DVD players unfriendly to CD-Rs

[AlecWest]

I've burned a number of VCDs for Korean co-workers (music videos) and every one of them have played on their DVD players just fine (and play on my RCA DVD player just fine). But recently, I took one of my VCDs over to a friend's house to show him how they look. He has a Sony DVD player (can't remember model) but it wouldn't recognize the disc as a VCD. He had his owner's manual handy and it said it would play VCDs ... but NOT if they were recorded on a CD-R or CD-RW.

Stupid question, but here goes. Is there a simple way to explain how some DVD players "know" they're reading a CD-R? Or, here's three better questions (if the answer to my last one isn't hardware related):

1 -- Is there a specific way to burn a CD-R VCD that will allow them to be read by these pickier DVD players?

2 -- Are there some CD-R types or brands that can be read by them?

3 -- Is there specific software other than the Nero 5.5.6.4 I currently use that might burn a CD-R VCD that these pickier DVD players could read?

Thanks in advance to all who reply.

[baker]

try a differnt brand of cd-rs. Expensive ones especially.
Baker

[setagames]

i have a sony dvp s360 my manual said the same thing
i could'nt find any cds to work the i went to the dvd section of vcdhelper
and sound out about princo media with can be gotton online and in circuit city under the brand digital media
that might work

[AlecWest]

Thanks so much for the reply. I visited the link below:

http://cdrom2go.com/optical_media/princo.htm

and the site says Princo CD-R disks meet or exceed Orange Book part II specifications -- which, according to the "dvddemystified.com" FAQ is pretty much normal for CD-R disks. The FAQ also says:

"An effort to develop CD-R "Type II" media compatible with both CD and DVD wavelengths was abandoned."

However, the FAQ page goes on to say that CD-RW media (Orange Book part III) is compatible with most DVD players. Perhaps I should try both and see what happens. I've never burned a CD-RW with my Nero 5.5.6.4 software yet ... but there's always a first time. While my own VCDs play just fine on my RCA DVD player, it would be nice to be able to share them with others.

Again, thanks for your reply.