Posted by Frank on 12/24/39 11:28

On Wed, 05 Oct 2005 20:59:09 +0100, in 'rec.video.desktop',
in article <Re: Cannot erase DVD-RW>,
Terry Pinnell <terrypin@dial.pipex.com> wrote:

>FWIW, here's a summary of the methodical tests I did with 10 identical
>brand DVD-RW discs, numbered #1 to #10.

I've been looking forward to this...

>#1 BAD
>Contents = Short MPG movie (video/audio)
>Lounge DVD player? NO
>PC PowerDVD? NO
>IsoBuster displays: Open Session 1
>Track 01 0 4.38 GB
>Surface scan initial message: "This is a packet written disc. Errors
>are not abnormal..."
>Surface scan results: About 48,000 errors when canceled at 2%

Bad disc. Scrap it. And stop using packet writing, please.

>#2 BAD?
>Contents = MoT movie (video/audio) Family tree
>Lounge DVD player? YES
>PC PowerDVD? NO
>IsoBuster displays: Open Session 1
>Track 01 0 4.38 GB
>Surface scan initial message: "This is a packet written disc. Errors
>are not abnormal..."
>Surface scan results: About 46,000 errors when canceled at 2%
>Question: Why can it play in lounge without any apparent flaws?

Bad disc, or at least marginal. Close the session and re-test in
IsoBuster. What sort of player (make and model) do you have in the
lounge? Also, how much drinking do you do in the lounge, as that may
have a bearing on the results? (Just kidding about the drinking
question.)

>#3 GOOD?
>Contents = MoT movie (video/audio) Competa; Les Estables
>Lounge DVD player? YES
>PC PowerDVD? YES
>Surface scan results: [DVD-RW:RITEK000V11A]
>No physical errors encountered. Your disc is still in good shape.

Sounds like a good disc to me. Would it be correct for me to say that
this disc ia a) finalized (or was perhaps not multi-session to begin
with) and b) wasn't packet-written?

>#4 BAD
>Contents = MoT movie (video/audio) Cologne
>Lounge DVD player? YES (recheck quality)
>PC PowerDVD? YES but keeps stopping
>Surface scan initial message: "This is a packet written disc. Errors
>are not abnormal..."
>Surface scan results: Large number, but froze at 93%

Sounds like another bad disc. And stop using packet writing, please.

>#5 BAD
>Contents = Short MPG movie (video/audio) LED circuit demo
>Lounge DVD player? NO
>PC PowerDVD? NO
>IsoBuster displays: Open Session 1
>Track 01 0 4.38 GB
>Surface scan initial message: "This is a packet written disc. Errors
>are not abnormal..."
>Surface scan results: 46 errors, but sort of froze at 31%, so
>unreliable result.

Sounds like another bad disc. And stop using packet writing, please.

>#6 GOOD?
>Contents = MoT movie (video/audio) Cologne
>Lounge DVD player? YES
>PC PowerDVD? YES
>Surface scan results: [DVD-RW:RITEK000V11A]
>No physical errors encountered. Your disc is still in good shape.

Looks to me like a good disc.

>#7 GOOD?
>Contents = Blank
>Lounge DVD player? NO
>PC PowerDVD? NO
>IsoBuster displays: Track 01
>0 0.00 KB 0
>Surface scan results: [DVD-RW:RITEK000V11A]
>No physical errors encountered. Your disc is still in good shape.

Looks like a good unused disc, or one that was used and then
successfully erased.

>#8 GOOD
>Contents = MoT movie (video/audio) Ethan 1st 6 Months
>Lounge DVD player? YES
>PC PowerDVD? YES
>Surface scan results: [DVD-RW:RITEK000V11A]
>No physical errors encountered. Your disc is still in good shape.

Looks like another good disc. If you want to keep it that way, do not
attempt to write any additional data to it, although I suspect that it
didn't begin life as a multi-session disc anyway, but that's just a
guess.

>#9 BAD
>Contents =
>Lounge DVD player? NO
>PC PowerDVD? NO
>IsoBuster displays: Open Session 1
>Track 01 0 4.38 GB
>Surface scan initial message: "This is a packet written disc. Errors
>are not abnormal..."
>Surface scan results: About 48,000 errors when canceled at 2%

Bad disc, or at least marginal. Close the session and re-test in
IsoBuster.

>#10 BAD?
>Contents = MoT movie (video/audio) Italian Holiday (draft 1)
>Lounge DVD player? YES
>PC PowerDVD? NO (There's a brief flash of the OLD over-writen menu,
>not seen on lounge player.)
>IsoBuster displays: Open Session 1
>Track 01 0 4.38 GB
>Surface scan initial message: "This is a packet written disc. Errors
>are not abnormal..."
>Surface scan results: (POSTPONED)
>Question: Why can it play in lounge without any apparent flaws?

It plays in your Lounge DVD player because that player is using
somewhat different logic than the PowerDVD player program on your PC.
This isn't much different a situation than the playback
incompatibilities that one normally encounters when playing burned
DVD-Video discs on different (telly-attached) set top DVD players.

In summary, although I think that you may have gotten some bad discs
in your package of ten, I also think that some of the problems you're
seeing could have been avoided by finding an author/burn procedure
which works in your particular setup and sticking to it. Also, I would
suggest not using packet writing. It's simply not reliable on some
systems. Also, if you happen to have any other standalone DVD players
in the house, or any other computers with DVD drives (even if they are
just DVD-ROM drives and not writers) test all important discs in them
as well before you consider a given project to be complete and delete
the original source files.

It's some extra work, but when I have an important DVD-Video disc to
give to someone, I test it in three different standalone DVD players
and two different computer DVD drives. Also, I burn two copies of the
material, one on DVD-R media and another on DVD+R media, to help
increase the probability that the recipient will be able to
successfully play the disc, or at least one of them. I also test both
discs in IsoBuster to ensure that they are error free. I do this in
two different DVD drives. I test DVD-ROM (data) discs as well, using
the same procedures as above, except not in standalone DVD players, of
course.

HTH.

--
Frank, Independent Consultant, New York, NY
[Please remove 'nojunkmail.' from address to reply via e-mail.]
Read Frank's thoughts on HDV at http://www.humanvalues.net/hdv/

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