DVD Burning Question
- Thread starter Will Rickards
- Start date
Stereodude
Not really a
If you only want the movie without the menu, I've found DVD2One is the best program (if used in Variable Compression mode) for transparency after compression. I think CloneDVD 2 is the best for splitting a disc into 2 (one movie with menu, and special features with menu) if the disc works out that way. Pinnacle Instant Copy is the worst and DVD Shrink and Nero Recode are in between.
So, from my fairly extensive testing in terms of image quality...
1) DVD2One
2) Clone DVD2
3) DVD Shrink & Nero Recode (tied with identical results, but Recode is faster)
4) InstantCopy
Of course I've got a stack of 41 blank Verbatim 8x DVD+R DL discs sitting here, so if things don't work out for a light compression job or splitting the disc into 2, on a DL it goes.
So, from my fairly extensive testing in terms of image quality...
1) DVD2One
2) Clone DVD2
3) DVD Shrink & Nero Recode (tied with identical results, but Recode is faster)
4) InstantCopy
Of course I've got a stack of 41 blank Verbatim 8x DVD+R DL discs sitting here, so if things don't work out for a light compression job or splitting the disc into 2, on a DL it goes.
Speaking of DL discs, I see bestbuy has a 15 pack of memorex DVD+R for $29.99 this weekend. Not sure if it's a good deal, but seemed like it...
timwhit
Hairy Aussie
Less than what Newegg sells them for. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050917/SEXTOYS17/TPNational/Canada
timwhit
Hairy Aussie
Whoops. Well that is an interesting news piece as well. I wonder how long it will take before Wal-Mart sells crap like that in this country (USA). My guess is never.
Here's the right one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817501006
Here's the right one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817501006
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
I strongly prefer the Verbatim discs I get at Sam's Club. Usually $40 (but sometimes $30) for 50 16x +Rs.
Some of the Walgreens drug stores in my area sell Vibrators - marketed as "back massagers". No, I'm not kidding. And yes, they have more than one model, as small as fingertip models up to large plug-in varieties that may actually be useful for massaging backs, with a couple stops in between.
Also, a few months ago I found a review of a vibrating Playstation controller from a, um, martial aide perspective, but now I can't find that link. Which is too bad, cause that would be a little more on topic than just talking about vibrators at Walgreens.
Some of the Walgreens drug stores in my area sell Vibrators - marketed as "back massagers". No, I'm not kidding. And yes, they have more than one model, as small as fingertip models up to large plug-in varieties that may actually be useful for massaging backs, with a couple stops in between.
Also, a few months ago I found a review of a vibrating Playstation controller from a, um, martial aide perspective, but now I can't find that link. Which is too bad, cause that would be a little more on topic than just talking about vibrators at Walgreens.
I've had very good luck so far with memorex DVD-R's (4x & 16x). I've probably burned about 60 of them with only a couple bad burns. I recently picked up 2x 50 packs of 16x dvd-r for $17.99 each (no rebates) at BB (discs made by CMC MAG AM3).
timwhit
Hairy Aussie
This is my disc of choice: Ritek DVD-R
I have burned over 300 of these without any problems. They aren't too expensive either.
I have burned over 300 of these without any problems. They aren't too expensive either.
timwhit
Hairy Aussie
Mine is kind of old. Pioneer DVR-106D. Still seems to work and that is all that matters.
timwhit
Hairy Aussie
Well, if you decide to try out the Ritek media let me know how it works for you.
I actually was at Best Buy last week and picked up a 50-pack of Sony media because it was $20 after instant rebate. This is the first time I have tried any thing other than Ritek in a couple years. Hopefully it will work.
I actually was at Best Buy last week and picked up a 50-pack of Sony media because it was $20 after instant rebate. This is the first time I have tried any thing other than Ritek in a couple years. Hopefully it will work.
mubs
Storage? I am Storage!
Stereodude
Not really a
You can get 100 16x printable Verbatim +R or -R from Sams for $42.Mercutio said:
Stereodude
Not really a
Ritek made +R DL discs suck. They appear to burn just fine, but they often fail a verify. I've had about 33% of my Memorex DL discs fail the verify (of about 15 or so discs).Handruin said:
Stereodude
Not really a
Check the packaging to make sure they're made in Japan. If they're made in Taiwan don't buy them.mubs said:
Stereodude
Not really a
I've got a NEC-ND3540A.Handruin said:
Stereodude
Not really a
I've been burning -R/+R Fuji's (Taiyo Yuden), +R Verbatim Printables (Mitsubishi Chemical), and some TDK +R Printables (CMC) and haven't had problems with any of them. I'm a little bit anal so I always do a full verify on my burns. I've had 0 frisbees and 0 failed verifies from the above brands. I've burnt over 100 total from the above 3 (pretty equal amounds of each).timwhit said:
I prefer +R's to -R's. I've stopped buying -R's, and only buy +R's now.
I haven't tried any DVD-5 Ritek +/-R's, but I've been less than impressed with their dual layer +R discs.
paugie
Storage is cool
coming in late here. didn't notice the thread changed so quickly to from normal to classic SF.
let me guess..... PHILIPPINES?
mubs
Storage? I am Storage!
You don't know Tannin, do you, paugie? :wink:
paugie
Storage is cool
of course, I can't KNOW tannin. but still enough to really enjoy and stay with storagereview since way back 1996. (extreme lurker-mode. got the gumption to sign up as "crispulo" which maybe Tony may somehow remember)
but the above was just to make a twist to the post and a jibe at my own US-tortured land. I myself like the display better when I get to watch PAL-encoded videos. I know metric is better but I still know I'm 5'5" tall and can't seem to remember what that is in meters or centimeters.
I'm glad to be able to think in Celcius. Fahrenheit is torture. much like Arroyo and Bush are torture. (whooops, got the feeling I'm opening up a can of worms here. But this is SF, not the Philippines)
but the above was just to make a twist to the post and a jibe at my own US-tortured land. I myself like the display better when I get to watch PAL-encoded videos. I know metric is better but I still know I'm 5'5" tall and can't seem to remember what that is in meters or centimeters.
I'm glad to be able to think in Celcius. Fahrenheit is torture. much like Arroyo and Bush are torture. (whooops, got the feeling I'm opening up a can of worms here. But this is SF, not the Philippines)
paugie
Storage is cool
see, it was so long ago, I forgot. I only remember I got my first PC in 1995 and stumbled on the internet and SR shortly after. I was a fan of redhill.com. great large photos (sometimes hung my PC, they took so long to download) and lots of info, updated then but still relevant today.
I learned a lot from SR and the PC Guide. (I remember the webmaster of PC Guide is/was? with SR and SF)
I am very, very OT
Tannin said:
I think most people can easily feel a temperature change from 20°C to 21°C, but not 2°C to 3°C. For the Celsius naysayers, it's not so unusual to report weather temperatures in 0.5°C increments (e.g. -- 31.5°C, 29°C, etc).
If something needs to be counted in thirds, the ratio 1/3 is as precise as one can be when stating the value, as opposed to 0.333... But, it is common in the USA to use *more complicated* fractional values when there is clearly no need to, such as with 1/2, 5/8 or 3/4, which can easily be written as 0.5, 0.625, or 0.75. It seems many people in the USA know *both* fractional and decimal values of numbers like I just used for examples, but old habits are hard to kill.
Well, you can thank Ronald McReagan for stopping metrification in the USA. A few companies -- like Caterpillar -- completed metrification more than 20 years ago. Believe it or not, the USA actually signed onto the metrification treaty way the hell back in the late 1800s, but did next to nothing for several decades until the late 1970s when metrification was once again put on a schedule for implementation. Then Reagan in the early 1980s...
Otherwise, metric has been in use in the USA in certain industries for quite some time. The chemical industry would be one. In electrticity, fortunately, there never was anything else but metric.
Tannin said:
NTSC is essentially no better or worse than PAL (or SECAM), it's just different. You have the same 6 MHz bandwidth with them all, it's just that PAL used a 50 HZ frame rate and NTSC uses a 60 HZ frame rate, since both are tied to the frequency that mains power is based upon. Since the transmission bandwidth is essentially the same between them, you have a bit more spatial resolution with PAL but a lower frame rate, and vice versa with NTSC.
NTSC is in use well beyond the USA: All of North America, most of South America, Japan, South Korea, Philippines, and some other places in Southeast Asia. There were even some chunks of Germany that used NTSC for a while! Nowadays, you have France using SECAM and everyone around them using PAL. Pretty screwball if you ask me. Hello, I want ONE digital standard, please!
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
You forgot the important part:
One digital standard and no DRM or copy protection.
One digital standard and no DRM or copy protection.
time
Storage? I am Storage!
It's risky challenging Splash on technical issues, but I have to say: "bullsh*t". I stand by my earlier post.Splash said:
As I said, tiny South American countries (except for Peru) - no way is it even close to being most.
SECAM is essentially modified PAL. Countries using it are gradually migrating to PAL. That's your standard, it already exists.
Here's a nice quick introduction to international television standards.
timwhit
Hairy Aussie
About 40% of the population of South American is using NTSC. Plus Brazil uses the PAL-M system, based on NTSC-M standard but using PAL color encoding, so that one counts for about half and half.
Columbia is 44 million people. Peru is 27 million. Maybe you need to look at an encyclopedia or something.
time said:
Columbia is 44 million people. Peru is 27 million. Maybe you need to look at an encyclopedia or something.
Corvair
Learning Storage Performance
Splash said:
ummm... Now that I'm a bit more rested and clear-headed, I meant to say FIELDS not frames in my earlier post.
Since our antiquated analogue television broadcasts are 2:1 interlaced, that equates to 50 fields per second / 25 frames per second in PAL and SECAM, and 60 fields per second / 30 frames per second in NTSC. Of course, the numbers above are not exact, for example the exact number of fields per second in NTSC is precisely a tad less than 60 fields per second (59.97 I believe).
time said:
Time, I just now read yours (and everyone else's) posts above.
About all I can say is that I've experienced a few video moments that very few people ever will, like viewing broadcasts being encoded from Panasonic D-5 source into NTSC, PAL, and SECAM and watching all three encoded television images side-by-side on exacting identical high-end professional-grade video monitors. There are indeed visible differences between the three, the most obvious being that scenery in PAL and SECAM have a richer overall look and that NTSC looks less jerky than PAL and SECAM if there is a lot of motion occurring in the scenery. That's pretty much the gist of it. If scenery isn't moving around a lot, I agree, PAL looks best.
But, it still comes down to a "robbing Peter to pay Paul" ordeal comparing PAL to SECAM to NTSC; you can only get so much out of approximately 6 MHz. One thing I might note is that NTSC's inferior colour scheme revolves around what you can expect from medium-speed 16mm motion picture film and its rather chucky grain size. Hurrah for late 1950s technology!
On the subject of cinema film, motion picture film transfer to television is problematic no matter the video standard, so The Society Of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE, or "SimpTee" as we say) have a standardised algorithm for frame transfer manipulation during film transfers (live or recorded) to those broadcast standards. The modern standard cinematic frame rate of motion picture film is 24 frames per second and the television standards are 25 and 30 frames per second. Cinema film transfer methods actually work on the field level since it provides the least "jerkiness" to the broadcasted material.
However, during the past 15 or 20 or so years, when you see *very* expensive commercials on television (usually automobile commercials), those commercials are shot on motion picture film. For NTSC markets, the production companies will shoot these million-dollar commercials onto 35mm motion picture film at 30 frames per second -- or even 60 frames per second -- and transferred that custom motion picture film to video without the frame rate manipulations -- in this case it's just one frame of mopic film for one frame of video, or in the case of the ultra-high-end transfer, one frame of mopic film for one FIELD of video. The later produces the ultimate in smooth motion. So, the next time you see one of those Lexus commercials with the test driver spinning out on wet pavement and you wonder how in the hell everything looks so smooth and silky compared to the movie you were watching a few seconds ago, you now know!
time said:
If I'm not mistaken, Brasil, tiny British Guiana, tiny French Guiana (may be SECAM), and tiny Surinam (Dutch Guiana) are basically it for PAL in South America. If they even have television out there, I suspect the Falkland Islands and the Ascension Islands are PAL also.
time
Storage? I am Storage!
I did - Wikipedia. Unfortunately, it left out Colombia in its list of biggest South American countries. :-?timwhit said:
Code:
PAL
Argentina 38,592,150
Brazil 186,112,794
Falkland Is 2,967
Panama 3,000,463
Paraguay 6,191,368
Uruguay 3,415,920
SubTotal 237,315,662
NTSC
Bolivia 8,857,870
Chile 16,136,137
Colombia 44,531,434
Ecuador 13,183,978
Guyana 700,000
Peru 27,925,628
Suriname 438,144
Trinidad .. 1,262,366
Venezuela 26,127,351
SubTotal 139,162,908
SECAM
Fr Guiana 185,000NTSC is less than 37% of the total population of 376,663,570 (ignoring Panama's continent straddling).
Worldwide, I'd estimate there are at least four times as many people in PAL areas as NTSC.
timwhit
Hairy Aussie
I don't care how many people live in these countries. How many of them actually have TVs?
mubs
Storage? I am Storage!
China, India and Indonesia are PAL - #1, #2 and #4 in population. Together they can skew stats really, really badly. And don't say these countries are poor; the power of the medium is such that villages may not have drinking water or telephones, but there are television sets!
Mercutio said:
Here you go Merc:
100 pack Verbatim 16x DVD-R Media $33...If you can live with -R and a $30 MIR it seems like a good deal.
Corvair
Learning Storage Performance
time said:
Unless something happened during the past 20 years or so, I'm 99.98 % sure that Panama and every country to its north (including British Honduras, or Belize, as we now call it) all use NTSC. Offshore a bit: Jamaica is PAL. Cuba... NTSC. Bahamas... depends which island you're on. :wink:
===================
PS: About 27 years ago, I studied to take the onerous FCC First Class licensing test, but ended up not really needing it. The damn thing took several months to complete all the tests, you had to drive to different cities throughout your region to take each of the 3 parts of the test, and the fee for each test was plenty expensive. You also had to re-test after, ummm... five years, I believe.
I had a line on a very lucrative part time job filling in as a backup engineer going around certifying broadcast parameters for AM and FM radio stations. An FCC First Class license *might* also help me someday at my regular job as an engineer if I ever had a job that required such a person on staff (as it turned out, I believe there was only two times over the years that such a license could've been of some use).
To make a complicated story short, I decided that such a lifestyle (traveling about on a rigid schedule during weekends) would ultimately get under my skin. It was a tough decision because the money involved was REAL good. I just stuck with my FCC Third Class broadcasting license.
time
Storage? I am Storage!
Damn, I think you're right. The reference site I chose must have been wrong.Corvair said:
That raises it to 37.7%.