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For video is it better to burn at lower speed??

PostPosted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 9:56 pm
by socalrider
I currently have 2 burners both 16x capable.. One is a BenQ1620 and the other an Aopen1608..

I am primarily using Sony & TDK media that is 8x capable.. Some of the people I am sending dvd's too are having problems reading them on there dvd players.

Is it better to burn video at 4x and which is more compatible with most standalone dvd players.. I have read the DVD -R media is more compatible but is that true??

Thanks..

PostPosted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 2:37 am
by Justin42
In my experience... (I.e., please don't flame just because my experiences aren't the same as yours).

1. DVD-R is marginally more compatible than DVD+R. There are caveats, if your drives can do bitsetting (I think the BenQ can?) you can change the +R disc to read like a DVD-ROM (oversimplification, but in the software it's just a checkbox). People swear this works; in my experience, MOST DVD players will either play NO type of recordable media, or will play either. The few players I've seen choke on +R usually can start up the disc fine, but just have trouble continually reading the disc (like it's a reflectivity issue?).

It is possible the people you're sending discs to have units that simply won't work with recordable media. DVD players from the last couple of years should be fine, but once you get too much past that (4+ years) it's hit and miss.

2. I usually burn around 1/2 the rated speed of the disc and it works pretty well for compatibility. In my experience, 2X is a good speed to burn video DVDs. I've been doing 4X burning on some Taiyo Yuden 8X DVD-R media (Made in Japan Fuji) and they seem to be playing back well as well. I think it's part old wives tale and part true that slowing down the burn speed is more compatible. I wouldn't burn a disc at 16X for video at this stage for any reason (The media and burners are just too immature).