Blank Media Sony DVD-R black discs

[urwater]

I've recently purchased my lifetime subscription to DVDFAB and all was going well with backing up my DVD collection until a few weeks ago I've come across a couple of problems that I'm unable to resolve.

Firstly, if the disc I'm copying scans and reads as less than 4.7G it should be able to be burnt onto a standard DVD-R blank media disc right? I either have to reduce the size down to about 4.2G by selecting 'main movie' or dropping quality down from DVD 9 to DVD 5 just so that I don't have to use a duel layered disc. Is it just that I'm using a new type of disc (Sony DVD-R Ver 2.1 Discs) instead of my usual Verbatim DVD-R discs or could it be a coincidence? I would have thought Sony was a good brand.

Secondly, I seem to be able to copy then burn about 80% of a movie onto the Sony discs and then it just stops saying there has been an error when burning and it spits the disc out. It happens about 1 in 3 burns which is annoying.

Finally, many of the movies I'm trying to backup seem to be larger than the 4.7G even after dropping down to DVD 5 quality and selecting just 'main movie' and I have to use a Duel layered Verbatim DVD-R DL disc which isn't cheap at nearly $5 a disc. Any help getting these down to a size I can put on a standard 4.7G disc would be helpful.

Cheers,

[sunny]

Hi urwater,

Please check in Common Settings/Write, the default (safe) writable media(DVD-5) size is 4300mb (which you can customize), our suggestion is that you'd better not burn too far, since many DVD medias have uneven dye around the outer edge which may result in burning failed.

Please stick to Verbatim DVD-R for more satisfied burning.

Sincerely,
--
Sunny
________

[maineman]

Firstly, if the disc I'm copying scans and reads as less than 4.7G it should be able to be burnt onto a standard DVD-R blank media disc right?

No. You're dealing with two different methods of measurement.
Your pc (windows) uses binary whereas the media manufacturers use decimal.
Translation: your 4.7 GB disc really holds ~ 4.37 GB.

The max write size that we recommend for dvd5 is 4472 MB...and this is only with top shelf media.

Agree with sunny.
Sony isn't bad media, but it tends to be a bit finicky.
You've had success with the verbs, so stick with 'em, but be certain that the AZO dye logo is displayed on the spindle wrapper.

You probably can burn the sony discs ok once you resolve your file size disparity...

Finally, many of the movies I'm trying to backup seem to be larger than the 4.7G even after dropping down to DVD 5 quality and selecting just 'main movie' and I have to use a Duel layered Verbatim DVD-R DL disc which isn't cheap at nearly $5 a disc. Any help getting these down to a size I can put on a standard 4.7G disc would be helpful.

Cheers,

As sunny advised, be certain you have dvd5 selected as output on the bottom of the Fab screen.
The Quality_% will display how much compression, eg., 100% = no compression.

You can also fix dvd5 as your default setting in Common Settings.

Let us know what happens.
It's also possible that Fab may not be activated correctly if you cannot compress, although I suspect your problem is as described above
Check this...click on the ? (in the blue circle, top of Fab screen) > About
Is your license displayed as lifetime correctly?

[urwater]

Thanks Sunny and Maineman,

The 4.37GB makes sense now. I have been unchecking directors comments etc to get the size down as low as possible to try and reduce the fail rate.

I shouldn't have changed from Verbatim to Sony as they were nearly always a successful burn. The Sony's were on special and I got a spindle of 100 (DAMN IT!). I'll have to go out and get a spindle of Verbatim again and see if these problems go away. Hopefully that's the cause of the problem.

Cheers and thanks for the help.

[90312]

Urwater, I noticed you said “I have to use a Duel layered Verbatim DVD-R DL disc which isn't cheap” in your original post. DVD-R DL should be avoided for video use. The layer break is preset and can’t be moved making the format problematic for movies.

[urwater]

90312,

How do you copy files bigger than 4.3GB on a disc after compression? The movies copied on DL discs are working fine at this stage but I was trying to avoid always using them due to the price.

Is there another way?

Cheers,

[urwater]

Sunny and Maineman,

I went out and got some 'Verbs' and I haven't had an issue copying since. Managed to copy everything without fault which leads me to point the finger of blame at the Sony DVD-R's I just purchased. A 100 spindle mind you.

Got to say I'm disappointed with the Sony DVD-R's.

Cheers and thanks for your help.

[90312]

90312,

How do you copy files bigger than 4.3GB on a disc after compression? The movies copied on DL discs are working fine at this stage but I was trying to avoid always using them due to the price.

Is there another way?

Cheers,

I usually use Verb DVD+R DL then select the layer break in ImgBurn. I never use DVD-R DL for movies.

[90312]

Let me add that I seldom ever use DL discs because I do movie only and put them on the cheaper single layer. If you have set the DVD-5 size to 4472MB as mainman said you should have no trouble with those Sony discs, they are not the worst by far even if you do full disk.