DVD set top player compatibility list

April 23/2001 The following LIST below is my report on which of 58 DVD set top players (stand alone DVD players) currently being sold are able to play slightly non compliant MPEG2 & which can handle the 4.7 GB vs 3.95 GB DVD-Rs. See the 2 paragraphs below for my experiences.

FAULTY AUTHORING & 3.95 vs 4.7 GB INCOMPATIBILITIES: I recently encoded my first MPEG2 movie for DVD using Media Cleaner Pro 5.02 standard version (I wouldn't recommend it, unless you use the Charge optional plugin) & authored it in SpruceUp version 1.0 (now sold off to Apple & discontinued). I sent those assets away to be burned on a DVD-R 4.7 GB Pioneer (model # DVS-R4700SP) authoring grade disc, using a Pioneer DVS-201 commercial grade burner. The DVD-R played fine in software & on an inexpensive Apex AD-660 I picked up, so I assumed everything was ok. The client got back to me & said it wouldn't play on 4 different DVD set top players he tried. Other producers on the internet lead me to believe that the problem was probably because we used 4.7 GB media rather than 3.95 GB media & I hoped they were right (they weren't). I had the assets reburned on 3.95 GB authoring grade media (Pioneer DVS-V3950S-A), but I also had the video captured, encoded & authored again using a very expensive Spruce Scenarist system this time & burned those assets on a 3.95 & 4.7 GB authoring grade Pioneer DVD-Rs as a cross check experimentation. It turns out that something in my original encoding or authoring (probably authoring) must have been slight amiss (slightly non compliant for DVD) because only 4 of the 42 DVD set top players below that I tested would play the original assets (only 9.5%), but 40 of the players would play the assets made on the more expensive Spruce Scenarist system (95.2%) (from 3.95 GB disks) or 38 of the 42 DVD players (90.4%) (from 4.7 GB disks). This told me that there is good reason to use 3.95 GB disks instead of 4.7 GB disks, but that subtle DVD non compliance's were a much greater factor than disk capacity. The fact that there are at least 4 DVD set top players that seem to be able to play almost any DVD whether it's 3.95 or 4.7 GB & even if it's not perfectly DVD compliant in some way, is very important to know (see list below).

It's become apparent to me that MPEG2 encoding & DVD authoring is a real mine field where lots can go wrong & few of the DVD player manufacturers are willing to help you or admit that their product might be slightly non compliant. I hope soon to be able to find out whether my encoding via Media Cleaner Pro 5.02 or my authoring via SpruceUp was the source of the non-compliance (it was likely the SpruceUp authoring), but using the commercial version of the Bitrate viewer at http://www.tecoltd.com/bitratev.htm I was able to determine that the MPEG2 movies made by Media Cleaner Pro were all OPEN GOP after the first GOP. That is a major bug, but I've been told that this was not likely the source of my problem. I'll be looking for better solutions, but in the mean time I'm also going to start pushing the 4 DVD set top models that seem to play even fussy DVD material. BTW, in case you think this only happens to video producers who have just ventured into making DVDs, there are a number of pressed DVD Hollywood movie releases that also are fussy & won't play on some DVD set top players, so knowing which models to recommend to your clients can be very helpful. Please see the following list, which is listed under 5 categories. Also keep in mind that many of the DVD set top players still in circulation that were sold 1 - 3 years ago will have much lower compliance than these models, especially for 4.7 GB DVD-Rs which are called version 2 disks & probably have a lot lower percentage than the 90.4% I found.

6 DVD set top players that work with slightly non compliant DVD-Rs, in 3.95 or 4.7 GB sizes.

Apex (note many reports indicate that Apex DVD players can vary in features even within the same model from one batch run to the next.)
AD-660
AD-700

Citizen
JDVD3841w

Daewoo
DVG-9000N

Hitachi
DV-P505U   I ended up buying this unit & am quite pleased with it. Picture quality is higher than the Apex, but this full featured unit is now obsolete & the new Hitachi models aren't as good.

Koss
KS3120-2

47 DVD set top players that don't work with slightly non compliant DVD-Rs that have minor authoring flaws, but will play compliant 3.95 & 4.7 GB DVD-Rs equally well.

ARCAM
DV-88

GENERAL ELECTRIC
GE1106P

HITACHI
DV-C605 (5 disc changer)
DV-P415
DV-P305
DV-P315
DV-W1U

JVC
XV-S40BK
XV-S42SL
XV-S500
XV-521
XV-523
XV-721BK (does DVC audio)

KONIKA
KD-18000V1

KOSS
KD260-2

PANASONIC
DVD-A7 (also DVD audio player)
DVD-CD50 (5 disc changer)
DVD-RV30
DVD-RV31
DVD-RV60

MEMOREX
MVD4540 DVD & VHS combo

PIONEER
DV-333
DV-343
DV-434 

RCA
RC5215P

SAMSUNG
DVD511

SANYO
DVC-2500 DVD & VHS combo

SHINSONIC
DVD-8310 this is a good unit for the price

SONY
DVPC-660
DVPS-360
DVPS-530D
DVPS-560D
DVPS-570D
DVPS-7700
DVPS-9000 ($2500. CDN)
SLV-D350P DVD & VHS combo unit

SUNGALE
DVD8500

TOSHIBA
SCP-1000 (portable)
SD-1200 
SD-2150
SD-2700
SD-3205 (5 disc changer)
SD-6200
SD-V280 DVD & VHS combo

YAMAHA
DVD-C9000

ZENITH
DVD2299C
DCK596MC

1 DVD set top player that works with slightly non compliant 3.96 GB DVD-Rs but not 4.7 GB DVD-Rs

DAEWOO
DS2000N DV

2 DVD players that can be fussy about playing 4.7 GB Discs. Not recommended.

MARANTZ
DVD-930 (really a Toshiba 1700) 

TOSHIBA
SD-1600 (4.7 GB disc menued & played once, but not second time). Tried again & worked. Not very good reports.

2 DVD players that won't play DVD-Rs at all. Not recommended.

PIONEER
DV-C503 (5 disc changer) won't play any DVD-Rs

SANYO
DVD06070 Won't play any DVD-Rs

By Doug Hembruff.