DVD playback

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DVD playback

Postby earthlingirl » Mon Feb 28, 2011 7:11 am

For the people who sell their DVD's , what do you tell clients about watching it on their laptop or pc computers? Sometimes playback is not very good on computers especially laptops,and what if they are specifically purchasing them to play on a laptop? Is there a setting to make sure you burn it at that helps with this? Would it be easier if they were able to upload it to say maybe utube and play it that way? However they may not have an internet connection. Or do you save in another type of file that can not be copied? Just curious on what everyone does.
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Re: DVD playback

Postby gpsmikey » Mon Feb 28, 2011 10:31 am

Well, there are a couple of different approaches here (I don't sell mine, so that does not apply to me). If you are using a DVD format ("traditional dvd") as opposed to having the executable on the DVD they could play, then the first thing I would ask them is if their laptop can play standard DVD's without a problem. If yes, then they should be able to play yours as well - there are a whole bunch of factors that determine if it can play a standard DVD including the software on the laptop, how fast the data can be read from the disc etc. That said, there may still be an issue since a "burned" DVD is different than a "pressed" (commercial) DVD and some readers can handle them better than others.

If you are providing them with an executable (.exe file) on the DVD, then probably the best thing for them to do is first copy the .exe from the disk to their hard drive and try to run it from there since that generally gives better results than running an exe from the DVD.

There are so many different variables that it is really tough to predict how things will work. Probably the best thing to do would be to create a sample show say 5 minutes long and include an executable in a "/extras" folder on the DVD. Make an ISO of that DVD and then when this comes up, burn a DVD (or make a bunch up) and give one to your potential customer. Have them try both the regular DVD mode as well as copying the executable to their hard drive and running it. See how it works - especially with the executable, the amount of RAM, what else is running, the number and types of slides/transitions etc can have a big effect on how it looks. Some machines can handle it and some can't. It also (for many laptops) depends if it is running on battery or plugged into the charger. I know my laptop drops the processor speed when it is running on batteries which can also affect the playback. No simple answer - best is going to be to try a sample DVD as I suggested and let them decide for themselves.

I forgot to mention - there are a couple of settings you can change that can affect playback on limited resource machines. If you go to a lower quality setting, the data rate is lower and hence the playback can be smoother on limited machines. The downside is the quality is lower. The more motion (especially fast motion) you have, the more it pushes on the data rate needed to keep it smooth. No simple answer :shock:

mikey
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