Computer DVD players vs standalone

[JudgeGarth]

Here's a basic question. Most of us have had the experience of being able to play different brands (even crap) of media on the computer, but they won't work in all standalone players. My question is: if they can make computer burners to be so tolerant of all different media, why can't they make standalone players the same way? Is it money? New burners for the computer are pretty cheap as it is. Or is it lack of firmware updates (i.e., the older players become obsolete as newer media comes along)?

[edDV]

A standalone DVD player is a limited hardware device designed to play a particular format ( see "What is DVD?" https://www.videohelp.com/dvd ). It has hardware chips dedicated to doing that cheaply with minimum memory and use simple cpu controllers not a general purpose computer. As such they do one thing cheaply but are inflexible for doing anything else.

A PC computer by definition is a general purpose reprogrammable system that can adapt to different media devices with new drivers, codecs and software.

A DVD player
http://focus.ti.com/vf/docs/blockdiagram.tsp?blockDiagramId=6038



A typical consumer product ASSP
(application specific standard product or custom chip)
http://www.gare.co.uk/technology_watch/assp.htm

[edDV]

...
My question is: if they can make computer burners to be so tolerant of all different media, why can't they make standalone players the same way? Is it money? New burners for the computer are pretty cheap as it is. Or is it lack of firmware updates (i.e., the older players become obsolete as newer media comes along)?

I bet DVDR media tolerance comes down to cost. They use the cheapest transports, they rush out the firmware and do limited testing before building a few hundred thousand units. Computer DVD writers get periodic firmware updates to keep them current with new media.

[JudgeGarth]

Thanks for your answer and the graphics. I think I've got it!

[handyguy]

Also with dvd writers you can update them.