ftran999 said:
I'm planning on adding a BR writer to my PC. I plan is to transfer
videos shot on my DSLR to BD and give out to friends and family. When
I look on Newegg.com I get confused by the different types of BD media
BD-R, BD-R DL, BD-RE, BD-RE DL. So If my goal is to author disks
playable on both PCs (assuming the user's pc has a BR player) or a
standalone BR player which media type should I be looking at.
Thanks in advance.
I would start by finding some software for authoring. In
the documentation, they might state some of the issues you'll run
into.
BD-R is write once.
BD-RE is rewritable (and like previous generations, more expensive)
The blank media you can buy, is "data grade" and any pre-formatting
is there to tell reader devices that the discs are sort-of backup
media, rather than being "true movie discs" made by Hollywood.
So just because you have an authoring package, and managed to
make a menu on your BDMV-based content, it doesn't mean the
average reader mistakes this for a "Hollywood movie" look-alike.
Real movies are encrypted. On some of the older players
(first generation), they won't read any data grade discs at all.
Current generation players should be more generous. You're bound
to run into at least one of your "family and friends" who will
complain that their player spit out the disc
Rather than this being a "fault of the laser", in this case it's
a logical fault. With each generation of player, there are going to be
more checks for what kind of disc it is, "Hollywood" or "otherwise".
It's possible, in terms of physical layer reading, that BD-R reads
just as well as BD-RE. If it's going to foul up, it could be
"firmware in the player" that causes the foul up, and not a
"laser problem".
*******
I'm surprised there is nothing from Sony in this list. It's
possible this list focuses more on authoring, rather than editing.
Authoring is what puts a fancy menu on the disc, when your
recipient goes to play it. A video editor is still going to be
needed, to prepare the content. Or maybe even conversion tools,
to change formats. But the video editor may not excel at authoring,
and vice versa. What little I've done in this area (DVDs), I edited
with one tool, authored with a second, and burned media with a third,
all because the tools each had their own annoying quirks. I wouldn't
expect the bloated software to be any different now, when it comes
to how annoying it can be (doing stuff you don't want it to do).
http://www.videohelp.com/tools/sections/authoring-bd-hd-dvd
BDAV and BDMV support different bit rates. And I expect
any authoring tool you find now, will be able to do BDMV,
which has the higher rate support. I think initially, you
couldn't get good authoring for BDMV, but it looks like
that has changed.
For "Hollywood" content, typical end-user issues are things
like: having to have the player connected to the Internet,
needing to upgrade the firmware to play new titles, and
the discs themselves having Java code on them, which the
player runs, and the code has something to do with
the decryption process, as well as making menus. When it
comes to your discs, only the "firmware upgrade" is
a potential issue (for say, a first generation player).
Otherwise, when your disc plays, it won't have the same
playing issues as a Hollywood disc.
Paul
