The discs were in the store about 2 months before I used them. - no idea on production date? The discs play in the PC with zero problems. I have reloaded the latest iteration of Video Pro Plus aiming to see if I had picked up a got a bug or something. Will address that later.

There are two basic types of DVD disc (Not including layer numbers). + R, or - R. Some standalone players won't play DVD - R discs. If they are playing on the PCs DVD they are OK as most PC DVD recorders can handle both types, but that disc difference could be one reason they are not playing on the standalone players. Recordable DVDs also use dyes to form the data being burnt whereas commercial discs are stamped with information so the laser light being returned is much stronger. If the players are getting on, then the lasers or receiving diodes may be weakening and not capable of reading info from the recordable DVDs. In short it could any number of things but if you have -R discs try going out and ordering some +R DVDs first.

I have recordable DVDs that are over 6 years old and still usable.

@CubeAce

I have to very forcefully disagree with your assertion that "Some standalone players won't play DVD - R discs". In fact, I find that it is DVD+R single-layer discs which are the ones that can cause problems, though not the dual-layer type of them!! If there is any problem with the use of DVD-R discs, perhaps it is "caused" by the authoring software? I have used only MEP and VPX for several years now for single-layer discs, creating always .iso files and using separate burning software to create the actual discs.

Just to explain a little more: I have a small media business, much of the work for which involves transcribing analogue video tape to DVD. I always use DVD-R discs for those projects that can fit onto that size of disc, and DVD+R if a dual-layer disc is required. In something over 8 years of using those formats, the only problems which clients encounter is if the disc itself has proved to be faulty. I have never had a DVD-R disc returned because it wouldn't play on a variety of standalone players!

I can't remember where I once read that DVD-R is the "preferred" format for DVD-Video discs, but I do remember seeing the "evidence" presented as overwhelmingly convincing. Hence, my adoption of the format, without any regret!

Jeff

I too use DVD-R as my preferred choice, based on years of experience with all versions from MEP 10 onwards.

I have to agree with DVD- being the more 'playable' option. I have used them for many years, after having regular problems years ago with DVD+. I currently produce about 800-100 DVDs per year and have also never had one returned as unplayable apart from ones that the client has damaged. Any playing problems have always been down to faulty or dirty players.

Roger

Older DVD players often won't play +R as +R came out later than -R.

My main point was that it is worth trying the opposing format of DVD if you have problems. Some of the problems may be down to age of equipment or regional variations in players. Emmrecs makes a good point about the authoring software as well. I was just mentioning one avenue of possible cause of failure to read a disc based on my own personal experience. The -R as far as I'm aware came about because of Sony and Philips having control over the +R format and the licencing agreements that didn't particularly go down well with other manufacturers.  

Thanks to all for the great info.- from professionals, too. I took a chance that the MEP version (installed March 2018) was a possible problem and/or the DL discs were not friendly to either of my players. So I re-downloaded the program from MAGIX then got some single layer disks. I am finishing a complex travel video with a lot of imported music, edited photos and highly wrangled video, etc. So after a tiny bit of redesign, it all works. I'll try burning again on the DL disc to see which correction worked, but I highly suspect the MEP was the culprit since I had successful burns with the same disc and program about 3 months before.

@John-McInnis

You mention in your latest post that you are using DL discs.  I take that to mean you are using Dual-Layer, which are (?always) DVD+R but for which I have personally found neither MEP nor VPX to be "ideal" for "direct burning", i.e. if you burn the disc as part of the exporting process. When I have done this "direct burning" in the past, then I have had playback failures on stand alone DVD players.

I referred above to the fact that any disc project I am creating I always use the "Image Recorder" facility and thus create an .iso file along with the normal folder of files which will form the contents of the disc. For single-layer I always burn the actual disc(s) from the .iso file using Ashampoo Burning Software. Dual-Layer I now always use the folder of files and the free ImgBurn app. Since one of the critical factors inherent in D/L discs seems to be where the "split point" is located (where the laser moves automatically from the first to the second layer), ImgBurn allows the user to actually choose the precise split point from a range of possible places which the burning software offers. (Sometimes it thinks the "End of the World" has come - quite literally the error message says this - because it cannot find a suitable split point! In that case, another little utility called VobBlanker, not the easiest to use, will allow the user to designate and create a suitable split point.)

Anyway, I'm very glad you've solved your problem though I confess to being surprise that only a tiny bit of redesign was necessary to enable you to fit your project on to a single-layer DVD, having previously found that a D/L was needed. Presumably the D/L disc actually would have had quite a lot of free space?

In all honesty, I doubt that the reinstall of MEP actually removed your original problem; I think it much more likely the move to single-layer disc is what solved it for you.

Jeff