dvd decoder

Mr_Vincent

paultw5 wrote: »

I had this about a year ago, downloaded VLC media player and everything i play works fine, including region 1 dvd's...

I know I am butting in on somebody else's thread but are you talking to me or to the original poster and can I have a link to VLC telling me what its real name is and if it is freeware, shareware or what.
I am UK based.

Donnie

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

-TangleFoot-

Mr_Vincent wrote: »

...my CD Drive isn't playing DVD's either...

Unless it's a DVD drive in disguise, it won't. Plain old CD drives cannot read DVDs, because they lack the smaller wavelength laser used to read them:

Data pits & lasers
Like CDs, DVDs store data in microscopic grooves running in a spiral around the disc. All DVD drive types use laser beams to scan these grooves: Minuscule reflective bumps (called lands) and nonreflective holes (called pits) aligned along the grooves represent the zeros and ones of digital information.

DVD technology writes in smaller "pits" to the recordable media than CD technology. Smaller pits mean that the drive's laser must produce a smaller spot. DVD technology achieves this by reducing the laser's wavelength from the 780nm infrared light used in standard CD drives to 625nm to 650nm red light.

ioscorpio

Mr Vincent
I have tried to send you a PM as Donnie has given me a lot of good advice

gem4

Donnie, Thanks for pm info. Have replied but your inbox is full and in need of emptying...lol

Donnie

I'm constantly trying to make space there.

Do you have it working now or do you need more assistance?

gem4

I gave up. It works but not very well, its pixellated and jerky. I think my old laptop may not be up to spec by today's standards. Its easier to watch dvd's on the telly

Donnie

I find that on older machines, it's better to use an older player. ie PowerDVD 4 or 5 or Nero 6 Showtime.

What's your machine spec?

You can make a report with CPUZ; http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php by using the Register or HTML Dump under the about tab on the program.

You can give up if you'd prefer. Not a problem.

Mr_Vincent

ioscorpio wrote: »

Mr Vincent
I have tried to send you a PM as Donnie has given me a lot of good advice

Sorry about this.
Must be my misunderstanding of my control panel.
I have never had this problem before unless moderators have been private messaging me.
I have unticked the offending box as below shows and sent you another PM in response.

'You may limit the receipt of private messages to just moderators and those on your buddy list. Other members who attempt to send messages to you will be told that you have disabled private messaging.Receive Private Messages only from Buddies and Moderators'

Donnie

So, do you actually have a DVD player?