Confusion with DVD recording/playback.
SemiConfusion
Posts: 16
Forum Member
Let me outline what I want to do, and the problems I have encountered.
My wife and I own a Toshiba D-R17DTKB DVD Video recorder. This is a fully capable HDMI, DIVX that records onto a quite decent range of DVD discs. We use DVD+RW and DVD-RW for day to day recording of Freeview Channels from our Samsung 32" which again is fully digitally compatible with just about every socket known to man.
We have never had any problem with either device, and consider both to have been excellent buys.
When we do a scan for channels, we get around 104 channels from the Stockland Hill mast. So we can get most channels that we want to view.
What I want to do, is to buy a simple DVD PLAYER, so that we can still record programmes onto the Toshiba, but also watch any programmes that we have previously recorded on this DVD Player.
And this is where we have hit quite ridiculous problems. Virtually every DVD player that we have tried, CLAIMS to play DVD-RW and DVD+RW. But they do not!!
Some require us to 'finalise' the discs before being able to play them. The Toshiba Unit allows us to do this, and also has an 'undo finalise' capability, which is useful. So that's not a problem.
But having done this, when we place the disc into the brand new all singing and dancing DVD Player, all we get is "Disc Not Supported" or Disc not recognised.
We have tried Sony, Verbatim, Fuji, Kodak and other discs and NOT ONE of them will play in any plain simple DVD player that we have tried. All the units have been brand new. I have now returned 6 to various retailers, because they don't do what they say they will do.
So the question, quite simply is this.
I understand that there are numerous formats of DVD. But what I can't get my head round are these claims on virtually all new players on the market these days, is that they PLAY DVD+RW and DVD-RW disc, when they clearly do not.
They ALL play fine on the Toshiba. No problem at all. So it's not disc problems.
So does ANYONE know of a plain simple, bog standard DVD Player that actually does what it claims to do, because so far, none of them will do what they say they will do.
There is surely a simple solution to what many tens of thousands of people do regularly, and that's record and play TV programmes.
As far as I am concerned, if a DVD player says it will play pre-recorded discs of the formats I use in the recorder, then it should do that. I'm not remotely interested in the banding/layers/ production, or any other techno-babble that most websites go on about.......I just want a Player that works like it says it will work on the box.
I find it ludicrous that I can't take a recorded disc from my recorder, and simply play it on another player, whatever make or type it is. There seem to be big problems though.
Thanks if you can help.
My wife and I own a Toshiba D-R17DTKB DVD Video recorder. This is a fully capable HDMI, DIVX that records onto a quite decent range of DVD discs. We use DVD+RW and DVD-RW for day to day recording of Freeview Channels from our Samsung 32" which again is fully digitally compatible with just about every socket known to man.
We have never had any problem with either device, and consider both to have been excellent buys.
When we do a scan for channels, we get around 104 channels from the Stockland Hill mast. So we can get most channels that we want to view.
What I want to do, is to buy a simple DVD PLAYER, so that we can still record programmes onto the Toshiba, but also watch any programmes that we have previously recorded on this DVD Player.
And this is where we have hit quite ridiculous problems. Virtually every DVD player that we have tried, CLAIMS to play DVD-RW and DVD+RW. But they do not!!
Some require us to 'finalise' the discs before being able to play them. The Toshiba Unit allows us to do this, and also has an 'undo finalise' capability, which is useful. So that's not a problem.
But having done this, when we place the disc into the brand new all singing and dancing DVD Player, all we get is "Disc Not Supported" or Disc not recognised.
We have tried Sony, Verbatim, Fuji, Kodak and other discs and NOT ONE of them will play in any plain simple DVD player that we have tried. All the units have been brand new. I have now returned 6 to various retailers, because they don't do what they say they will do.
So the question, quite simply is this.
I understand that there are numerous formats of DVD. But what I can't get my head round are these claims on virtually all new players on the market these days, is that they PLAY DVD+RW and DVD-RW disc, when they clearly do not.
They ALL play fine on the Toshiba. No problem at all. So it's not disc problems.
So does ANYONE know of a plain simple, bog standard DVD Player that actually does what it claims to do, because so far, none of them will do what they say they will do.
There is surely a simple solution to what many tens of thousands of people do regularly, and that's record and play TV programmes.
As far as I am concerned, if a DVD player says it will play pre-recorded discs of the formats I use in the recorder, then it should do that. I'm not remotely interested in the banding/layers/ production, or any other techno-babble that most websites go on about.......I just want a Player that works like it says it will work on the box.
I find it ludicrous that I can't take a recorded disc from my recorder, and simply play it on another player, whatever make or type it is. There seem to be big problems though.
Thanks if you can help.
0
Comments
If your Toshiba is faulty, and really can't finalise discs (in the true sense of the word) then you may be able to finalise them using PC software with your DVD writer and computer/laptop.
At a guess, you have been using VR mode for your rewritable discs. Which will not play in any standard DVD player.
We will try this over the coming weekend, and I will get back to you.
I think the reason this has not become apparent is that we must have something set to auto, because when we put a brand new disc into the Toshiba, it automatically just goes straight to "Formatting Disc".
As it's done this from new, we've never even realised that there was an option to set this up manually.
You may well have solved this........ Thanks again.
From what i understand, digital *broadcast* info such as picture formatting is lost when burning into dvd format, so when playing it back the machine simply gets no widescreen data and defaults to 4x3.
Though I believe DVD-R type disks can record the aspect ratio flag but DVD+R type disks do not.
I think from memory the only way around it for me was to change the dvd player/box settings, which is a pain to keep doing, and putting back to normal again afterwards.
So the TV was overriding the aspect ratio sent over HDMI in that instance. Though I'm not entirely sure what exactly the Humax was sending. But it certainly wasn't a 4:3 image pillar boxed into a 16:9 frame as I doubt the TV would deal with that.
I would image that if the OP's DVD sent a full frame signal to the TV rather than pillar boxing it, then it should be possible to expand 16:9 out or pillar box 4:3 on the TV as appropriate.
So I have now tackled it from another angle. It may not be the best way round it, but it works, and we now have more features.
I have put the Toshiba recorder back to where it was. Aerial from the roof into the IN socket, HDMI cable from the HDMI1 outlet on the TV to the back of the recorder, Scart into the scart from AV1 on the TV, and aerial out up to the TV. We can now play, record and use the unit just like before.
But what I have now also done is to put up another aerial, and we have bought a Bush Digital Freeview Recorder HDD. Amazingly cheap at £47.00GBP. This has a 500Gb hard drive, and also allows timeslip tv, twin channel recording etc etc. So far it has been brilliant, and we have recorded about 12 programmes so far. These are for us to watch whilst the Olympic Games are on, because neither of us have the remotest interest in sports or Olympics.
Again I have the second aerial from the roof into the IN socket on the HDD recorder, Scart into the scart from AV2 on the TV and aerial out up to the TV.
As the TV only has one Aerial IN socket, we have used a simple 3 way connector to take both OUT aerial leads from the two devices, to the TV.
We can now record 3 programmes at once, and have no issues with signal strength, because each device has its own aerial input. We haven't used one aerial with a booster, because we have tried boosters in the past, without success.
So our problem has gone away, and we are pleased with the results.
Thanks for all suggestions and help.:)
My TV aerial lead runs into my Sky box, out of my Sky box and into my DVD recorder, out of my DVD recorder and in to my VCR, out of my VCR and into my television set. So, even though I have three other pieces of kit which require a terrestrial signal in, I don't need to feed any of them from a second TV aerial (or from some kind of booster).
Not saying what you have done is wrong - just saying that you didn't need to do what you have done.
Regarding the original problem - not being able to play discs recorded on your Toshiba DVDR on other DVD players - presumably you are now recording in Video mode rather than VR mode, and presumably you are now finalising the discs correctly (so that it won't allow you to unfinalise them later)?
Do you have a Samsung TV by any chance?
tbh, we dont make use of dvds much anymore, especially not home recordings anyway so we kinda side stepped the issue.
That's why we went with the extra aerial. It gives us a full signal to each device.
But thanks anyway.
as others said, i would try non-rewritables just to see.
I don't know if there is something like an azimuth setting with DVD recordings, where a recording on one player would not play on another, because some alignment is slightly off.