I burnt a vcds with adaptec easycd creator 5 and it said the mpeg was compliant and that the cd burnt correctly. But when I play them in my dvd player that does play vcds they either stop playing after about 15 minutes or the picture freezes and the sound keeps playing. I know the clip has more on it because when I play it on my computer the whole thing plays. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong and was hoping for some help. Thanks

-- pam Woods (pppek@attbi.com), January 31, 2003

Answers

You can not play a vcd on a dvd player. You need to have a cd player or a dvd combo player, which can run both cd as well as dvd cd's.

-- brao (bvkbrao@rediffmail.com), February 01, 2003.

No, brao, you're totally wrong.

You can play VCDs on a VCD capable DVD player (most DVD players are VCD capable). Millions of people are doing it.

Pam, find out whether the VCD you burned is in fact a VCD and not an SVCD. SVCD is encoded differently than VCD, and some DVD players have issues playing SVCDs. I have had problems in the past ranging from bouncing screens to the type of problem you have described. Check this article on compatible dvd players if you haven't already done so: http://www.vcdhelp.com/dvdplayers.php Find your DVD model and make, and the list should help you out by telling you if your player is SVCD capable.

If this doesn't answer your question, try making your VCD with Nero (http://www.ahead.de/ has a trial download for you), as opposed to Easy CD Creator. I may be wrong, but I'm sure I've heard some people in the past complain about Easy CD Creator writing software.

You can also try burning your VCD at the lowest speed possible for your Cd recorder.

There could also be problems with the type of media you are using. Some players seem to prefer specific brands of CD-R to others. If this is the case, then it's just a matter of trying out different ones until you get the right brand that works for you.

If all fails, email me for further consultation.

Regards

Dean Phillips SIM Solutions

-- Dean (dean.phillips@4mymail.co.uk), February 01, 2003.

The most common cause is burning the cd at too high a speed. I suffered from this picture freezing for a second or so but the sound keeps playing.

Burn you VCD at 1X speed and in 95% of the cases this fixes the problem. Otherwise it's the CD-R or your DVD player just does not like playing recorded media.

Try burning your VCD with the freeware program VCDeasy. I found this to work much better than Nero, or easy cd creator.

-- Jim Simms (xaus@hotmail.com), February 20, 2003.