I am using TDK CD-R , Phillips CDR-2000 and CDRWin to burn my first VCD. I have NO problem to play this VCD on every PCs but I see NOTHING from my Pioneer DV515 . I also try this VCD on a CHEAP "no brand" VCD player (made in PRC) without any problem.

Does anyone has any idea why it only NOT work on my Pioneer?

Thank you K.C.

-- K.C. (kcchiu@realwww.com), September 11, 2000

Answers

is it possible the 515 like the 606d does not like cdrs?? Did yopu try a cdrw?

-- Doug (mazinz@aol.com), September 11, 2000.

CDRWin burns VCDs? Since when? Which version? Are you sure you're not just burning the .mpg file as a data CD?

-- Frankie G (frankG74@hotmail.com), September 12, 2000.

Using VCDimager ( GPL ) to create a bin/cue I'de bet. If they are not, bingo that would be a problem.

-- eric (eric@nospam.snowmoon.com), September 12, 2000.

To answer Frank about using CDRWs to burn VCDs ...

You can use a CDRW disc as media for most anything. Just don't format it for use in a "packet writing" environment. Most burner software has an "ERASE CD" function in their menus. So if you have a CDRW that is already formatted, just use the "erase" function to render it a blank usable CD. Of course you have to have a CDRW DRIVE to write to it. A straight CDR drive will have trouble writing to a CDRW Disc.

Basically you are just using a blank, unformatted CDRW disc as though it were a blank CDR. You can't drag and drop files etc (that's why you format it for that use), but you can use it as a "data", or "music" or "VCD" disc. Just run your authoring software as normal.

The only draw back is that you have to pay attention to the burning speed maximum of the disc. Ie. if you have a 12x4x CDRW burner and are using a CDRW Disc to do regular CDR burning you have to set the max speed to that of the CDRW (4x).

Many of us who have been into this VCD and SVCD stuff for a while learned to use CDRW discs for testing. When I'm experimenting with something new and unfamiliar, I always first burn to a CDRW disc. If it doesn't work, a few seconds to erase it, and I have my blank disc ready to use again. Once I've confirmed my latest "theory or test" and am able to get a proper final disc, I then switch to regular old CDRs.

Another reason some are using CDRW for media with VCD is because the reflectivity of that type of media is a little closer to that of a commerically pressed DVD. WHICH is what those stand alone DVD players' lasers are tuned to work with. The DVD players that have DUAL lasers will almost always work with home made VCDs authored onto consumer CDR media. But single laser DVD players are only made with a single laser that is optimized for the wavelength of a commercially pressed DVD "or" VCD. It can't read consumer CDR media. BUT, sometimes the plus/minus tolerance of that single laser DVD player is broad enough to get it (near) to the reflectivity of some CDR-W media. Trial and error will tell you what type (gold on gold etc.) works best with your DVD player.

Just remember, although you "may" be able to "trick" your DVD media only player into reading your CDRW media, it IS only a "work around". Some are more "forgiving" and some won't work with any media other than actual commercially pressed DVD discs. This is why you must be careful when buying your first DVD player with the intent of playing back your consumer based media stuff, be it VCD, SVCD, or music. Just because the player says it can play VCD etc., doesn't mean it can play VCD made on "non-commercially pressed" media, aka consumer CDR.

Hope this helps clarify some of your questions.

-- Rich (richa@home.com), September 12, 2000.

nicely put rich ...

-- hitechjunkie (jconde@tidalwave.net), September 15, 2000.