dvd compatibility

[dmz]

I naively thought that the dvd format is standard and widely understood by all software and hardware that reads it.
With my previous sony dvd recorder, if I wanted to transfer stuff to my pc then I simply burnt a dvd (+RW) on the recorder and used the import function on VS.
I now have a new panasonic dvd recorder and have tried to do the same thing. I used the same +RW disk as before and VS refused to recognise it (import function greyed out). So I tried a standard dvd (-R) and the dvd recorder wouldnt recognise it. Then a tried another brand (+RW) and I thought I finally had it when I saw the Import button available on VS. But when I hit the import button it gets to %63 and stays there so no success. I can play that dvd throught nero showtime but VS wont import it. Has anyone come across this and does anyone have any ideas? The only thing I can think of is to try other dvd brands but arent they all supposed to be the same format?

Thanks

David

[Black Lab]

Check out this helpful compatibility chart:
http://www.videohelp.com/dvdrecorders

[Trevor Andrew]

Hi David

Did you “Finalise" the disc before removing it from your DVD recorder?

[DVDDoug]

. But when I hit the import button it gets to %63 and stays there so no success. I can play that dvd throught nero showtime but VS wont import it.

With this disc, it might be a bad blank disc or a "bad burn". DVD players and player-software can skip-over some errors, but when the computer tries to read/copy a file and it get's an error, it quits.

Try copying the files to your hard drive before importing from there. (If you can copy the files, the DVD is physically OK.)

Sometimes, you can directly open the VOB files, or rename them to .MPG and open them (after copying to your hard drive). There are instructions on the VideoReDo website for joining the individual VOB files together and renaming the result to .MPG.

You can also try a program called VOB2MPG (FREE!!!).

SUPER (FREE!!!) can convert VOB files to MPG (or other formats), but re-encoding can degrade quality and it takes time.

[dmz]

Thanks.
I also wondered why the 16:9 was in 4:3. I read the fine print on my dvd recorder and it said if you use +rw it always converts 16:9 to 4:3 which I think is absurd as my previous recorder didnt. Anyway, I tried an imation dvd-rw and it worked! The import worked and its in 16:9.

David