DVD Write Speed + EyeTV Encode

[reeza]

Hi Guys.

 

First time poster here. I've just got myself a couple of new things. iMac 20", Toast 8 and EyeTV. I've just got a few newbie questions. Sorry if they sound dumb.

 

First question is the new iMac's DVD burner is spec'd at 8xSpeed DVD-+R but while burning Toast only reports average x3 and while writing it sometimes burst to x5 but never x8. I've tried different media all rated at x16. Not sure if its a burner problem of Toast reporting wrong, but it does burn slow.

 

Second question is with shows recorded from EyeTV it some times burns as is and sometimes encodes first then burns. I'm always getting data from Toast media browser. Not to sure why it changes it's mind how it handles different shows. At a guess it depends on how the station is broadcasting it's content.

 

And last one, all the dvd's I've done from EyeTV the audio sync goes out about half way through on play back.

 

Sorry if this has come up before.

 

Cheers,

 

reeza

[tsantee]

Which model of EyeTV do you have? Where are you located?

 

As for the burning speed all drives burn slower at the beginning (which is near the center of the disc) and do not reach their full rate until they get closer to the outer edge. Also, a drive's firmware may have difficulty with a particular brand of media which could slow down the burning speed. Buffer underrun prevention can also lower the burn speed. The iMac's Superdrives are not very good. You may get faster performance from a good-quality external DVD burner.

[mike457]

I recently picked up the drive you're looking at, and it is faster than the built-in drive in my iMac. I'm a little disappointed with the Lightscribe feature. A text label looks all right and burns fairly quickly, but anything involving graphics is slow to label (ca. 20 minutes) and does not look as nice as the pictures of labels they show on the websites.

[reeza]

G'day tsantee.

 

I have the TwinHan DTV Alpha Mac edition running version 2.3.3 of EyeTV. I'm located in Melbourne, Australia.

 

Do you have any recommendations for an external burner that works well with both Toast and OS X? Maybe one that can also be firmware changed to by-pass region codes. Running on Firewire 400 if possible.

 

Thank you for your help.

 

Cheers,

 

reeza.

[tsantee]

G'day tsantee.

 

I have the TwinHan DTV Alpha Mac edition running version 2.3.3 of EyeTV. I'm located in Melbourne, Australia.

 

Do you have any recommendations for an external burner that works well with both Toast and OS X? Maybe one that can also be firmware changed to by-pass region codes. Running on Firewire 400 if possible.

 

Thank you for your help.

 

Cheers,

 

reeza.

The reason Toast re-encodes some of those EyeTV videos is that the MPEGs from some channels aren't sized to a video DVD spec. You can choose Never Re-encode in the Toast Custom Encoder window and see if that prevents re-encoding and to see if the out-of-spec video will still play with your DVD player.

 

I'm a fan of LaCie drives because of their long time support for Macs (and because they are an Oregon company). I don't know what to suggest about hacking to by-pass region codes. You might check the F.A.Q. or drive compatibility database at www.xlr8yourmac.com for info. Or email Mike at that site for any leads.

[reeza]

Thanks for the info tsantee. I've always liked LaCie stuff I have a couple of external HD. I might look at the LaCie d2 DVD±RW with LightScribe 16x to see if I gain any benefit over the super drive.

 

Cheers,

 

reeza