DVD-R has wrong flags in VOB

[Gibson's Squares]

I've recorded a DVD-R in my Panasonic DVD recorder, and finalised it. One continuous title, no breaks.

VLC won't play the first of the 4 VOBs on the disc. Another program used for thumbnailing also refuses to load it. The disc plays fine in DVD Player.

When I checked the rogue VOB in MediaInfo it incorrectly states the video as being NTSC (it's actually PAL), 29.970 fps (it's actually 25fps) and dimensions of 352px x 240px (it's 720x576). Acording to MediaInfo there's not even any audio either, which there def is coz I can hear it when I play it through DVD Player!

How can I fix this info in the VOB so the DVD is more robust?

[Baldrick]

What happens if you try for example vob2mpg on the dvd/video_Ts folder? Do you get a single mpg with same incorrectly video details?

[DB83]

The scenario you describe is next to impossible.

I would follow Baldrick's lead and rip that dvd-r to a single mpeg using vob2mpg and burn the mpeg back to dvd using avstodvd/imgburn

[Gibson's Squares]

Next to impossilbe in what way DB83?


Here's what mediaInfo said about the original rogue VTS_01_1.VOB:

General
Complete name : VTS_01_1.VOB
Format : MPEG-PS
File size : 1 024 MiB
Duration : 33ms
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 260293104484

Video
ID : 224 (0xE0)
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format settings, BVOP : No
Format settings, Matrix : Custom
Duration : 33ms
Bit rate mode : Variable
Width : 352 pixels
Height : 240 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 3:2
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Standard : NTSC
Color space : YUV
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Compression mode : Lossy

Menu

However here's what it reported for the second VOB on the disc. The remaining two VOBs also have the same specs:

General
Complete name : VTS_01_2.VOB
Format : MPEG-PS
File size : 1 024 MiB
Duration : 50mn 47s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 2 819 Kbps

Video
ID : 224 (0xE0)
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@Main
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, Matrix : Custom
Format settings, GOP : M=3, N=12
Duration : 50mn 47s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 2 506 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 9 549 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 576 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Standard : PAL
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan order : Top Field First
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.242
Stream size : 911 MiB (89%)
Color primaries : BT.470-2 System B, BT.470-2 System G
Transfer characteristics : BT.470-2 System B, BT.470-2 System G
Matrix coefficients : BT.470-2 System B, BT.470-2 System G

Audio
ID : 189 (0xBD)-128 (0x80)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Muxing mode : DVD-Video
Duration : 50mn 47s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 256 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 93.0 MiB (9%)

Menu

I tried creating a single Mpeg with vob2mpg - the flags remain wrong but in a slightly different way. MediaInfo now claims there's no video at all.

Here's what MediaInfo says about the new combined single file:

General
Complete name : VTS_01.mpg
Format : MPEG-PS
File size : 4.04 GiB
Duration : 576ms
Overall bit rate : 60195754666

Audio
ID : 189 (0xBD)-128 (0x80)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Muxing mode : DVD-Video
Duration : 576ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 256 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 18.0 KiB (0%)

Menu

I checked it with Gspot and it at least saw the video, but again reported it as NTSC, 320x240. VLC still refuses to play it.


So I've recorded a few more DVDs using this same DVD Recorder and the resulatant finalised discs all exhibit this same quirk.

Womble MPEG Video Wizard reads the disc and VOBs fine. I found if I trim a few frames off the beginning and make either a single MPG or full DVD, all flags get written correctly (this is without re-encoding BTW).

But it's still frikkin annoying.
Is there no way to just edit the existing bad flags rather than re-output the video?

[theewizard]

Gibson
is this a NEW dvd recorder ?
this sounds like a deliberate attempt by the mfg to prevent a DVD that can be played in a PC or copied

[usually_quiet]

So I've recorded a few more DVDs using this same DVD Recorder and the resulatant finalised discs all exhibit this same quirk.

Womble MPEG Video Wizard reads the disc and VOBs fine. I found if I trim a few frames off the beginning and make either a single MPG or full DVD, all flags get written correctly (this is without re-encoding BTW).

But it's still frikkin annoying.
Is there no way to just edit the existing bad flags rather than re-output the video?

The incorrect flagging seems like a bug. You could try DVDPatcher to see if it can correct the flags.

I avoid using VOBs as media files because VOBs are not really designed to be used on their own. If I want a media file, I use VOB2MPG or MakeMKV on the DVD to repackage the audio and video in a container that is intended to be used by itself.

[DB83]

Gibson
is this a NEW dvd recorder ?
this sounds like a deliberate attempt by the mfg to prevent a DVD that can be played in a PC or copied

But that disk is out of spec. It should not play anywhere. Unless.....

Just one question. Is the disk recorded in 'video mode' or 'video recording mode'. A common mistake (I did it myself years ago). So that disk only plays in the recorder not in another player.

[Gibson's Squares]

Gibson
is this a NEW dvd recorder ?
this sounds like a deliberate attempt by the mfg to prevent a DVD that can be played in a PC or copied

But that disk is out of spec. It should not play anywhere. Unless.....

Just one question. Is the disk recorded in 'video mode' or 'video recording mode'. A common mistake (I did it myself years ago). So that disk only plays in the recorder not in another player.

It's not a new recorder, no. It's a Panasonic DMR-EZ48V (circa 2009). I know this model has been reported as 'buggy', but this is a bit much!

I've been using DVD-Rs, so assume I have definitely been recording in Video Mode, as Video Recording Mode only works on DVD-RW discs.

One thing I noticed after my previous post is that the tiny VIDEO_TS.VOB file (not sure what it is? A menu?) does have the correct flags. I wonder if the DVD Players are reading this file first and ignoring any further flags, and that's why it plays in every DVD player I've tried? (It's only that first VOB that won't play in isolation using software on a computer) That's just a guess, as I did set the disc to play automatically and not show the menu first, but maybe it reads that file and doesn't display it??? I dunno...

Here's what MediaInfo says about the VIDEO_TS.VOB file:

General
Complete name : VIDEO_TS.VOB
Format : MPEG-PS
File size : 60.0 KiB
Duration : 40ms
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 12.3 Mbps

Video
ID : 224 (0xE0)
Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@Main
Format settings, BVOP : No
Format settings, Matrix : Default
Duration : 40ms
Bit rate mode : Variable
Maximum bit rate : 8 648 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 576 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Standard : PAL
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan order : Top Field First
Compression mode : Lossy
Color primaries : BT.470-2 System B, BT.470-2 System G
Transfer characteristics : BT.470-2 System B, BT.470-2 System G
Matrix coefficients : BT.470-2 System B, BT.470-2 System G

Text
ID : 189 (0xBD)-32 (0x20)
Format : RLE
Format/Info : Run-length encoding
Muxing mode : DVD-Video

Menu

[hech54]

it plays in every DVD player I've tried? (It's only that first VOB that won't play in isolation using software on a computer)

So all this time everyone here has been commenting on someone (you) trying to pull individual VOB files from a disc?

[DB83]

So it's a Panny. Given that they also support DVD-RAM I guess anything is possible.

I did a quick look at the manual and I could not see any specific recording-mode setting other than one that preports to 'fill a disk'.

But if the recorded disk does play in all the players you tried - what about PC players such as VLC ? - then why are you fretting ?

There is a section in the manual about copying recordings which I did not read but maybe they also have to be done within the machine.

Video_TS.vob is the menu - check 'What Is' on the top of this page for the dvd structure.

[Gibson's Squares]

But if the recorded disk does play in all the players you tried - what about PC players such as VLC ? - then why are you fretting ?

The disc does play as a DVD fine through VLC, but if I try and play that first VOB by itself in VLC, it won't play. (And remember, VLC rarely rejects anything!)

I'm only fretting because:
1. I've discovered I'm backing up all my VHSs to what appears to be corrupt/out-of-spec DVDs.
2. When I want to use the VOBs in other ways (eg to make thumbnails) the rogue VOBs are not recognised so I have to go through some long winded transcode process for what's usually a 5 second task.
3. There's absolutely no reason for any of this!

If anyone else has a Panasonic DMR-EZ48V DVD Recorder I'd be interested to hear if this bug is in their machine too, or just unique to mine.

[DB83]

Have you tried ripping the dvd to your HDD using dvddecrypter as a single vob rather than just copying the vobs from the disk.

Should not make a difference but you never know.

One thing you may want to consider is doing a recording for the forum and we can then take a closer look at the results. The recording will, naturally, have to span more than one vob. Then upload an iso somewhere for download.