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Recording on DVD -RW discs |
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#1 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 24,029
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Recording on DVD -RW discs
ok I've got a DVD recorder with a hard drive , and I've slowly been getting used to it but I'm still unsure about something -
DVD-RW discs are re-recordable right ? so I can record on them , then erase and record on them again . right ? well if I want to record something on the DVD-RW disc do I have to finalise it before I can play it back on another dvd player ? and if I do finalise it can I still erase it and record over it ? |
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#2 |
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Join Date: Dec 2011
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'well if I want to record something on the DVD-RW disc do I have to finalise it before I can play it back on another dvd player ?'
Yes, most Players prefer finalised Discs. The -RW and +RW disc variants are not so compatible as the -R or +R Discs. Older players may not like them. You'll have to look at the specs for the individual Player. DVD-R are the most compatible but they are of course write once. 'and if I do finalise it can I still erase it and record over it ?' Yes you can, that's the point of a DVD-RW (or DVD+RW). |
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#3 |
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Join Date: May 2005
Location: Redditch Worcs
Posts: 17,296
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Well you can on my DVDR, you just have to reformat the disc.
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#4 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Suffolk
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You may have to set the DVD-RW to Video Mode to make it more compatible before you record and finalise.
My Pioneer and Panasonic players are ok with VR-mode though. As they're re-writables give each a try you've nothing to lose except your time. |
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#5 |
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Join Date: Aug 2006
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Quote:
You may have to set the DVD-RW to Video Mode to make it more compatible before you record and finalise.
My Pioneer and Panasonic players are ok with VR-mode though. As they're re-writables give each a try you've nothing to lose except your time. |
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#6 |
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Join Date: May 2005
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Quote:
yeah , this is the bit in the manual that has me confused - Video Mode and VR-Mode ... what are they ? whats the difference ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD-Video |
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#7 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Suffolk
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What make is your recorder?
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#8 |
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Join Date: Aug 2006
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Quote:
What make is your recorder?
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#9 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Suffolk
Posts: 960
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Only had experience of Pioneer and Panasonic, prefer the Pioneers myself.
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#10 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 2,484
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Some recorders like Pioneer will allow you to record on RW discs , finalise them to play elsewhere then undo that finalise in order to add more content.
Other recorders will only allow you to record on a finalised RW by reformatting which deletes all the content. AFAIK Panasonic recorders do not record in VR mode even though they may play it. If you want to do the fancy editing that VR mode allows for Panasonic still expect you to use RAM. But if you have a hard drive you should record everything on there so that you can edit it and then you just copy the recording directly to disc. |
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#11 |
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Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: London
Posts: 20,282
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Purchasing a -RW only recorder a few years was the worst decision I made, I have tons of -RW's that will no longer work once my player packs up as my other machines including my DVD rewriter won't play them.
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#12 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
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Quote:
Purchasing a -RW only recorder a few years was the worst decision I made, I have tons of -RW's that will no longer work once my player packs up as my other machines including my DVD rewriter won't play them.
If they still play on the recorder but nowhere else that will be the problem although assuming you didn't read the instructions properly you might have recorded in VR mode instead of VIDEO mode And if you plan on keeping recordings you should write to -R or +R. RW discs are for watch and wipe not for archiving If the discs still play on the recorder then you should have no problems getting the recordings off them and onto more compatible discs. If they still play on the recorder it is highly unlikely anything is wrong with them. Based on what you've said I would go for "user error" as the problem. What make is the machine. If you don't know how to use it properly it won't have made any difference whether you bought -RW or +RW Additional info should help in pointing you in the right direction to retrieve your recordings Assuming its as simple as not being finalised , you should find the option in the recorder setup. Once you've finalised a disc it should play in other players. If you've recorded in VR mode you'll need a PC drive that reads VR and you can copy them to the PC then back to a -R disc |
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#13 |
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Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: London
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Quote:
The likely reason they won't play is because you didn't finalise them.
If they still play on the recorder but nowhere else that will be the problem although assuming you didn't read the instructions properly you might have recorded in VR mode instead of VIDEO mode As you say, all of the recordings to the -RW's are in VR mode, although I've figured out how to format into video mode, which should resolve future recordings with those discs. However, I did finalise other -RW discs, but as they're in VR mode, they still won't work in my other recorders. |
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#14 |
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Join Date: Nov 2008
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So many people saying the same thing and still some confusion, so here's my version based on my Pioneer and Sony recorders.
For discs to be playable in other standard dvd players, the disc must be -R or -RW in Video Mode and finalised. If your recorder has the ability/option to format a -RW disc in either Video Mode or VR Mode you must ensure the disc is formatted in Video Mode before recording to it or transferring recordings to it from the hard drive and that the disc is then finalised. If you want to reuse the disc you can either unfinalise it and then delete some or all of the recordings but bear in mind if you delete selective recordings from a Video Mode disc you only gain new space for more recordings when you delete the last recording in the list. If you have recordings A,B,C,D and you delete recording B you won't gain the space for reuse but you will if you delete recording D, and then C and so on. If you delete recordings from a VR Mode disc you can reuse space created by any deletion because a VR Mode disc acts as a mini 4.3 GB hard drive. Or, if you want to reuse the whole disc in any mode it's easiest to reformat rather than unfinalise and delete recordings, as reformatting wipes it clean and readies it for new recordings. In my Pioneer and Sony machines there is a set up option where you can choose to have a new unformatted RW disc automatically formatted in either Video Mode or VR Mode the first time it's inserted into the machine as well as the option to manually format at any time. I'd have thought this was the same with any VR capable machine, check the manual. Any other offers? |
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#15 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
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Quote:
As you say, all of the recordings to the -RW's are in VR mode, although I've figured out how to format into video mode, which should resolve future recordings with those discs.
However, I did finalise other -RW discs, but as they're in VR mode, they still won't work in my other recorders. If your PC dvd drive is not too old you should find it will play finalised discs in VR mode. I have seen dvd playback programs that are many years old that will read VR mode discs . If yours won't you should be able to download one for free by doing a google search. If it does , copy them to the PC and then you can copy them back onto a -R disc - job done. Do you have a HDD in your dvdr? If you do you could also copy the VR content to the HDD although I find thats easiest with unfinalised discs and you can then transfer the content from disc to drive at high speed with no loss of quality. Finalised discs can usually only be copied one title at a time in real time and quality is lost Further to the post above- there should be a setting on your recorder that will automatically format discs when you use new ones and you can adjust the settings to VIDEO mode. The advantage of VR mode is that you can do sophisticated editing as good as you can do with hard drive recordings , something not possible in VIDEO mode or with DVD+ discs. As you have been able to finalise the discs I'm certain you'll be able to find a way to get the content from one disc to another using your PC . Even if you get a new PC dvd drive , they're pretty cheap |
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#16 |
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Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: London
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Quote:
You need to get them onto -R discs.
If your PC dvd drive is not too old you should find it will play finalised discs in VR mode. I have seen dvd playback programs that are many years old that will read VR mode discs . If yours won't you should be able to download one for free by doing a google search. If it does , copy them to the PC and then you can copy them back onto a -R disc - job done. Do you have a HDD in your dvdr? If you do you could also copy the VR content to the HDD although I find thats easiest with unfinalised discs and you can then transfer the content from disc to drive at high speed with no loss of quality. Finalised discs can usually only be copied one title at a time in real time and quality is lost Further to the post above- there should be a setting on your recorder that will automatically format discs when you use new ones and you can adjust the settings to VIDEO mode. The advantage of VR mode is that you can do sophisticated editing as good as you can do with hard drive recordings , something not possible in VIDEO mode or with DVD+ discs. As you have been able to finalise the discs I'm certain you'll be able to find a way to get the content from one disc to another using your PC . Even if you get a new PC dvd drive , they're pretty cheap The main reason I used VR was as you say to edit recordings down to what I wanted to watch. I don't have a HDD with my DVD-R as it's an old Sharp VHS/DVR-R combi. |
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#17 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Suffolk
Posts: 960
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I sold a couple of DVD players on fleabay the other month that would have sorted out your troubles. A Pioneer and a Panny they both went for under £20 so may be worth looking on there.
Playback on player and record on the dvd recorder simultaneously, bit of a faff I know. |
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#18 |
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 24,029
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thanks guys , well I got it figured out now , the video mode is the key .
altho oddly - when I first put the disc in the machine it initialised it to VR , I did a copy then of course it wouldn't play on my other player . so put it back in and re-formated it to Video mode and worked fine . btw - how long will DVD-RW discs last ? how many times can I copy over them ? |
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#19 |
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Suffolk
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I bought my first recorder (Pioneer DVR 220) in 2006 s/hand, it still works but is only used as back-up now.
Obviously I purchased some DVD-RWs then, some were Imation and others PC Line. These still work and have been formatted in VR and Video mode, depending on the purpose of the recording. I can honestly say I have never had any major issues with any of my DVD-RWs. |
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#20 |
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Join Date: Aug 2006
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Quote:
I bought my first recorder (Pioneer DVR 220) in 2006 s/hand, it still works but is only used as back-up now.
Obviously I purchased some DVD-RWs then, some were Imation and others PC Line. These still work and have been formatted in VR and Video mode, depending on the purpose of the recording. I can honestly say I have never had any major issues with any of my DVD-RWs. |
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#21 |
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Join Date: May 2009
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Quote:
whats Imation and PC Line?
http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/xx/2...criteresn.html |
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#22 |
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Sheffield
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Ive been using the same 5 Maxell DVD-RW discs now for a year to copy stuff from my sky HD box to my PC using my panasonic recorder and when i've finished coping the disc's contents onto my computer i format them on the pc and have never had a problem with unplayable discs
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