DVD Playback on TV troubles

I have a 20 minute documentary that was copied onto a DVD-R. It will play on the laptop no problem, but when used in the DVD Player for the TV, there's no picture, only sound.

The filename ends with a .wmv extension.

Thanks

 

DVDFlick will convert wmv to DVD format.

Another option if you have a DivX capable DVD player is to convert the WMV to Avi format, you can then burn the avi file to DVD disc as a data file which will play. This only works if your DVD player specifically has a logo for DivX on the player. Unless you were shopping for this capability it most likely does not in which DVDFlick is the best solution for getting a viewable disc.

 

Although plodr and sach2's tips should solve this since it's a file format issue, there are times when a DVD "burned" on a PC won't play on a standard DVD player.

I discovered this the hard way when I made several copies of something I'd produced and sent them out. Although they were mpeg format and would play with no issues using Windows Media Player, there were some issues with DVD players.

Although I'm still not 100% sure why this happened, a friend who works in the video industry explained that retail DVDs (Netflix, Blockbuster, etc.) are "stamped" in the same way old vinyl LPs were. On a "burned" DVD, the data is on a thinner layer; some DVD players (esp. older ones) have trouble reading it. The only other thing I found out after doing more experimenting was that DVD "-R" discs seem to do better on home DVD players than "+R" discs.

 

I'm not sure that .mpeg and DVD .vob files are exactly the same. People say just rename .vob to .mpeg and they are the same but I think there may be a difference.

A standalone DVD player wants a VIDEO_TS folder containing .ifo, .bup and .vob files. Basically indexes and the movie files. Some may play a .mpeg file like they can display .jpeg files but it is not their default play situation.

It is interesting that you found that DVD-R worked better in your players. I have read that and always try to keep a few -R(s) around should I want to write a DVD disc specifically for a player but inevitably use them for other purposes. In my personal experience +R discs have worked in all my DVD players going all the way back to the second year they were released. Even my piece of crap Sony that takes 5 minutes to read/recognize a retail DVD seems to have no problem reading one I burned on DVD +R. I was beginning to think the story of DVD -R being more universally recognized was made up. I'm glad to hear some first hand experience with the problem.

 

This may be urban legend, however I have heard the DVD "-R" was the original format developed for universal use; the DVD "+R" was developed by HP. Rather than start a VHS versus Betamax format war, HP and the rest of the industry made a quiet decision early on to make the technology for both basically "open source".

My research on this was admittedly unscientific: I burned a short video on both "-R" and "+R" DVDs, gave one of each to several friends and asked them to attempt to play them on their DVD player(s). The "-R" discs had fewer issues.

My other thought on the "+R" discs being an issue is my Panasonic DVD recorder. Insert a "-R" disc and it's ready to record in about 15 seconds. With a "+R" disc, it has to format it (about a 5 minute process) before it can record to it.

What advantage (if any) is there on using "+R" discs for anything? At present, I use "-R" discs for both data and video.

 

I'm going by memory but DVD+R is supposed to be slightly more reliable for data discs which is what I write 98% of the time.

I don't have a good link but I believe DVD-R has a slightly higher overhead in its formatting. It uses slightly more space between files for indexing.

So a DVD+R could hold a bit more data but this is only noticeable when completely filling the disc (say data of 4.35gb won't fit on a DVD-R according to your burning software but it would let you burn the same data to a DVD+R disc.) I think the difference is between 4.34gb and 4.37gb so this difference is not important most of the time.

I, personally, have seen little difference between the two formats but have seen enough sources preferring DVD+R for data that I buy them since I rarely burn DVDs for a standalone player movie but do burn a lot of data. Time will tell which discs are readable in the future but from what I have seen the DVD format is as flawed as the CD format in terms of long term longevity. I am awaiting a truly durable media format to preserve files for a long time that is truly indestructible and readable by any machine. I was hoping solid state drives would do this but I don't believe they are the answer either since they can get corrupted by long term use.

 

Hi All,

I don't have a good handle on this subject yet but find that using a program called DVDSTYLER I can convert .AVI to .ISO. Clicking on the .ISO causes ROXIO burner to jump up and offer to burn the DVD or CD. CDs usually have audio problems but the DVDs work OK on my Zenith DVD/CD/VHS Player. DVD Styler is supposed to also burn to disk but doesn't get along well with Roxio. It does do the ISOs OK. Hope this helps a little.

Luck, Jim

 

Hi! I've discovered that I may have 2 burning programs on my new little basic laptop?
"Windows DVD Maker" and "Cyberlink DVD Suite"

There's a bunch of numbers in a drop box in the Cyberlink program that I don't understand what are for. Pic attached.

So, if I understand correctly, I'm converting my existing .wmv to .mpg to play in the TV's DVD Player.

Is there a preference as to which program would be best for a newbie?
Thanks

(P.S. Also, is it ok to use DVD-RW if I don't have any DVD-R at the moment? At least until I find out if I can get the DVD to play in the TV player?)
Thanks muchly!

 

Converted the .wmv to .mpg format so it'll play in the TV's DVD Player, burned, tested and woohoo!
Done.

 

I would avoid doing the test with "RW" discs. My experience is that "RW" discs are even less likely to work in a stand-alone DVD player than "-R" discs.

On the bright side, I've seen 100-packs of "-R" DVDs as low as $15 at Fry's. Newegg, Office Depot, Staples, etc. often have deals close to this. If you mess a few up initially it's no great loss.