Program to validate DVD format complaince?

[Savant]

Hi folks, I'm looking for a program that can help me nail down a problem I'm having. I'm basically looking for something that will look over a DVD-R and analyse the DVD-VIDEO files for abnormalities that would prevent proper playback. I'm not talking about data corruption, but moreso failure to fully adhere to DVD-VIDEO format guildlines. This is NOT a media issue. (Why is it not a media problem? Well, I can take a DVD+RW, copy the files to the exact same DVD-R media, and it plays flawlessly.)

I've got a few DVD recorders. One is DVD+RW and two are DVD-RW. As I recently found out, the DVD-RW format (VR mode) creates a host of problems if you want to edit in VR mode and then convert the disc to video mode. I have a program that will do this (DVD VR extractor) but what is happening is that the output disc is not playing properly on my DVD+RW machine. I also have a few plain jane dvd players (standalone) that play the resulting disc fine, it is just this one recorder that is having trouble. The disc is loading OK, but it sorta gets hung up in the menu/first track area getting stuck in a loop.

Hard to explain, but sufficient to say since this is the only player having problems with it, I suspect it is an issue of failure to fully adhere to DVD-VIDEO guidelines or some such problem. So I'm hoping to find a program that will look over the way the disc was authored, and find any code that doesn't comply with 'book' values. (If the program can correct it that would be even better.)

Alternately, I could switch programs, but I don't want to spend a wad of cash buying software to fix a problem with playback on only one machine.

I'm putting this in the authoring forum since I feel this is really an issue with a program that isn't properly authoring the disc, and I am trying to track down the cause.

[VegasBud]

Savant,

What you're describing sounds like dvd-video verification software, which does exist, but is too expensive, and too complicated for consumer use. Even then, they don't fix the errors...they just report them.

In the "what may help you with the problem" category, PgcEdit finds and fixes many problems...as do FixVTS and VobBlanker (all free). Since a symptom is that the disk "gets hung up in the menu/first track area getting stuck in a loop", they may be able to find/fix the error. At the very least, PgcEdit will let you look at the commands in the section that's looping, so you can probably figure out what's happening to make it loop.

[guns1inger]

The licensing for this type of software starts, I believe, at around US$20000, which is why only a few people buy it, then offer checking as a service. Any problems found are still down to you to resolve.

If you have only one player/recorder having the problem, I would suspect that it is at fault. It could be a media compatibility issue, or something about the player itself. Not all players are created equal.

[borax]

A program which could also be of some help is Marks Tray Player:
http://www.simtel.net/product.php%5Bid%5D82312%5Bcid%5D192%5BSiteID%5Dsimtel.net

[Savant]

Thanks for the replies folks.. I've tried some of these tools, without success unfortunately. I've watched the problem more closely, and it does seem quite simple - perhaps someone may know where I should be looking.

I created a simple DVD. First the video was burned to DVD-RW (in VR mode), then edited. The resulting DVD-RW (again, in VR mode) was coverted to DVD-VIDEO mode using DVD VR Extractor. The conversion went fine, and the resulting DVD plays fine in all but one machine. The machine that I have problem with does the following... I physically load the DVD, and it loads fine. With the DVD set to auto-play the first title, the title starts to play, and then about 1-2 seconds in, the video stops and restarts from the beginning. So it basically repeats the first couple seconds in an endless loop. The data is there, since it plays fine on other machines. The media is also fine since I use the exact same media with DVDs that were burned in native DVD-VIDEO format on the same player and they play fine. (These are TYG02 too, certainly not cheepees.)

I'm really flummoxed on this one. If anyone has any ideas on where to look for problems, I'd appreaciate it. My only other option is to use another program to do the conversion, which I am leaving as a last resort.

[jman98]

I think you're making the wrong supposition. I'd be much more inclined to think that the problem was with the player rather than the disc if only 1 player can't play it correctly and the rest of the ones you have tried can. Although theoretically this isn't supposed to happen, I am not convinced that in reality every single DVD player really and truly adheres to the DVD standards. Also, there could actually be a bug in the firmware that is causing this loop. My advice would be to try it on other brands of players belonging to friends and family and if every player you try can play the disc correctly except your one problematic player, I really think you need to consider the problem being with the player.

[Savant]

I thought it was a player problem too, but it doesn't make sense that it would play everything else without a problem. I have burned DVD-VIDEO format discs and they play fine, I'm thinking it is an issue with converting from the DVD-VR format, which I know this machine does NOT support.

In a weird aside, I tried a combination of a few of these tools, and the title played, then instead of looping back to the start like normal, it played the 1-2 seconds, then skipped in to about the 1 hour 20 minute mark and continued to play the movie from there. Weird eh?

[filmboss80]

Experience has led me to concur with jman98. Some DVD players will play DVD-R discs just fine, but may inconsistently freeze up with some DVD-RW discs. I have that sort of problem with an older player at my house. Sometimes it will play an RW, sometimes it won't. Try copying your DVD-RW to a disc that is not rewritable. If the copy is also having the same problem, then it may be a slightly bad sector on the master that your other DVD players are more forgiving of.

[Savant]

This is the thing, this DVD-RW disc WAS copied to a DVD-R disc. Since the DVD-RW disc was in VR mode, I first used a program to convert the disc format from VR mode to video mode. It's this conversion that has introduced the problems. The disc that is converted gives me the issue, which is why I may end up trying a different conversion program to see if that fixes the problem. I was hoping to avoid it though since all of these programs cost money, so if I don't have to buy another program, I'm sure you can appreciate thT.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions, I'll try a couple more programs and see what happens.

[LJB]

I use Nerovision Express or Ulead dvd movie factory for editing & converting my .vro files to mpeg.
Download a demo and see if one of them will work for you.