Hi all, as you can see I'm the new kid on the block. What brings me here is a problem with pixelated images on back up DVDs. I recently built my first computer and everything fired up and worked without any problems, that is until I went to watch a movie I had just backed up. Every now and then I get a very brief pixelated image and a slight distortion of the audio. I have changed the IDE cable, ran a DVD cleaner disc, re-downloaded DVDFab...twice, and I even used a Q-tip to clean the lens...very gently. I'm using a NEC 3550A, coincidentally the warranty ran out this weekend.

I'm out of ideas and am hoping that there is something I've over looked. Any thoughts would be gladly appreciated. Thanks, dc3

Moderators, if this is in an inappropriate location please feel free to move it.

Welcome to forum dc3. The first thing that comes to mind is make sure you use the best media. You didnt mention whether you were playing this on standalone dvd player, if you were some of the older ones wont play it perfect sometimes. I used dvdfab once & I had distortion problem too. Quit using it. Just went on to something else.
Didnt want the hassles. It seems to work fine for a lot of people though.

I'm using Ritek Ridata which I've been using for sometime without a single coaster. The DVDs have the same problem in my DVD player and that of a friend's.

The DVD player is part of a Samsung receiver, so far it has been gold and has no problems with any media that I've used so far. The problem definitely is related to the NEC burner.

I'd quit using Ritek media & switch exclusively to Verbatim or Taiyo Yuden.

Use high quality Made in Japan media and burn at 4x or 8x speed. It is possible that the DVD ROM is a poor reader.

I appreciate the responses, please don't be offended, but it looks like you guys aren't reading what I'm writing. I have been using the same equipment, media, and software for over a hundred burns over last year. I'm either looking at a failure of some sort or a driver problem and am trying to figure this out rather than just blowing money on another burner.

So you are saying that you're using exactly the same media you were using a year ago ? Maybe you haven't stored it properly.
If you mean you're using the same make of media, bin it. Most people on here will tell you it's rubbish. Pay a little more and get some decent stuff.
Ritek may have been ok at one time, but they seem to have done away with quality control. You are now getting what you pay for. Mediocre media.

Yup. Ritek were once very good, but these days their DVD media is mediocre at best. Variable is how I'd put it, meaning one or two discs can work perfectly, and the next disc in the cakebox could burn like crap.

I don't think anyone is ruling out the possibility of the burner being at fault, but surely trying different media first is a lot cheaper than grabbing a new burner

I had ruled out the media because I have used thirty out of the one hundered discs with successful burns, and I tried some Verbatim with the same results. I appreciate the heads up on the Redata and will go with Taiyo Yuden in the future, I had decided on that prior to this. The media is only a month old.

The warranty was three days out of date, but Newegg is still going to honor it, I received the RMA number and will ship it back today. I still would like to know what the problem is, it is not the media. This happening after my building the new puter makes me wonder if it could be caused by a driver that didn't load properly. I'm going to be frustrated if I receive the new unit and still have the same old problem.

A side note on the media, the National Institute for Standard and Technology and the Library of Congress has an ongoing study regarding the longevity of different media types, and there is one manufacturer that apparently is of substantially superior quality. I sure would be nice to know who they are.

For those who would like to read this article you can find it here.

Well, it's good that Newegg is going to still honour the warranty, even though it's a few days out of date - that's customer service!

Thanks for letting us know you tried Verbatim with the same result. Possibly trying a different software next, like the trial versions of AnyDVD/ CloneDVD2?

Apologies if you already tried different software. Just something to try whilst you wait for a replacement drive.

I just tried DVD Shrink and had no problems with it playing afterward, it looks like the DVDFab that I downloaded not once but twice is the culprit.

Glad you found the culprit