# Why would just one DVD player skip?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-just-one-dvd-player-skip/371805>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 7, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-just-one-dvd-player-skip/371805 "2006-09-07T17:56:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-just-one-dvd-player-skip/371805/1 "2006-09-07T17:56:06Z")

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I have some DVDs that have 5 hours recorded on a (one-sided) disk. One player skips and hangs up. The other doesn’t miss a beat. Allowing for the fact that that’s a lot to scrunch on one side, why would one player have a problem over another? (Both are by major manufacturers.)

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**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-just-one-dvd-player-skip/371805/2 "2006-09-07T18:13:16Z")

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There’s definitely some variation between DVD players, even of the same make.

We have one Sony player that’s about seven years old, and one Sony that’s about three years old. When I make a DVD in iMovie, the newer one plays it at **EXTREMELY HIGH VOLUME** , so you have to turn the sound way, way down to make it manageable; this results in a dramatic and annoying loss of sound quality. The older player, along with every other DVD player I’ve tried this on, plays the sound at the normal, expected level. I can’t figure it out.

Sorry I have only anecdotal, non-technical input.

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**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-just-one-dvd-player-skip/371805/3 "2006-09-07T20:55:40Z")

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I just got a DVR-R in the mail today. My newer higher end OPPO player won’t play it. My older inexpensive SONY plays it fine. Go figure.

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**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2006, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-just-one-dvd-player-skip/371805/4 "2006-09-07T23:37:51Z")

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> [@Earl Snake-Hips Tucker](#):
>
> I have some DVDs that have 5 hours recorded on a (one-sided) disk. One player skips and hangs up. The other doesn’t miss a beat. Allowing for the fact that that’s a lot to scrunch on one side, why would one player have a problem over another? (Both are by major manufacturers.)

The amount of content on the disc might be a problem… IIRC, some players have trouble with video bit rates below 2000 kbps, and squeezing 5 hours onto a single sided, single layer DVD-R with a 224 kbps audio track gives you about 1750 kbps on average for the video.

Or it could be that the other player isn’t designed for reading DVD-R media. Does it skip when you play other burned discs?