mini-DVD compatibility

This is how DVDRhelp describes a miniDVD:

"miniDVD is basicly a DVD but on a CD-R(W) instead of a DVD disc. miniDVD is also sometimes called cDVD. A miniDVD does only fit about 15 minutes video on a 650 MB CD-R(W)."

For more information about miniDVD, read this article from DVDRhelp.

The only mini-DVD i have tried is the "miniDVD/cDVD/DVD NTSC Sample" downloaded from VCDHelp on the 10:th of July 2002. At this time, the DVD contains a menu and three clips.

When I inserted the CD into the player, it did not recognize it as a mini-DVD. Instead it brought up the SmartNAVI menu:

	The NorthQ displayed the SmartNAVI menu when I inserted the miniDVD. As you can see, the file system looks like an ordinary DVD-video.
	In the VIDEO_TS folder, there were seven files.
	When I entered the VIDEO_TS folder, I could scroll through the different clips. This is the clip that is used as background for the menu of this miniDVD.
	Here is the first clip, a Dolby Digital 5.1 Trailer from "The Simpsons".
	The second clip, a VCD with MPEG Audio from "Spaceballs".
	The third clip, an SVCD with MPEG Audio from "Chicken run".

This is what happened when I tried to play the different clips:

	The menu This clip played, but I did not have any chance to make any selections. But I guess you can't expect this as the player just plays this as an MPEG stream.
	This is how the menu clip is supposed to look when played on a DVD player that can handle minDVD's.
	Dolby Digital 5.1 Trailer (a clip from "The Simpsons") This clip worked as expected, with sound (digital or analog, depending on what the player was setup to output).
	VCD with MPEG Audio (a clip from "Spaceballs") The video part worked without problems, but there was no sound whatsoever. Neither on the analog or the digital output.
	SVCD with MPEG Audio (a clip from "Chicken run") The video part worked without problems, but there was no sound whatsoever. Neither on the analog or digital output.

So I guess you could say that the NorthQ does not recognize the miniDVD as a miniDVD, but you can at least play the clips on it by using the SmartNAVI menu. However, it seems that it cannot play the sound from clips with MPEG-coded audiostreams.

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