DVD Skipping when file larger than 4.1gb

Hi guys,
I am using DVDSP 4 on a Mac Pro w/ 3gb memory.
I have noticed that if I make a dvd with more than 4.1 gb of info on it that when playing back in a DVD player the last portion of the DVD starts to skip and pixilate.
It plays fine on simulate in DVDSP.
Make the program file smaller (say 3.5gb) and produce a DVD with that and its fine.
Any idea's on this since a DVD can hold up to 4.7 gigs.
Thanks,
Jim Ellis

Single DVD layer (DVD-5) is like any other hard drive disk. The manufacturer states that 1 GB is 1,000,000,000 bytes while the computer uses 2's complement math that is 1-2-4-8-32-64-128...which has no even number boundaries.

The correct way to tell what the media size of any device is:

4,700,000,000 / 1024 / 1024 / 1024 = 3.47 GB of real usable data space.

Thanks john, that explains it. I guess its time to start looking at double sided disks

HUH!?!

Hi John - I think you mean 4.37GB. You do not loose over a GB!! Plus DVDSP knows this so in the Disc Inspector you can go upto nearly 4.7GB.

That issue is probably more due to non-ClassA media or burn speed rather than capacity but it can be a good idea not to fill the disc to the max.

Of course it could also be a bitrate issue too.

When this stuff happens its good test in more than one player. See if it is repeatable and if it is in the exact same place. If the images are always blocking off of the disc in the exact same place then check the mux. If not then the 1 & 0's are in the right place and it is a media, burning, playback kinda issue so you can fault find that which might require a lower bitrate video or saving bandwidth by using Dolby Digital AC3 audio etc.

Good luck,