I'm trying to create a CD with jpg images to use on a DVD player and I have a couple questions. I've made one CD already using NTI CD Maker 6.0, using the "create slideshow VCD" option and it doesn't work. I have a Pioneer DV-353 DVD player which is apparently supposed to be able to play VCDs. But it's not reading the disc, it just says VCD on the display. Can anyone give me some pointers on what I'm doing wrong? Should my DVD player be able to show the pictures?

Also, I've noticed that new DVD players on the market say they can read jpg files. Does this mean they can read the jpgs on a regular CD-ROM? Thanks for your input!

Yes, it means they can play an ISO-9660 (normal burnt CD) with JPG's on them. No fancy interfaces or anything, but they work.

My incredibly cheap Tatung/Decca does that, and as its using some general market chips inside it, I'd guess a large number of other DVD players do the same thing.

I use this program to make slideshows on CDs.
http://www.photo2vcd.com/
Works like a charm, is very simple to operate, and you can add background music as well.
I burned someone's wedding-photos like this and made 20 copies, which were distributed to various guests and family. All of them work without a hitch, so great compatibility.

Looks like photo2vcd works with my DVD player. Except I used the trial version so it has the url plastered over the tv screen. Real nice. I made a regular CD-ROM with the jpg images on it and it worked on my brother's cheap Cyberhome DVD player. And you can control how long you look at each picture. Quick question - is there a way to make the VCD or CD-ROM so it doesn't stretch the pictures to fit the TV screen? The pictures I made are 2048 x 1536 so they look fine on my TV but anything that's been cropped, or especially panoramas, would look terrible.

This is what my Help-file says, so I guess you have to UNtick that option.

I have Photo2VCD Professional V2.69, but there is a newer version out, I think.

You don’t need to burn a specially formatted disc but just a regular data DVD full of digital photos if you own a DVD player with built-in slide-show features for viewing JPEG images. Lots of new type DVD players have the features such as Sony DVP-NS57P, Pioneer DV-490V-S, LG DN788, Panasonic DVD-S53S/K, Philips DVP5982 and etc. Different types of players with different play menu, photo quantity limitation and so on. So, DVDs display in this style via my Sony player but that on my friend’s Panasonic.

If your DVD player doesn’t have such features, creating DVD photo slide shows via apps will be help and it is a much more stunning and professional way for storage and share. Bellows are kinds of apps.

1. Free apps that can create photo slideshows.
Google’s Picasa,is a free software download from Google. Picasa can make photo slideshows with simple clicks and copy files to DVD media using both the "Backup" and "Gift CD" features, but DVDs create by Picasa can not be played on all types of DVD players.

Windows Movie Maker 2, included free in XP and Vista, helps to create AVI or WMA slideshows. Although it doesn’t natively burn DVDs playable by many DVD players, Windows Movie Maker has many powerful features (say exquisite effects) to magnetize users and adding DVD writing capabilities to Windows Movie Maker with inexpensive applications will figure it out.

2. Commercial apps wholly make for creating DVD slide shows.

Nero PhotoShow Deluxe 5 is famous and powerful software which includes a massive amount of slide-show-authoring options for photo DVDs. Nero has a 15-day trial for PhotoShow Deluxe, while the free PhotoDVD trial lets you create slide shows with up to 100 images. As a sub-product from Nero, it has highly stability on its writing capability.

Wondershare DVD Slideshow Builder 4 is another professional and popular app that can create DVD photo slideshows with photos, video clips and music and burn CD/DVD directly. It provides a free trial version with Watermark on output, 30-day trial limitation. What it attract me is its plenty 2D/3D transitions and Ken-Burns effects.

hope it help.