Problems playing DVDs from dance events - common?

[robd]

I have bought a few DVDs of dance events in the past and almost always seem to have problems with playback on my player(s) - the discs themselves have a reddish/purple tinge on the playback side so I assume they are non-commercial pressings but what format are they likely to be? The honourbale exceptions have been the Southport DVDs which play flawlessly and which I presume to be commercially pressed.

I have a Pioneer DV-717 which must now be 6 or 7 years old (and cost me £500 at the time :blush: ) and it will play most of them (it refuses to play the Storm 2006 disc I got at the weekend and I will email the troubleshooting address about that) but they seem to be very prone to freezing, break up and digital distortion - I have 4 or 5 discs from Steve Strong in this category plus 2 from Ceroc and they all seem to have the same problems rendering them pretty much unwachable. I do take great care with handling them and I have used a lens cleaner on the DVD player but still no improvement. A wharfedale player of similar vintage suffers similarly but strangely so does the DVD drive in my new-ish work PC when playing back via VLC media player. So I have a few questions

1 - Have you had problems with playback of DVDs from dance events?
2 - Would a newer player likely handle these better?
3 - Has anyone ordered sets from the States - US Open, SwingDiego, etc? If so, were these properly pressed or just PC repros?

Robert

[David Franklin]

1 - Have you had problems with playback of DVDs from dance events?Yes, lots. I'm not sure I have a DVD from a UK dance event that doesn't have problems during playback. I usually find that it is possible to copy the DVD on a PC, and then the copy usually plays flawlessly. Technically, I believe this is against the law, but as I have paid for the original I don't see a moral problem.


2 - Would a newer player likely handle these better?Your odds are probably better, as most newer players are much more explicitly multiformat. But I don't really know.


3 - Has anyone ordered sets from the States - US Open, SwingDiego, etc? If so, were these properly pressed or just PC repros? I think they are still produced using burners, but in my limited experience (3 DVDs) the US produced discs have all played flawlessly. I've also found the customer service in the states exemplary: a while ago we ordered a NTSC format VHS video as our setup usually has no problems with them. This particular video didn't work. Could have been our machine, could have been their problem. Anyhow, they immediately made a PAL copy and sent it to us.

[ducasi]

1 - Have you had problems with playback of DVDs from dance events?
2 - Would a newer player likely handle these better?
Never had a problem with the few I've got. I don't have them to hand to see what proportion of them were "commercially" pressed vs. burnt (DVD-R or DVD+R), but I think it's fair to say that newer DVD readers can better handle burnt DVDs.

I wouldn't trust VLC to test whether a DVD works or not – as an unlicensed DVD player, and faults it uncovers may be its own.

With mass duplication onto DVD+/-R disks, it's probable that some bad copies will be made – if you can get repeatable failure of a disk at the same place on different players, it's likely to be be a faulty disk. You should get it replaced by its producers.

[Lynn]

1 - Have you had problems with playback of DVDs from dance events?Not from an event but there are sound distortions on my dance partners Ceroc Beginners Blues DVD - sometimes the sound seems to 'jump' or 'echo' (I'm sure there is a technical term) but the picture is fine. Mildly annoying but it doesn't detract from use of the DVD.

[frodo]

1 - Have you had problems with playback of DVDs from dance events?
2 - Would a newer player likely handle these better?

Yes quite annoyingly only 1 or 2 of 5 played on a ~ 3 y/o portable DVD player at a weekender.

It would have been nice if you see the disclaimer saying it won't play on some DVD players before rather than after you buy - Ceroc put it on the receipt.

However with a basic under £60.00 portable DVD from Argos,they all played flawlessly as have 10 or so non pressed DVD's bought since.

[Beowulf]

Not from an event but there are sound distortions on my dance partners Ceroc Beginners Blues DVD

and on my one too...