Making DVDs and video CDs (VCD) can be a very frustrating process, resulting in lots of $2.00 coasters. DVD's fail to work for two primary reasons: the disc and the player. You don't have much control over the player but there are several things you can do to make your DVDs as compatible as possible.
The industry standard disc is the DVD-R, which will play in most DVD players. There are several other types of disc on the market: DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-ROM, etc. These formats often cause both the audio and video to skip, or not to play at all. You may be o.k. using these formats, but be warned. The more obscure the brand, the more apt you are to have compatibility problems. Taiyo Yuden is anecdotally considered the "best" brand on the market but there is no objective evidence to suggest that they are significantly better than others. VideOccasions has used a variety of brands over the years with very few failures. Verbatim, Ritek and Pioneer brands have excellent track records, as well as others and you can find many of these brands at your office and computer supply store.
Here are some suggestions that may help you in preparing and burning DVDs. |
Last updated: 2/11/13