dbminter

I'm not a big fan of MKV over MP4. MKV tends to take longer to load for video editing, especially in things like AVIDeMux because it has to unpack some kind of video stream. And MP4 offers the subtitles that MKV has. I did have to use MKV specifically for converting Blu-Ray special features to DVD if I wanted to keep the subtitles from being permanently burned in.

No prob. As far as I know, ImgBurn never allowed the creation of ISO's of DVD's made by Panasonic DVD recorders. I've been using them since 2002, and all models apparently create new tracks/sessions each time a VTS is written to them. So, ImgBurn should probably never have allowed the creation of discs from them. I've always had to use Build mode or AnyDVD to create ISO's of those discs. But, you can use the Build mode and import the AUDIO_TS (if it exists) and VIDEO_TS from such a Panasonic DVD to create a new disc image and burn that. That's what I've done if I didn't use AnyDVD to create an ISO. Even AnyDVD has problems with Panasonic DVD recorder discs. It always detects structural copy protection, even on discs created BEFORE such a thing existed. It boils down to how the recorders make the DVD's that triggers false positives in the software.

LG has sent out the replacement refurbished WH16NS60. I may need it as the new one I got from Amazon.com a week ago this past Sunday is behaving somewhat oddly. The drive seems to get randomly stuck at writing LeadIn on BD-R. It doesn't actually do anything, it seems, as I just power off the enclosure and power it back on. Once communication is restored and the drive is recognized again I start the burn a second time, and it burns fine. Again, since it's random, it's hard to troubleshoot such an issue. And maybe I'm not waiting long enough. LeadIn generally takes 30 seconds on BD-R, but I did have it take 90 the other day. Next time, I'll try waiting 300 seconds and see if it still "locks up."

All I know is Filmora made a 720 x 480 4:3 MP4 and that was fed into ConvertXToDVD. The still image is just so I don't have a black/blank background playing while the audio plays. Some players, if you have a black screen, won't display the OSD properly. So, if I needed to check what Chapter I'm on or how far I'm into the video/how much time is left, I can't display it. So, I really actually prefer smaller resolutions because, in theory, that should reduce the size of the output video.

Here's your problem: I 21:01:28 Reading Session 1 of 1... (1 Track, LBA: 0 - 0) I 21:01:28 Reading Track 1 of 1... (MODE1/2048, LBA: 0 - 0) The drive thinks the first and last Logical Block Addresses are both at 0. Effectively, the drive is returning there is no data to be read in from the disc. LUK might be able to get more detailed debugging info from your drive for what it's returning from that disc. In the meantime, the only thing I can think of it try another drive if you have one. I just think the drive is returning there is no data but I've no idea why. If you have an external drive you can get a hold of, you can easily connect it up and see if you get the same results.

I knew you could change each chapter's length, but I didn't know there was a change to all chapters' lengths without changing the default, which cycled all chapters. I don't know how to check the resolution for a still image, but if you can figure it out, here's the image I used:

Thanks for leaving this post intact, even though you couldn't delete it to begin with. As you say, it could help someone else who searches the forum for the same issue. It's a somewhat confusing case. There was something called a Divx disc which is different today than a Divx disc. The old Divx was a proprietary DVD format that they basically wanted people to rent a disc each day they wanted to play it. Really stupid idea, people responded appropriately, and the format died quickly. Nowadays, Divx discs are just discs with Divx video container format files on them that some players can play natively.

I once requested something similar. The ability to write BIN/CUE plain single track Audio CD's to image files instead of to disc first. I forget if anything was said either for or against it at the time. In the meantime, you could try installing a virtual CD writer drive. With it installed, you could select it as the target drive, but an image file would be written instead. However, I tried this with some freeware virtual CD writer, I forget which, and it failed epicly. Died within less than a second of attempting to write to the virtual drive.

LG has some weird return policies. For instance, they only tell you when you try to send in something, but if you add any stickers or labels to the drive, it's considered voiding the warranty! Any excuse they can think of to get out of paying for the warranty. Glad I didn't do anything like that. I had a Post It on there, but I took it off before sending it in, obviously. It depends on a few factors like the compression used in the source file, but I can get about a 90 minute file converted in like 20 minutes. For another perspective, a book on CD I converted to DVD. It was an over 11 hour single file M4A that I used a single still image of the book cover as the video for. So, there wasn't a whole lot of video to begin with. Filmora made an about 1.6 GB MP4 from the 11 hours of audio and still video. That 11 hour MP4 converted in about 90 minutes. I had to change the default setting in ConvertXToDVD for that book on CD because the default of 5 minute chapters was not enough. The last chapter was like 3 hours long because it had reached the maximum 99 chapters. I temporarily changed the default to 15 minutes. Which is annoying because you can't just change it in a single project. If you change the setting, it changes it to the DEFAULT! So, you have to change it, save the project with the new value, then start a new project, and change it BACK to the default so it becomes the default option again!

I think that just makes my point clearer. It's even more than 5, so it's even more work. And even with a table listing the changes, each time still has to be implemented individually. If you change it to just one character, then you can create a Case statement where each Case is only performed with one change.

Well, it's easier on the programmer to just replace those with one character versus doing it for all 5.

No problem! I thought ImgBurn would make such changes itself if you didn't use UDF or some kind of file system that supported those unusual characters. It would rename files to compliant names, probably by replacing them with underscores.

If they do, they would most likely save just 1 disc for special features, make it the last in the set, and make it a DVD-9.

Looks like whoever made the GOT DVD's went cheap and used DVD-5's instead of lowering the disc count with DVD-9's.

And, as I said before, if your player supports playing MP4 files natively, you can probably fit an entire season on an SL disc depending on the size of the MP4's. However, if you're going for a DVD playable disc, it would vary how many episodes you could fit on a disc. 1 hour episodes are generally between 42 and 45 minutes, but that's factoring in commercials, which Game Of Thrones wouldn't. So, you should be able to fit comfortably the 2 episodes per SL disc mentioned already. Again, it depends on a few factors you'd have to experiment with.

There are a variety of factors that dictate how many "episodes" you can fit on an SL disc. It depends on 1.) the running time 2.) the compression/codec used on the source file and 3.) the application you're using. For instance, it's not unusual for ConvertXToDVD to fit 4 "1 hour" episodes on an SL without any significant video quality loss. The 120 minute label applied to SL DVD's was for standalone DVD video recorders like Panasonic's. And even then, you could choose higher compression rates and get 4 and 6 hours on an SL, but with significant video quality loss. There's even a 1 hour option for even better video quality.

If you have a DVD/Blu-Ray player that supports playing files such as MP4 natively, you can just burn a series of MP4 files to single layer DVD's. However, as was previously said, if you want DVD Video out of the MP4 files, you'll need a conversion software like ConvertXToDVD to create a VIDEO_TS first.

Got my first chance to use the 16x Verbatim BD-R in the LG WH16NS60. It only writes to 12x max on these. Granted, I only wrote 23 GB out of a total 25, but even at that, I got only 12.0x maximum write rate. I might have gotten above 12 with a full 25 GB, but not 16. LG writers always were slower than Pioneers, but given how Pioneer keeps borking the firmware of their BDR-2209, I'd rather have a stable, slower drive than one they're always messing up that does some things faster. I still want to try Pioneer's BDR-211UBK, though. The LG WH16NS40 was pretty bad at writing BD DL media, but the NS60 fixed that one nagging issue that prevented me from using that drive. The BDR-211UBK could be a similar case. It's an Ultra HD drive versus the 2209 which isn't. So, maybe Pioneer got this one right as it might have a different firmware. The firmware package is larger than than the 2209's. What worries me, though, is the firmware revision number is exactly the same as the most current for the 2209! This makes me think that whatever the 2209 is not doing right, the BDR-211UBK will also not do right. But, maybe I'll be wrong... most likely not! But, my 2209 stopped writing Ritek 8x DVD+RW anyway so I can't really use it over the WH16NS60. So, it gives me a good excuse to try the BDR-211UBK in maybe 2 months when I can scrape together $125.

Just got a call back (Finally.) from LG about my drive. They keep saying, because they did it twice, that they tried to reach me by phone but failed. I thought it was maybe boilerplate e-mail text, but I actually DID get a call from LG today! Funny thing is I was also getting e-mails saying they were contacting me about repairs for my TV instead! They initially wrote me back the first time saying I didn't supply the serial # from the device. Which is fine... except the LG idiots say RIGHT on their support submission form that sending the serial # is OPTIONAL! They told me to resend the request, so I did and this time it looks like I'm getting somewhere! They're sending me return shipping labels for me to send in the defective unit. They tell me the replacement will be a refurbished drive, but it will be "like new." As long as it works, it beats having lost $115 for only less than 2 months of use!

No. The last player I bought was a Playstation 3 in 2011. And I no longer recommend anything Sony makes because they've a steady pattern of producing junk since 2002. Even this PS3, though I've had it for almost 8 years, required my sending it in to Sony for replacement after only a month. So, a PS4 might work out fine. But, only if it's a fat model. Don't get any slim model Playstations from Sony, that's for sure.

I would lay the blame on your Panasonic player in this case. I know Panasonic standalone DVD video recorders have some playback issues. I've got some pressed movie DVD's that I've had a few Panasonic recorders not play at all but play fine in other players. Since the disc plays back without problem on your PC drive, the issue does seem to be with your Panasonic player, yes.

That's a probably a problem with your Panasonic player. When you say you play the file on your computer, are you playing the disc you just burned or the file from your computer hard drive? Try playing from the disc you just burned in your PC burner and see if it jumps. If it isn't jerky, your Panasonic player doesn't like those kinds of discs. And it happens sometimes. If it's still jerky, then, did you convert the file from your PC's hard drive to a Blu-Ray? Play the Blu-Ray output from the converter on your PC and see if it's jerky from your hard drive. If it is, then the problem is with the converter software.

Okay. No, I've never seen a single episode. Don't get HBO. Can't afford it. My local library at one time had all seasons on DVD, but I don't know if they do anymore. And, after these years, such a popular release is either scratched all to holy Hell and unplayable or simply someone stole it claiming to "lose" it. Anyway, it's just something that never interested me. Dragons and showing boobs seem boring to me. Funny that I'm watching Family Guy right now which had a joke in its new episode tonight about a TV show called Dragon Boobs as a parody of Game Of Thrones. Dragonheart is more along my lines of a dragon story that I liked.

I've never actually seen the label DataLife Plus applied to Verbatim BD-R before. Just CD and DVD. So, I can't say for sure. I've never seen that packaging before either. And given that it's outside the US, I also can't say. However, DataLife Plus is the quality label Verbatim puts on its highest tier CD and DVD recordable discs. In the US, there is no DataLife Plus label on the BD-R. It's all the same stuff with Disc ID VERBAT-IM. However, Verbatim BD-RE SL are CMC junk and should be avoided, but their BD-RE DL is TDK, which is good quality. So, it's hard to say since Verbatim doesn't follow a steady pattern in the US either. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say if it says DataLife Plus on it, go for it.

That's what I meant by a Panasonic DVD recorder. A standalone DVD recorder that records from TV/VCR/RCA cable/component connected devices. If he said it was that kind of recorder, I was going to explain that they can return those kinds of errors on their discs. I've been using Panasonic DVD video recorders since 2002 and I've had several models. I believe all of them create discs that ImgBurn cannot read to a file because of how they record their discs with a new track each time you add a title set.