Burns Ntsc But Not Pal

[AndyK551]

Advice please! I bought and loaded Creator 2009 a few days ago, and have been using Create DVDs - Advanced (MyDVD) to burn a few minutes of camcorder output. I then attempt to read this on my Sony RDR HXD860.

 

When burned with the Project Setting Format Standard set to PAL, the Sony will not read it and gives me the message "C13 Unable to read this disk".

 

When burned with the Project Setting Format Standard set to NTSC, the Sony will read and play it successfully.

 

Windows Media Center on the computer will play both. The machine is a HP DV9500 Notebook, T7300 Dual Core 2.0 GHz, 2 GB RAM, 2 x 200 GB Disks, Windows Vista Home Premium SP1, Roxio Creator Basic V9, Roxio Creator 2009.

 

Resident in the UK, I expect my TV standard to be PAL, but since the DVD should be MPEG2 do not understand what difference the Format Standard makes. However, since the option is there I expect it to work for the standard at my location.

 

One other small clue is available. In the "Burn Project" window, the "Encoding Preview" box shows a thumbnail of the movie in progress. With the NTSC setting, this does show the movie. With the PAL setting, it shows instead a static oblique view of concentric circles with the legend "Encoding. . . "

 

All other settings are identical, and the DVD in use is the same TDK DVD-RW for each experiment.

 

Any ideas, anyone? All help gratefully received.

[AndyK551]

You get gspot from here

 

http://www.headbands.com/gspot/

 

At least Sony got one thing right - PAL is a colour sub-system and NOT the 625 line 25 fps European TV standard If you said it was TV system in a City and Guilds exam - you would have failed on the spot

 

Thanks for the GSPOT utility; I will use it ASAP.

 

I am making a little progress in narrowing down the problem by starting again from basics. I have used the Roxio data capture device to load another 10 minutes of cam-corder output, first ensuring that the project option is automatically set to PAL (actually PAL-B, 720x576 AVI). Re-accessing the project options at every stage confirms that each file still contains PAL.

 

Next I use the "Copy and Convert DVD Video", set up a Video Compilation and input the above file. Then I use the "Burn to disk" option in that section, and I get a disk identified as PAL which can be read by my trusty SONY. This makes me believe that the drivers, the software, the TDK disk medium, the DVD burner and the SONY all work fine.

 

If instead I use the Create DVDs or Create DVDs - Advanced, open this same captured file and burn it to disk then I get a disk identified as PAL which is rejected by my SONY. This makes me believe that my project lifecycle is at fault and that I am still doing something wrong. The official User Guide does not help, and I am now trawling through all the other RC Creator cases to try to improve my understanding.

 

 

 

 

 

[AndyK551]

I have reviewed the very comprehensive SONY manual, and found no reference to a standard setting for Disk on either input or output. Browsing through the Setup menus confirmed this. My belief is that on input it selects automatically between standards, and on output it uses PAL, the default parameter in this region for the Video connection.

 

The disks in use are TDK DVD-RW, always reliable in any usage I have had in the past. However, tomorrow I will obtain a different brand to try.

 

[bimicher]

I have reviewed the very comprehensive SONY manual, and found no reference to a standard setting for Disk on either input or output. Browsing through the Setup menus confirmed this. My belief is that on input it selects automatically between standards, and on output it uses PAL, the default parameter in this region for the Video connection.

 

The disks in use are TDK DVD-RW, always reliable in any usage I have had in the past. However, tomorrow I will obtain a different brand to try.

 

Page 94 unders Video Setting, color system you select NTSC or PAL

[AndyK551]

Page 94 unders Video Setting, color system you select NTSC or PAL

 

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

Evidently the manual reflects the specification available in a given region, so probably differs slightly from region to region.

 

In my SONY manual the Colour System paragraph is on page 97, and states "Selects the colour system when playing VIDEO CDs (including VIDEO CDs/DivX video files). " The two options are PAL and NTSC, and in my region and manual the default is PAL. I am playing not a video CD but a DVD, and in any case this is confirmed as being set to PAL.

 

On page 114 of my manual, as the last paragraph of the "Specifications" section, under the heading "Compatible Colour systems" is stated:

"This recorder is designed to record using the PAL colour system and play back using the PAL or NTSC colour systems."

 

There being no other parameters for playback, it is my understanding that the SONY can handle both PAL and NTSC disks as input.

[bimicher]

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

Evidently the manual reflects the specification available in a given region, so probably differs slightly from region to region.

 

In my SONY manual the Colour System paragraph is on page 97, and states "Selects the colour system when playing VIDEO CDs (including VIDEO CDs/DivX video files). " The two options are PAL and NTSC, and in my region and manual the default is PAL. I am playing not a video CD but a DVD, and in any case this is confirmed as being set to PAL.

 

On page 114 of my manual, as the last paragraph of the "Specifications" section, under the heading "Compatible Colour systems" is stated:

"This recorder is designed to record using the PAL colour system and play back using the PAL or NTSC colour systems."

 

There being no other parameters for playback, it is my understanding that the SONY can handle both PAL and NTSC disks as input.

 

The manual I downloaded from Sony is for the PAL system, I don't think that recorder/player is available in NTSC regions. Did you check that the color system on the recorder/player is set to PAL?

Have you played the DVD you created on another stand-alone DVD player?

You could download a free utility called GSpot and look at the the DVD - it should tell you whather its a NTSC or PAL DVD.

[AndyK551]

The manual I downloaded from Sony is for the PAL system, I don't think that recorder/player is available in NTSC regions. Did you check that the color system on the recorder/player is set to PAL?

Have you played the DVD you created on another stand-alone DVD player?

You could download a free utility called GSpot and look at the the DVD - it should tell you whather its a NTSC or PAL DVD.

/

Guess what? I have just made it work, using the Daithi technique ("If it ain't broke, fiddle with it until it breaks, then fiddle with it until you get it fixed").

 

Using the project file as input, I used Roxio Creator 2009 Copy and Convert DVD Video, creating as output an MPEG2 file with PAL standard.

 

I then used Windows DVD Maker, pointed it at the MPEG2 file output from above, and burned the same much-abused TDK DVD-RW used in all these experiments.

 

Loaded it into the SONY, and it played with no problem and as good a picture as one could expect, sourced from an analogue camcorder. I cannot easily tell the difference in quality between the NTSC and the PAL versions. I could not find GSPOT (and did not want to risk accessing most of the web-sites suggested using that title as a search), but Windows Movie Maker can import from this disk and tells me that the picture is 720x576 which makes it, I believe, PAL.

 

I don't understand why the problem manifested in the first place, or why this convoluted approach seems to work. However, the above tells me that there is no technical problem, and most likely one of process or technique. I will now go away and quietly read some of the many "Howto"s and guides on this site to find out the best procedure for the whole lifecycle.

 

Many thanks,

 

Andy.

 

 

 

 

[gi7omy]

You get gspot from here

 

http://www.headbands.com/gspot/

 

At least Sony got one thing right - PAL is a colour sub-system and NOT the 625 line 25 fps European TV standard If you said it was TV system in a City and Guilds exam - you would have failed on the spot

[AndyK551]

Thank you both for your replies. I checked the Sony, and there is no standard setting on the DVD input. The TV output is set to PAL.

 

Today I tried burning the same project using MYDVD9, which as part of Creator Basic came with the hardware. Using the same default parameters in the slightly different windows, and varying only the standard setting of NTSC/PAL, I obtained exactly the same result, i.e.

 

NTSC standard DVD burned can be read by computer and by the SONY DVD recorder.

 

PAL standard DVD burned can be read by computer but is rejected by the SONY.

 

The thumbnail screen entitled "encoding preview" showed the speeded movie in both cases.

 

I feel the need to go away and RTFM (read the manual). The User Guide from the Roxio site does not help in this instance. Can anyone point me to or recommend a decent manual?

 

 

[Brendon]

I suspect the SONY manual would be an excellent place to start.

[bimicher]

Thank you both for your replies. I checked the Sony, and there is no standard setting on the DVD input. The TV output is set to PAL.

 

Today I tried burning the same project using MYDVD9, which as part of Creator Basic came with the hardware. Using the same default parameters in the slightly different windows, and varying only the standard setting of NTSC/PAL, I obtained exactly the same result, i.e.

 

NTSC standard DVD burned can be read by computer and by the SONY DVD recorder.

 

PAL standard DVD burned can be read by computer but is rejected by the SONY.

 

The thumbnail screen entitled "encoding preview" showed the speeded movie in both cases.

 

I feel the need to go away and RTFM (read the manual). The User Guide from the Roxio site does not help in this instance. Can anyone point me to or recommend a decent manual?

 

If you have created a DVD for the NTSC Color System and your Sony plays it then your Sony must be set to play NTSC DVDs.

Can you play PAL DVD on that Sony?

 

There is no other manual other then the one you download from the Roxio site.

[gi7omy]

Most of the top end players here are auto-switching Walt (or supposed to be)

 

One thought tho - top-end machines are very picky about the media - that could be the culprit. US standard of 525 lines as opposed to the EU 625 lines may have a bearing - but I do admit that's pure guesswork on my part (assuming that a 525 line production is less exacting than a 625 line one). Obviously with the lower line rate, the quality isn't going to be as sharp as the higher European line standard

 

Andy - what brand of discs are you using?

[bimicher]

Most of the top end players here are auto-switching Walt (or supposed to be)

 

One thought tho - top-end machines are very picky about the media - that could be the culprit. US standard of 525 lines as opposed to the EU 625 lines may have a bearing - but I do admit that's pure guesswork on my part (assuming that a 525 line production is less exacting than a 625 line one). Obviously with the lower line rate, the quality isn't going to be as sharp as the higher European line standard

 

Andy - what brand of discs are you using?

 

Andy's Sony is a recorder as well as player and the NTSC or PAL system has to be selected when playing DVD.

[gi7omy]

As I said Walt - it SHOULD work - that's why I'm wondering if it's the media in the end causing it - it could be that the machine is picking up the output as a lower end display and assumes it's the lower standard US 525 line system

 

To be honest tho - I'm running out of ideas and that's the one avenue we haven't approached

[gi7omy]

All discs I burn here work just fine in my own player and also other members of the family.

 

It's possible that the discs you are using are the problem, or that the Sony is not switching between standards.

[bimicher]

Advice please! I bought and loaded Creator 2009 a few days ago, and have been using Create DVDs - Advanced (MyDVD) to burn a few minutes of camcorder output. I then attempt to read this on my Sony RDR HXD860.

 

When burned with the Project Setting Format Standard set to PAL, the Sony will not read it and gives me the message "C13 Unable to read this disk".

 

When burned with the Project Setting Format Standard set to NTSC, the Sony will read and play it successfully.

 

Windows Media Center on the computer will play both. The machine is a HP DV9500 Notebook, T7300 Dual Core 2.0 GHz, 2 GB RAM, 2 x 200 GB Disks, Windows Vista Home Premium SP1, Roxio Creator Basic V9, Roxio Creator 2009.

 

Resident in the UK, I expect my TV standard to be PAL, but since the DVD should be MPEG2 do not understand what difference the Format Standard makes. However, since the option is there I expect it to work for the standard at my location.

 

One other small clue is available. In the "Burn Project" window, the "Encoding Preview" box shows a thumbnail of the movie in progress. With the NTSC setting, this does show the movie. With the PAL setting, it shows instead a static oblique view of concentric circles with the legend "Encoding. . . "

 

All other settings are identical, and the DVD in use is the same TDK DVD-RW for each experiment.

 

Any ideas, anyone? All help gratefully received.

 

Maybe a stupid question but is it possible that your Sony is in the NTSC mode when you play your PAL DVD?

When the "Encoding Preview" shows the grey window with the with the concentric circles it means that there is no encoding being done on the source video. The Mpeg2 resolution differs for the PAL and NTSC TV standards. NTS: 720x480 and PAL: 720x576