Hi and welcome aboard, I have had some problems with the burning issue, I would create a production etc.. and burn this using Roxio

I use all types of DVD'S to burn with but I usually burn with DVD+R.

Now the problem is when I burn with Roxio some of my production do not work on my DVD player and friends ones alike. And also when I watch the productions some time it freezes but some how manage to stop and start again and would work fine.

Now the funny thing is I would do exactly the same thing and burn on a different software and this would be fine. I think it has to be something with the burning process.

Dont get me wrong Roxio is ace, but my doubt is on the burn.

There are 2 possible causes:
1) Some players don't like certain brands or types of media. I have an old DVD player that wont work with DVD+R discs.
2) Make sure the option for Buffer Underrun Prevention (or maybe protection) is turned off when recording your discs. Depending on what app you are in, that option may be in various places. You may want to double check the help file. Anyway, long-story-short, most DVD players dont like that option being enabled.

Question John, why would the default settings be Buffer Underrun Prevention then. I have never heard of this "most DVD players don't like that option being enabled". Since a DVD player reads data burned to a disc, only read or write errors should enter into play. Are you saying Buffer Underrun Prevention causes write errors? Just curious what facts lead to that conclusion?

Kaz's statement that other software works fine. All burning software I have used defaults to Buffer Underrun Prevention.

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Its kind of a long story, but I will give the long explanation just so that i dont have to clarify later.
So the function is actualliy pretty simple, when a drive's buffer runs out, rather then spitting out the buffer underrun message, this function writes a small lead out. Then when the buffer fills back up again, it writes a small lead in and continues writing the data.

Most DVD players (at least all the ones I have access to) have a problem with these small gaps in the data and they tend to choke on that section of the video when they get there. Sometimes the problem happens at the menu level and then the disc is virutally unplayable. Computers seem to be able to work with discs where this has happened just fine.

But if you have the function turned on, and your drive never runs out of data, then the function isn't actually used and your disc is completely normal. I suspect if you have the option on, but you havent had problems, that this is the case for you.

Thanks John for your info, quite interesting, however if I was to turn the function off and leave it off, what would the consequences be if any?

Why worry about it? Since it is a simple click of a button, turn it off when you are burning a DVD and turn it on immediately after. Put a sticky on your computer to remind you.

Not worried about it just wanted to know what would happen if it was permantley switched off, does it effect anything else etc..?? The way im going i have enough sticky notes to cover the whole house!!

Google is wonderful Buffer Underun

Many thanks

The consequence is that if you're burning a data DVD, and you have a buffer underrun, the disc will be ruined, which essentially is what you want, if you're burning a Video DVD, so you know that it won't play, and you need to burn slower.

For a Data DVD, your computer will easily handle the lead-out/in spaces and keep reading the data if your drive had to invoke Buffer Underrun Protection during the burn. Apparently set-top players don't handle that so well with Video DVDs. So, "Off" for Video, and "On" for Data would be the rule as I see it.

Thankyou for your explanation.

I have never heard such BOLOGNA O-S-C-A-R...!

When a drive's buffer runs out and buffer underrun protection is off a coaster is created.

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Gosh, you must've read what I wrote correctly! That is exactly what I said, and that's what John implied in his explanation.

I'm not speaking from personal experience here, I'm inferring from the information provided that some (many?) set-top players don't properly handle the places on a Video DVD where a buffer underrun occurred and was recovered from during the recording process. If this is true, then the objective is to make sure that you record slow enough so that the buffer underrun protection is never invoked. The only way to know for sure is to turn it off. If the recording is successful, no buffer underruns occurred. If it fails with a buffer underrun failure, then there's a good chance it wouldn't have played properly anyway (with buffer underrun protection on), and you'd wind up writing another one.

So, we don't seem to be disagreeing on anything.

Dave, with your experience burning CDR's, I was sure you and I agree on buffer underrun protection.

My experience buffer underrun protection is default on any burn software I have used. So how can one explain Kaz's quote above.

Same hardware, different burn software.

If there is more to this story? My inquiring mind would like to know.

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Well, the problem in question is for Video DVDs, not CDRs. For CD-Rs, I can't think of any good reason to turn off buffer underrun protection. All audio gear seems to handle the buffer underrun "gap", and there's no problem on Data discs. Video DVD players may be a different beasty.

As for different output from different software on the same hardware, there are a couple theories I could propose. One is that one software defaults to a slower speed than the other and so buffer underrun is never invoked. Another is that one software is more efficient (less overhead) than the other and allows burning at faster speeds without invoking buffer underrun protection than the other. We don't know enough to argue about what the original poster has seen, and why.

However, John's observations make a good argument, in my mind, for turning off BURN Proof when writing Video DVDs if you're running at the edge of throughput on your machine. Actually, it makes an even better argument (in my mind again) for burning slower, even if you leave BURN Proof on.