They tested all good.

So, I think I have a DVD Standalone problem. Both DVD players are over 2 years old. Any Recommendations?

Basically, all I care about is that it plays burned DVD's (NTSC and Pal Region Free)....and it plays them GOOD! no skippping

[lumis]

I've been using Pioneer DVD players for a while, they read even low quality discs well. Great DVD+R DL support. I suggest the Pioneer DV-275 (aka DV-270).

[lordsmurf]

(like Mad Dog, which is rebadged NEC).

Mad Dog is all kinds of things. The last one I got was a Hitachi DVD-ROM, or something along those lines. Real piece of crap.

[jman98]

Actually, the much beloved Toshiba was rather infamous not too many years ago in the US for making DVD players that didn't play anything except DVD and audio CD. No commercial VCD, no homemade VCD/SVCD, nothing on CD-R at all.

The reason for the difference between standalone players and PC drives is mostly firmware on the standalone player. Standalones have limited resources, so manufacturers write firmware to deal with likely scenarios. Firmware might not check to see if DVD format is on a CD-R disc because technically DVD format is only supposed to be on DVD discs. PCs really don't care what kind of disc you have. They can check for a million different things because the software, not a piece of firmware, controls what gets played. Standalones have limited memory and CPU power and no operating system per se, so they rely on firmware. A firmware program might work this:
What kind of disc is it - DVD or CD?
If DVD, is it DVD format? If yes, try to play it. If not...
Is it AVI on DVD disc? If yes, try to play it. If not, give up with an error.
DVD format on CD-R is a big problem for most players, but not PCs, because most firmware doesn't check for DVD format on CD-R discs.

I'm not saying that the other guys don't have a point that some brands are better than others and I agree, but with standalones, most problems are related to firmware limitations. To be fair, many firmware limitations are stupid and are the result of sloppy programming. A PC, for example, doesn't care that DVD format is on CD-R. It just sees that a disc is inserted, it's DVD format, and it plays it, where a standalone player tries to figure out the disc type first and then goes through a limited set of checks on disc format before bailing out wth an error.