"Unsupported format" playing Blu-Rays I've burned with X2&X3

[Joe Linn]

I've been burning my HD video to BD-R disks using my Buffalo Blu-Ray burner. I've been using Video Studio X2. They play find on my PS3, but I recently bought an RCA BRC-3109 portable Blu-Ray player. When I try to play my disks on that player, I get a message "unsupported format." I've recently upgaded to Video Studio Pro X3 so I tried that also. It launched DVD Factory Pro 10 to burn the disk. Again, it created a disk that plays on my PS3 but not my RCA BRC-3109.

Is there anything I can change or any settings I can tweak to make the BD-Rs I create more compatible so I can play them on the RCA. The whole reason I bought the RCA player was so I could bring it and play the content I've burned to show people who don't have a Blu-Ray player.

Thanks!

Joe

[Black Lab]

You may want to check the following list and see what discs are compatible with your player.
http://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers

[skier-hughes]

I looked and it includes blu ray discs.
Does the machine play shop bought blu ray discs ok?
Does it play std dvd's shop bought ok?
Does it play home burned std dvd's ok?

As yo disc plays in the psp it shows you are doing it correctly and does point at either a compatibility problem or fault with your machine.

[Joe Linn]

Thanks.

I couldn't find any RCA Blu-Ray players in the videohelp.com list.

Yes, it plays other Blu-Rays just fine. I only get the "unsupported format" message on Blu-Rays that I have burned. I tried both BD-R and BD-RE. I tried Video Studio X2 and X3 (which burns with DVD Factory Pro). All produced the same "unsupported format" message. All play fine in the PS-3.
It plays standard DVDs as well as DVDs that I have burned just fine.

So I'm looking for anything that might increase the compatibility of the Blu-Rays that I burn. Are there any settings I can change or different software that produces a more compatible result? Should I author with Video Studio and burn with something different? I haven't had access to any other players besides the PS3 and the RCA to test them. Do other players choke on burned Blu-Rays or does this seem to be something unique to this player?

It is very frustrating becase the main reason I bought the portable player was so I could take video I have shot with me to show friends. I checked and there is a 15% restocking fee if I return the player so I'm hoping to find a way to make it work. I contacted RCA support more than a week ago and they haven't replied.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Joe

[Joe Linn]

I need to decide whether or not to return the RCA Blu-Ray player that is unable to play the disks I have buned. It would help me a lot if someone could just answer these two questions for me:

1. Are there compatibility problems playing burned Blu-Rays on very many Blu-Ray player?
2. Is there anything I can change to improve the compatibility of the disks I burn - any settings I can change to make them more compatible.

Thanks!

Joe

[Natal]

There are a number of things you need to try first.

1. Make sure you have the latest operating system update for your player. Go to this page for the BRC3109 and follow the instructions for the software update (http://www.1800customersupport.com/prod ... p=87&sc=34). That should ensure that your player has the most recent update. It is possible that the version it currently has is bugged or does not support certain formats, and more recent versions have corrected that.

2. Try burning the blu-ray disc in another format. X3 gives blu-ray options for mpeg2 and H.264 for example. If one format isn't being recognized by the player, perhaps the other format will be.

3. This probably isnt the problem, but check to make sure that the region code is correct. If you are making discs with a different region code the player will not work (I think that gives a different error message from the one you are getting though).

I had a look through the manual off the RCA site, and it doesn't give any specifications that I can see, but I think the most likely source of your problem is that the player isn't recognizing the codec you are using for your discs.

[Joe Linn]

Thanks for the suggestoins!

I checked the firmware on the player and I have the most current version.

I tried burning disks as MPEG2 and H.264. I got the "unsupported format" message from both disks.

It would help me to know: is compatibility a problem for burned disks, or is it something unique to this player?
Thanks.

Joe

[Ken Berry]

I can't answer for Blu-Ray discs since I have never burned one. However, more generally for SD DVDs, compatibility of discs was always a potential source of problems with particular stand alone DVD players, particularly the higher end, expensive ones... Some did not like particular brands/batches of blank discs; some did not like the colour of the dye used on the discs; some did not like +R; some did not like -R or any variety of RW disc...

The fact that the player had no trouble with commercially produced discs was also no guide since the latter are pressed, whereas homemade discs are actually burned.

One possibility worth looking at is burning your Blu-Ray disc at a much lower speed than its rated capacity. The theory is that a slower speed allows the burning laser more time to embed the signal more firmly in the disc, and thus make it more likely that a wider variety of reading lasers will be able to read it...