DVD problems
Timeline TV provides this information to it’s clients to help and advise you if you are considering having a DVD made or copies done.
There are some compatibility problems with DVDs and SOME players and, while we do not want to put you off having a DVD made – we think it offers far better quality to the viewer than VHS does – we want you to be aware of the possible problem.
The main problem is the compatibility of DVDs made on some systems with a few DVD players and computers with DVD players installed. Even if a DVD plays perfectly in your DVD machine, there is absolutely no guarantee that it will play on somebody else’s machine. Newer players tend to be better and, hopefully, as a new generation of DVD players is introduced, compatibility problems will disappear.
DVDs produced on home computers and the systems used by most small companies, including ourselves, are different from the commercial production systems used by the industry. The very large numbers of copies needed commercially, by the film and television companies, for example, are made from a GLASS master, and are “pressed”, like CDs and have very good compatibility. This is costly, and it is not worth having a glass master made unless you are having 500+ copies made.
There are several different systems for making individual DVDs (“burning”); DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW and DVD Ram.
The two main formats (DVD-R, DVD+R) SHOULD play on any DVD player once recorded, but sometimes they don’t!
Nor does it seem to matter whether you have a £29 DVD player from Tesco or a £300 top-of-the-range model. In fact, the newer models, in whatever price range, seem to be more compatible than “older” models, say, two years old or more.
The industry magazines have been writing articles on this subject for several years, and complaining to the manufacturers of DVD players, but the problem does not appear to be going away.
We are happy to send you a sample DVD disc produced on our system, but even if it plays perfectly on your DVD player, it may not play on ALL of your clients' players. There is nothing wrong with the disc – it is simply this problem of player compatibility.
We want to give you excellent service and the best quality DVDs, but want you to have HONEST information before you spend your money. Typically, you might have problems with one or two out of twenty DVD players.
Send for a sample DVD and give it a try!
