[Europe-DVD]

The CD-R Issue


... or ...

What They Don't Tell You When You're Buying A DVD Player

Ever been interested in making your own CDs using either a CD-R recorder or a PC-based CD-writer? Well, if you plan on doing so and are looking for a DVD player, you have to be very careful indeed. Very few DVD players are actually capable of playing recordable CDs, although of course they work just fine with factory manufactured CDs.

Technically the wavelength of laser needed to read the smaller pits of a DVD disc (as compared to a CD disc) has a considerable problem with the green(ish) or blue(ish) colour of many CD-R discs. The colouration reduces the reflectivity at the wavelengths of light used by the laser in the DVD player to the point where it is often unable to read the data from the disc. OK, fair enough, it's a genuine technical limitation and it affects all players equally, except a few high end ones which include a second laser specifically to work around this problem.

The big problem is not that this limitation exists, but that the hardware manufacturers go to extraordinary lengths to hide this compatibility problem from prospective buyers. Look through a regular brochure from any major manufacturer and it is unlikely to even mention the CD-R compatibility feature even on those high-end units that do actually feature a second laser assembly to allow you to play them. The matter is further confused by the fact that some DVD players that can't play CD-Rs, can just manage to play the CD-RW discs. My Pioneer DV-505 can play Ricoh CD-RW discs for example, while a friend's Sony DVP-S530D can't play any of many CD-RW discs he's tried in it. Almost all DVD-ROM drives I've encountered do feature the second laser in order to read CD-R discs, although some drives (such as my Creative Labs DXR2 DVD-ROM drive on my PC at work) can take as much as 30 seconds to "settle" on a CD-R disc because of the order in which it tries the two lasers.

The simplest answer is - take a CD-R disc with you to a demonstration and actually try it out before buying the player. If you can't do this, make sure you have a clear understanding with the dealer that you can return the unit with no restocking fee if it does not deliver the desired CD-R compatibility. To help a little further, the following players are REPORTED to be ok with CD-Rs (but don't take our word for it):

It's a case of buyer beware, but it's very feeding indeed if you didn't even know you had to ask the question in the first place.... It's sad that even companies like Pioneer and Philips who openly market home use CD-Recorders don't admit to the problem.

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Bevis King <B.King@ee.surrey.ac.uk>
12th August 1999