Video files on TV

[#1]

I remember a few years ago, that it was possible to play video files on a CD rom disc on a TV with a suitable player....
We have a TV with  a VHS tape player, and also a DVD player as integral parts...
I have several video files in various formats, that I would like to convert and put on a CD rom  to play on the "Big Screen" TV.... I have a program Any Video Converter, that will do a conversion job on the files and output them on DVD - PAL  but it does not show a conversion to CD version .... is this still possible? or must  I buy DVD discs..... IF SO, which is the best one to buy  +R or -R or whatever they are...  (no idea what the difference is , or what it stands for).

[#2]

I have been trying recently, it was only an 8 min video, tried to get it onto a CD, but no joy,  I did get it on a DVD-R36  (8cm dia) the resulting file was small enough for the CD but it wouldnt burn.  I am currently using Verbatim DVD-R full size
Make sure that you finalise the burn on the DVD as you generally cant read an unfinalised off a PC, OK on a PC

[#3]

What you're after is encoding them as a VCD or SuperVCD.
Last time I did that I used Nero but there are probably free alternatives out there.
If you're going to go the DVD route, I'd check the documentation for your player to see what disk type it supports.

[#4]

I think imgburn can burn VCD/SVCD but I seem to remember that some players won't recognise the discs.

[#5]

Ok Thanks for that guys.... Iwas trying to find out the file suffix.... and you came up trumps with VCD... I think I have an old version of Nero somewhere, so may put it on a spare laptop, and try that first...
not sure how to find out about the TV DVD player spec , cos it is a bit ancient... (got lovely glowing valves inside it) ...  TV is about the same size as a small table top fridge !...
cheers 

[#6]

Of the four multi-region DVD players about the house, only one is capable of playing S/VCD disks and it just isn't worthwhile; the quality is appaling. Go the DVD route, wasteful as it may seem. In my experience, DVD-R disks give fewer compatibility problems than DVD+R disks, if you are simply burning video to playback on a DVD player.

[#7]

Thanks Johpal.... that is indeed worth knowing...... esp that about the -R discs being more "friendly" thatn the + R discs.
cheers

[#8]

Use DVD+/- RW - you can use them many times over.

[#9]

Thanks Foxy. 

[#10]

If you want to save yourself some time and hassle of converting and burning to DVD, there is a cheap USB DVD Player on Ebuyer - http://www.ebuyer.com/product/168914
Just copy your files onto a USB memory stick or external drive and plug it into the DVD player, it does read most file formats. The only drawback is that the DVD tray feels flimsy and the IR remote is quite weak, but other than that its a good deal for the money. I haven't bought or converted any films for almost a year now.