View Full Version : HD-DVD disks don't seem to work on players


Scott Jaco
July 3rd, 2006, 12:58 PM
Hi,

I recently Authored an HD-DVD w/ DVD studio pro 4.0

This was burned on a recordable DL DVD w/ my Imac.

The HD-DVD plays perfectly on the IMac using the generic DVD player program.

I took the disk into Best Buy and tried it on a stand alone HD-DVD player.
It recognized the disk and played the opening menu, but when I tried to play the movie, it just froze, I could hear a little audio skipping but it just couldn't read the disk.

Are these new HD DVD players sensitive to recordable media? Is there any particular brand of recordable DL DVD media that works better with these players?

It seemed to almost work but almost isn't good enough when I'm charging clients for HD DVD authoring.

P.S. This HD-DVD doesn't work at all in Blu-Ray DVD players. I though it would since they are suppose to support H.264, but so far only the HD-DVD can even tell it's there.

Any help would be appreciated!

Scott

Tomas Chinchilla
July 3rd, 2006, 01:32 PM
Not really an issue with media, if you do a little search on this forum you will see my review!

Click on my name and "Find more posts by ??"

Scott Jaco
July 3rd, 2006, 08:38 PM
So your HD-DVD works except for the menus.

Again, what brand of recordable DVD are you using? Is it Dual Layer?

I still think that these HD-DVD players are very picky about what kind of recordable HD-DVD's will work on their machines.

Mine works perfectly on Imac machines so I know that the disk is not corrupt.
I used the cheap no-name DL DVD's at Fry's. If anyone can recommend a name brand DL DVD to use, I'm willing to give it another try.

Scott

Tomas Chinchilla
July 3rd, 2006, 08:41 PM
I have used mixed brands with success, I actually have not had any issues other than menus including dual and single layer!

Scott Jaco
July 3rd, 2006, 09:22 PM
Cool, maybe it's just the player that is messed up. Perhaps the second generation HD-DVD players will have the bugs worked out to read the recordable media better. I still think it's bad that the menu's don't work.

If my disk works perfectly on a computer then it has to be the player's fault for not being able to read the disk.

I run an event videography business. I shoot everything in High Def and I include a Standard & HD DVD with each package. I just want to be sure that I'm giving my clients something that will work. I don't want to tell them that the HD-DVD is uncertain.

Maybe I should e-mail Toshiba and ask them if a certain type of media is prefered on their players.

Scott

Tomas Chinchilla
July 3rd, 2006, 09:27 PM
Actually is DVD Studio, there is an app on windows that will build the menus and they are usable "As Reported on several forums"

The player is fine, just build your DVD with no menus just for test purposes and make your movie "First Play" or take your current DVD and open the slidding box on the remote and choose a chapter.

Also, if you're using H264 it will not work. This is apparently another issue with Apple, I've seen reports that the AVC codec works good as well.

Scott Jaco
July 3rd, 2006, 09:55 PM
Also, if you're using H264 it will not work. This is apparently another issue with Apple, I've seen reports that the AVC codec works good as well.

I used H.264 for this HD-DVD. Would it be better to let DVD studio do the actual encoding? rather than using Compressor?

Tomas Chinchilla
July 3rd, 2006, 09:59 PM
You could do that, or run it thru compressor, now I am not a fan of either because of the well known issues with it after the 2.??? updates.

I personally edit in HD and send back to tape, then I recapture using DVHSCAP (that you can download as part of the development kit from apple), this will capture the footage as MPEG2, then I run this thru MPEGSTREAMCLIP to demux it and import it into DVDSP4.

Sounds like a long process and it is, but you can't beat the resulting quality no matter what.

Scott Jaco
July 3rd, 2006, 10:09 PM
You could do that, or run it thru compressor, now I am not a fan of either because of the well known issues with it after the 2.??? updates.

I personally edit in HD and send back to tape, then I recapture using DVHSCAP (that you can download as part of the development kit from apple), this will capture the footage as MPEG2, then I run this thru MPEGSTREAMCLIP to demux it and import it into DVDSP4.

Sounds like a long process and it is, but you can't beat the resulting quality no matter what.

Thanks for all your help. I've decided to simply not offer the HD-DVD as part of the service package any longer. They just haven't worked out the bugs yet. I'm sure in less than a year, they will have a software update as well as 2nd generation HD-DVD players that are more compatible.

It also takes forever to encode using H.264.
The ideal situation would be to purchase a Blu-Ray burner when the price becomes reasonable. Personally, I think Blu-Ray is a better format anyway.

Thanks!

Scott

Scott Jaco
July 3rd, 2006, 10:56 PM
Also, if you're using H264 it will not work. This is apparently another issue with Apple, I've seen reports that the AVC codec works good as well.

That is so annoying! I thought Blu-Ray and HD-DVD were suppose to support H.264! Now I'm finding out it was all crap.

So as of right now, my HD-DVD will only play on a Mac. That is false advertising.

Compressor only offers H.264 for High Defintion. I guess I have to wait to see which format wins, then get a new burner to support it.