An inside view on DVD technology

As a Videoographer, I often hear from clients that their DVD does not work or that they need a better copy. Some can not understand why a professional company can not give them a DVD that works! The problem actually lies in the DVD technology.

The most common flaw in today’s DVD technology is the incompatibility between certain types of recordable discs (DVD-Rs) and many brands of DVD players and playback devices.  The digital media industry has yet to release an international DVD-R format that is able to play back flawlessly in virtually every brand of DVD player.

Unlike video tapes, DVD discs do not actually contain video.  They contain digital information (code), which is decoded by the DVD player device. The problems begin if the decoding process is flawed by incompatibility or equipment limitations. If the digital information on a DVD is not processed correctly during playback, the video will appear distorted or sometimes will not play at all.  When a DVD-R is put into any standard DVD player, if the unit reads the coded information properly, the video plays back perfectly.  However, in many instances this is not the case.  Some older players (and even certain brands of the newest players) will not be able to recognize the information on the disc.  When this happens, some players will simply hold a blank screen with no sound.  These players have internal software telling them not to even attempt playback on a disc if it is not initially recognized by the player. 

There are also those players that will start to play the disc, but are not able to process all the disc’s data quickly enough for it to appear as normal playback.  In other words, there is digital error, which shows up on the viewer’s screen in any number of ways.  Sometimes the video or audio (or both) will appear to be skipping or freezing.  What we see as skipping is actually the player attempting to process more information than it is able to handle from a disc. This is similar to a computer that freezes or shows you an hour-glass while it is processing the information. In these situations, many people believe the disc must be scratched.  That is usually not the case.  In a case where the disc actually is scratched, it is often just a coincidence. To actually scratch a disc beyond a player’s recognition is very difficult to do!

Hollywood movies released on DVD are encoded completely different.  The technology used to mass produce and duplicate hundreds of thousands of copies is a technology that is not (yet) available on the types of editing systems that professional video production facilities use to produce videos for their clients.

I have had many customers who call me shortly after picking up their video.  “The VHS version is great and it plays perfectly, but our DVD keeps skipping.”  So I briefly explain why their disc may be functioning this way.  Often frustrated, they ask that I please take it back and look at it.  When these customers come back in to the studio, it is often the same reaction.  “I swear on my player it wasn’t working!  How is it playing so perfectly here? Do you have a special type of DVD player for the discs you burn here?”  Well, one question at a time.  First of all, I trust when you tell me it wasn’t playing properly on your player at home because of the fact that many players can’t process DVD-R’s.  Why is it playing flawlessly here?  Our studio uses a player whose brand I found to be the most effective in the flawless playback of recordable discs.  Lastly, the player we use here is not a special DVD player.  It is a regular consumer Panasonic brand DVD player that was purchased at 6th Avenue Electronics on Rt. 10 in Livingston.

What to do:  Is there a solution? Is there a setting or a way to make the disc play back on a player that initially cannot process it?  Unfortunately, No.  What I would recommend:  You just spent hundreds or sometimes thousands of dollars on the production of a video.  Of course you want to be able to watch it time and again.  The additional outlay of approximately $70 more to purchase a compatible DVD player is a good investment. Remember, that you are not necessarily going for higher priced or more elaborate, just compatible.  I recommend Panasonic.  Not even an expensive one.  An inexpensive DVD player may playback a DVD-R flawless, whereas an expensive one of a different brand may or may not be able to.  Seems twisted, but trust me… this will often solve all of your problems.  If you have this problem, first test your disc in a different DVD player.  Perhaps even a computer with a DVD drive.  It may play fine there, and problem solved.  If it doesn’t, try a new brand… one that you haven’t tried before.

It seems very frustrating when a video with such high production value cannot be seen, but the solution is usually very simple.