Pioneer DV-59avi and DVD +R  

There's a brit review that says it'll play just about anything short of Divx. It said it could even play DVD-RAM. I will know tomorrow night regarding +R.

Actually, I currently cannot get my 59avi to play -R's! :mad:

The 59avi's manual clearly states that the unit should play -R's fine. I have tried at least for different disc's, and they all do the same thing: it plays the first 10 to 15 seconds, then the unit just stops. The time counter will stop about 4 or 5 seconds before the entire disc stops playing.

Any ideas?

This is the first and only issue to come up with this player so far. Seems strange. Are others able to play -R's without problems? I used Nero to burn, and all my other players never had a problem with this (Bravo D1, Zenith 318, and a very old Toshiba (first generation progressive scan unit).

:confused:

Bummer. I had high hopes for the 59avi. I am keeping the Zenith though for region free and now maybe more.

Worst case scenario, I am thinking the same thing.

I am out of DVI inputs to my pj though, so I would have to use component (not such a bad thing with the Zenith since it will output 720p via component :) ).

I think it is a problem with my unit though, it should play -R's.

A friend of mine owns a DV59Ai and that unit plays back DVD-Rs and DVD+Rs with no issue at all. I have another Pio Elite DVD player in my secondary setup - DV50A - which also plays everything I throw at it with no issues, no skipping, freezing, etc. In my experience Pio Elites and JVC players were about the least capricious when it comes to playback of various disk formats.

I was kinda pushing it when I tried DVD+/-RW in my 59Avi... didn't work.

I tried a DVD-R from a buddy, and even thought the player recognized it as a DVD, it won't play either.

Rob- I have a theory you won't like. :) We both have newer vintage players. I wonder if that's the problem? Perhaps "something changed" in the manufacturing...

Kevin, You and Rob will be glad to hear my FW ver 306 will not play DVD-R either.

They were Sony x4 recorded with Hot Burn. They played OK on my el-cheapo Chinese standalone player I bought in Malaysia, and on a friends home unit (unsure of brand). Would not play in my old Sony or Panny RP82 either, so I am thinking of changing DVD brands and reducing the burn speed to see if helps.

The Pioneer recognises the discs as DVD and starts playing them, but the screen shows a bunch of wavy lines on one side and that's it. No sound either....

Pioneers have never been able play any of the "+" DVD recordable formats in older models and I don't believe the 59ai is any different. Pioneer was one of the original supporters of the "-" format in lieu of the "+" format and have only recently introduced equipment compatible with both formats. The 108 DVD recorder for a PC is the only Pioneer device I'm aware of that has this compatibility but there may be others. The Pioneer website indicates that the 59ai has DVD-RW playback capability and nothing about the "+" formats. If your -R or -RW discs won't play it's probably due to the way you burned the DVD. I've tried DVD-RW discs in the 47ai and they worked fine so there's no reason to believe they won't also work in the 59ai. If the -RW format works you can bet the -R will work fine.

I've found that quite a few of the high-end DVD players don't support the +R/+RW formats but they will play -R/-RW discs with no problems. I tested my discs on Pioneer, Marantz, Onkyo, and Integra models and they worked on all of them. I didn't get a chance to try them on a Denon but I think they're also compatible with the "-" formats.

I've been burning DVDs made from video clips extracted from DirecTivos for several years now and discovered there is definitely a learning curve for creating DVDs. If you don't configure them correctly in the burning software they won't work. The authoring method will also determine if they will work or not. Tivo DVDs are unique in that they are non-standard format (i.e., 480x480 resolution vs. 720x480 for standard DVDs; 480x480 is the SVCD format) so it's a real test to find players that will work with them. OTOH, I have yet to find a late model player that did not work with them so it's not as big an issue as you might think.

As for the 108 and dual layer 8G disks, I've yet to try that. I'm waiting for the media to come down in price.

E

The discs I have played in a couple of machines but not others that are supposed to support DVD-R including the 59AVi. I'm going to try a couple of different things and other burn programs to see if it helps. I have some Memorex with the purple hue to check out.

PaulT

Good point - my post edited. Please do the same.
E

dvd+r works fine on my 59.

The ironic thing is that I burned these DVD-R's with a Pioneer dvd burner in my pc!!!

All my DVD-R's play in my 3 other players without problems.

This is a bummer. I would like to hear from as many 59avi owners as possible on this issue. It would suck if only the newer models have this issue!

Try using the latest versions of Nero (burning ROM and not Nero Express) and burn the disc as a DVD Video disc. You may also want to try a different brand of media. Cheap DVD-R discs may not work well in some players. I've always had good success with the Ritek G04 recordable media. One thing to look for on the -R discs is that the dye should be dark purple and not the lighter type of dye commonly used on cheap recordable DVDs. I used to burn DVDs on an old Pioneer A03 until I recently upgraded to an NEC 2500. I've always used Nero and have only burned a few coasters out of about 800 discs so far.

That's very interesting because nothing in any of Pioneer's literature about the 59ai that I've seen ever mentioned any compatibility with "+" DVD recordable media.

I have tried 3 different brands of DVD-R's on my 59avi with no luck.

Same thing on all three brands.....the 59avi plays the first 10-15 seconds of each disc, then simply stops.

The timer will actually stop counting (for example it will stop at 11 seconds) and the disc will play for another 4 or 5 seconds before it stops.

Sorry Captain, but I do not agree with you. Older Pioneer models could have had such problems but DV59Ai is not an "old" model. Besides a friend of mine whom I mentioned in the previous post used to own DV47Ai prior to DV59Ai and had the same success with the recordable formats, both - and +. I double checked that with him today. And my DV50A is from the same generation as Pio DV563A and also reads recodable and +RW formats. I tested that personally.

Where I do agree with yu is that Ritec disks of any format are very good and I join you in recommending them. Two places online that I would recommend buying these disks are Meritline and Newegg.

Good info.

I should have tried this DVD-R disc in my 47Ai before I sold it. I also thought it might be an authoring issue, but the dude burned it on one of those combo DVR/DVD-writer boxes. Not a PC. I would think that a box like that would do it correctly. No esoteric config settings to screw up. :)