I'm trying to copy a DVD using DVD Copy but it compresses (shrinks) the file when it shouldn't have to and the quality of the output DVD is terrible.

Here are the details of the DVD I'm trying to copy:

It was created on a Sony DVD recorder(combination DVD recorder and VCR unit, NTSC format) (copied from a VHS tape). The specs of the DVD:

DVD -R, closed, muli-border, DVD Video, 4,256.8 MB (2,179,488 sectors). So the DVD is only about 4.3 GB so it should fit on a blank DVD without compression of any kind since it fit on the original DVD recorded on the Sony recorder. This DVD still had about 7 or 8 minutes of blank space left on it before I finalized it on the Sony recorder so it isn't completely full.

The output DVD specs:

DVD -R, closed, DVD Video, 3,844.0 MB (1,968,176 sectors. Note that the output DVD is not multi-border either.

Both discs are top of the line Tayo Yuden 8X speed DVDs. Is there any way to get DVD Copy to copy the original DVD without it being compressed? The output quality of the compressed DVD is not acceptable at all.

To copy the DVD, I had to manually copy all the files on the DVD to the hard drive on my computer and then burn those files to a blank DVD using the AVS Disc Creator program. This worked and I got an uncompressed output DVD that was good video quality but it did not copy over the DVD menu that was created on the DVD created by the Sony recorder.

So is there any way to use DVD Copy to get DVDs copied without the files being shrunk? Or is there a way to use the Disc Creator program to copy it and get the original DVD menu on the output DVD also?

Thanks!

To: rollerreftom

AVS DVD Copy does shrink the movies, but the quality should not have been distorted much in your case.

rollerreftom:

Or is there a way to use the Disc Creator program to copy it and get the original DVD menu on the output DVD also?

You can try using the copy mode in AVS Disc Creator. Here you can find the detailed information.

Regards

To: nadin


Thanks for your reply Nadin. However, it makes no sense whatsoever to shrink a file that doesn't need to be shrunk. It's a nice feature if you want to shrink a file to fit on one DVD but it's a liability when the file already fits on one DVD. The video quality was not good on the shrunken file. There was artifacting in some places and a strange flashing and picture distortion in other areas so the AVS DVD Copy is pretty much worthless to me.

AVS Disc Creator did copy the DVD without shrinking it but without the DVD menu.

I wound up downloading a free copy program from a German web site and that program copied the DVD without shrinking the file and it copied the menu also. This free program is quite good. It shows you if it has problems reading the disc and how many times it had to read it before it worked. It also does around 30 retries before it aborts. There are also different options to use for error corrections so this free program is much better than any other copy program I've used including Roxio and your product.

rollerreftom:

AVS Disc Creator did copy the DVD without shrinking it but without the DVD menu.

The menu should not have got lost, in case you used the copy mode. Have you followed the instructions I have provided? Here is the link for them. If not, please copy the discs this way.

If the DVD is still copied without the menu, please send us the .log files which contain the detailed information on the burning process. You can find them in the following directory:

for Vista - C:\Users\[User]\AppData\Roaming\AVS4YOU\AVSDiscCreator\logs
for XP - C:\Documents and Settings\[User]\Application Data\AVS4YOU\AVSDiscCreatorlogs\

Regards

To: nadin


Hi Nadin,

When I try to copy this disc in the copy mode of Disc Creator, I got a message saying "copying of multi-session DVD is not supported, use create data DVD task instead". I used the create data DVD task and it copied the disc without shrinking the file but the menu was lost. So the Disc Creator program has limitations also.

My Sony DVR/VCR unit only creates multi-border/session DVDs.

Please pass on to the programmers that they should add support for multi-session discs in the copy mode in the next version of Disc Creator. Also, DVD Copy program should have an option to not shrink files on the output discs if they will already fit on a standard 4.7 GB DVD.

rollerreftom:

I used the create data DVD task and it copied the disc without shrinking the file but the menu was lost. So the Disc Creator program has limitations also.

In case you use Burn DVD-Video mode and add the whole VIDEO_TS folder to burn onto a disc no menu should get lost. What you can try, is finalizing the disc. If you do not tick the option to finalize the disc, it might not be read correctly in a DVD player.

BTW, if you play the disc burnt on your PC, is it played with the menu (if you double-click VIDEO_TS.IFO)?

Kind regards

To: nadin


Hi Nadin,

The entire Video_TS folder was included in the copy and I made sure the finalize box was ticked so it was finalized. I tried playing the DVD on my computer as you suggested using Real Player and the menu did show up there and it's the same as the menu on the original DVD. I had to copy the entire contents of the DVD manually to my computer hard drive using the copy and paste method to be able to burn it to a DVD using AVS Disc Creator. I tried copying the files on the DVD to my hard drive using the AVS Disc Creator but that program had trouble reading the disc.

I tried playing the DVD again in all 3 of my Sony DVD players. On 2 of them the DVD played perfectly but it couldn't find the menu. On my oldest player, which is about 8 years old, the DVD wouldn't even play. It displayed "Play" on the front of the player but then it just sat there with the play arrow on but the time counter was stuck at zero so it wouldn't play at all. One of the players I tried the disc on was the same recorder that the original disc was created on so it should have recognized the menu on the copied disc also but it didn't. So the only place the menu is recognized is when playing it on my computer.

This is strange indeed. Any idea why the Sony players won't recognize the menus, even when the original DVD was created in a Sony DVR?

The only reason I tried the AVS program to copy this DVD was because Roxio Creator had trouble reading the disc. The AVS DVD Copy program was able to read the disc but I had the problems with the output quality being bad on the output DVD due to the file shrinkage by the program. I finally used the free copy program I got on a German web site and that read the disc okay and created a good output copy that works fine including the menus on all of my Sony players.

Perhaps all these problems were caused by defects in the original disc. Thanks for your help.

To: rollerreftom

Thank you for the detailed explanation. Could you please specify the exact models of your DVD players.
Possibly, we have at least one of them on site and will be able to do some testing.

To: nadin


These are all Sony VCR/DVR combo units. The models are:

Sony RDR- VXD655 (newest model)
Sony RDR-VXD530 (about 4 years old)
The DVD plays fine on both units but will not show the menu.

Sony RDR-VX500 (about 6 years old)
DVD will not play at all on this unit. It displayed "Play" on the front of the player but then it just sat there with the play arrow on but the time counter was stuck at zero so it wouldn't play at all.

The DVD was burned on a Taiyo Yuden 8X speed TYG02 disc which is a very good quality disc.

On the second player, the model is RDR-VX530, not VXD530.

To: rollerreftom

Thank you! We will try to reproduce the problem and will inform you if there are any news.

Regards

To: nadin
I've noticed a slight herky jerky effect when the copy is replayed. Audio seems to be excellent.

To: rwhitenight


Hello,

To avoid the problem try copying DVD files from your disc to hard drive and then copying DVD in AVS DVD Copy from hard drive.

Regards.