Firstly, what is Video CD / VCD?
Basically a compact disc (can be a CD-R or CD-RW) that contains moving pictures and sound. It is capable of holding up to 74 minutes (80 minutes on a CD-R80) of full-motion video with quality stereo sound. Therefore most full length movies are on 2 CDs. Video CD is based on the MPEG1 format (DVD uses MPEG2) and so the playback quality is comparable to a VHS recording. In many ways it is the forerunner to DVD.
Why do I need VCD compatibility?
You probably don't. Video CD offers a much lower quality of playback than DVD and original VCDs are not easily locatable in the UK anyway. However, with the right equipment it is possible to encode and author your own personal Video CDs onto CD-R. Additionally, it is also possible to download VCD content from the Internet.
So LG DVD players don't ship with VCD playback then?
For the most part and strangely no. I say strangely for three reasons. Firstly, the C-Cube ZiVA-4 chip used in the LG players does have the ability to decode VCD. Secondly, the Aiwa XD-DV370 which is a clone of the 3350E without a Dolby Digital decoder (and reduced GUI features), does provide Video CD playback. Thirdly, the LG DVD-3351P, which is the East European version of the 3350E, does play VCDs. It would therefore appear that the VCD playback facility simply hasn't been enabled in the the firmware on some of LG's players.
How can I enable VCD playback on my LG DVD Player?
- WARNING: Do not attempt this hack unless it has been confirmed to work with your player. Reports show that it completely screws-up players which do not have latent VCD capability. If your player is not specifically listed below, then assume that the hack does not work on that model. Choose to ignore this warning at your own peril.
- Reports confirm that this hack works with the following LG players; DA-3520, DVD-3000E, DVD-3350/1/E/C, DVD-4210, DVD-4730, DVD-4750, DVD-4830, DVD-4950.
- If the transport in your player cannot read CD-R/CD-RW then only original pressed "silver" VCDs can be played.
- I strongly advise that you do not experiment with any other values or settings other than the ones specified. Doing so may result in undesired effects (e.g. foreign language menus) or may even disable your player completely.
- No changes are saved until you press the "ENTER" button. So if you think you have made a mistake before reaching that point, simply press "RETURN" and the procedure will be cancelled.
- I cannot of course accept any responsibility for anything that happens to your player whilst you are poking around with these settings.
Follow these instructions very carefully.
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Power on the player with no disk in the drive
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Press "PAUSE" on the remote
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Enter "1472" on the remote (the characters 01 47 should appear on the display)
[If your player is a non UK model, this number will probably be different - don't worry] -
Press the UP arrow three times (the characters 04 Fd should appear on the display)
[This number may be different depending on the configuration of your specific model - don't worry] -
Press "PROGRAM", "6", "PROGRAM", "5" (the characters 04 FE should now be displayed)
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Press "ENTER" (the display should flash briefly)
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Press "RETURN"
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Power the player off and then back on
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Play a VCD!
- If you are having trouble getting the hack to work, try pressing "STOP" on the remote before you press "PAUSE" for the first time.
- The above hack will also enable the 5.1 Speaker Setup menu which is of no use on players which do not have an in-built Dolby Digital decoder (e.g. DVD-3000E and DVD-4730). Therefore on these players perform the above procedure but exchange steps 4 and 5 for:
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Press the UP arrow three times (the characters 04 9C should appear on the display)
[This number may be different depending on the configuration of your specific model - don't worry] -
Press "PROGRAM", "4", "PROGRAM", "5" (the characters 04 dE should now be displayed)
Will it now play SVCDs, XVCDs, XSVCDs, or mini-DVDs?
No and it is unlikely that it ever will. It is indicated in the Service Manual that the specification of one of the decoder chips only supports VCD (thanks Jimbo).
