Question:
I play a lot of VCD and SVCD's and haven't yet found a player that can cope well with most SVCD's (VCD's tend to be less of a problem).
My main player is a Pioneer 350 which plays about 50% of my SVCDs reliably. I also have a Philips 825 and an Apex 600. In the past I had an Apex 1100 and Apex 1500.
The symptoms have been the same on all players. Quite often the player will start off okay and then after a certain time artifacting starts which gradually gets worse and worse until the video is unwatchable or the player gives up.
In general the cheaper players have performed best. I suspect that the problem is in decoding the MPEG2 stream rather than in the type of media.
I have tried many different media types, different burners, burning programs, different settings, different burn speeds etc but nothing seems to fix this reliably. What is most frustrating is that the cheapest of PC CD drives can read and playback the disks without a problem.
Can anyone personally recommend a multi-region player which is particularly tolerant of SVCD's? I'm prepared to pay a premium to get something that's reliable.
Have you tried swapping/returning your 350 for another one? I have one which has never caused me problems with vcds or svcds, a few friends have them too and have also not had problems. Maybe you have a dud player?
I don't believe its the specific player, I've seen similar symptoms on all players I've owned.
How many SVCD's have you tried? I probably have 3 or 4 new ones every day.
SVCDs, about 50 films, VCDs, a few hundred.
The only times I have seen the picture break up or sound glitches is when the disc itself is damaged or the original source is at fault. In these case I see the same problems when I playback from a cd rom or a different standalone dvd player.
Originally posted by mbriody
Can anyone personally recommend a multi-region player which is particularly tolerant of SVCD's? I'm prepared to pay a premium to get something that's reliable.
Generally the jap brands aren't upto much when it comes to SVCD and sometimes VCD. As you are aware the chinese cheapo players are geniunely bloody good in this regard and normally far better than the jap models. Perhaps the best option for you would be something like an LG or Samsung as these being Taiwanese and korean offer better compatibility on some of their models but not all. I would say some of the newer jap models are more SVCD friendly though as in fact they are chinese anyway made for them on the cheap in china to their specifications. I believe the newer budget Pioneer models are chinese made as are many others. I wouldn't touch Sony, Panasonic or Toshiba though as generally they are not as good. Basically though there is a site that will sort you out and that is;
http://www.dvdrhelp.com/dvdplayers
Just find a player your interested in and then use the above site to find which formats and media it supports. Don't forget to look at the bit rate if mentioned. Last time I looked the best all round dvd player that also played copied media was a cyberhome.
i have the alba 108 from argos, £70, never had an svcd/vcd that it wouldn't play.
My main player is a Pioneer 350 which plays about 50% of my SVCDs reliably. I also have a Philips 825 and an Apex 600. In the past I had an Apex 1100 and Apex 1500.
The symptoms have been the same on all players. Quite often the player will start off okay and then after a certain time artifacting starts which gradually gets worse and worse until the video is unwatchable or the player gives up.
In general the cheaper players have performed best. I suspect that the problem is in decoding the MPEG2 stream rather than in the type of media.
I have tried many different media types, different burners, burning programs, different settings, different burn speeds etc but nothing seems to fix this reliably. What is most frustrating is that the cheapest of PC CD drives can read and playback the disks without a problem.
Can anyone personally recommend a multi-region player which is particularly tolerant of SVCD's? I'm prepared to pay a premium to get something that's reliable.
Answers:
Have you tried swapping/returning your 350 for another one? I have one which has never caused me problems with vcds or svcds, a few friends have them too and have also not had problems. Maybe you have a dud player?
Answers:
I don't believe its the specific player, I've seen similar symptoms on all players I've owned.
How many SVCD's have you tried? I probably have 3 or 4 new ones every day.
Answers:
SVCDs, about 50 films, VCDs, a few hundred.
The only times I have seen the picture break up or sound glitches is when the disc itself is damaged or the original source is at fault. In these case I see the same problems when I playback from a cd rom or a different standalone dvd player.
Answers:
Originally posted by mbriody
Can anyone personally recommend a multi-region player which is particularly tolerant of SVCD's? I'm prepared to pay a premium to get something that's reliable.
Generally the jap brands aren't upto much when it comes to SVCD and sometimes VCD. As you are aware the chinese cheapo players are geniunely bloody good in this regard and normally far better than the jap models. Perhaps the best option for you would be something like an LG or Samsung as these being Taiwanese and korean offer better compatibility on some of their models but not all. I would say some of the newer jap models are more SVCD friendly though as in fact they are chinese anyway made for them on the cheap in china to their specifications. I believe the newer budget Pioneer models are chinese made as are many others. I wouldn't touch Sony, Panasonic or Toshiba though as generally they are not as good. Basically though there is a site that will sort you out and that is;
http://www.dvdrhelp.com/dvdplayers
Just find a player your interested in and then use the above site to find which formats and media it supports. Don't forget to look at the bit rate if mentioned. Last time I looked the best all round dvd player that also played copied media was a cyberhome.
Answers:
i have the alba 108 from argos, £70, never had an svcd/vcd that it wouldn't play.
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