DVD Player Norauto NS-16309HIR

NS-16309HIR, NS-VID 16309 or Norauto Sound NS-16309HIR is a DVD player that is sold in Norauto car repair shop, that is a popular chain store set in many European countries and Argentina and that belongs to the French group Mobivia. The only recognizable brand that is associated to the device is Norauto; there is no other electronic company with which it can be related.

There is no much information on the internet about this device, and it comes with no instructions. So this post tries to give more details about how to use it and get the most of it.

This post answers to questions like:

• What are the technical specifications of this device?
• Which video formats and codecs are supported?
• How can I make a video file readable by the device?
• Is it possible to update codecs of file video player?

Product Description

As DVD player Norauto NS-16309HIR is manufactured and sold by a car repair shop, it is aimed to be used inside the car, and more specifically, by children that are sat on the backseat.

The DVD player can be sold in packs of one or two units.

Although the product is called DVD Player, there are actually different input sources to play a movie:

1. DVD Player
2. USB Stick
3. SD Card

The device can be used to play the following media types from USB stick or SD card:

• Video
• Images
• Music

Official multi-language user manual can be downloaded from this external link.

How to watch movies with NS-16309HIR

As already explained, there are different input sources for a movie:

1. DVD Player
2. USB Stick
3. SD Card

How to watch movies from the DVD player

On the top part, slide to the right the button “Open”. Put the DVD inside the DVD reader.

Slide button “On/Off” button on the left to “On”. DVD will be played automatically.

I find the DVD player engine quite noisy in comparison to the speaker power.

How to watch movies from the USB port

Connect USB to a computer where movie file is located. Copy movie file from a computer to a USB stick. Disconnect USB safely, and plug USB into USB port on portable DVD player.

Note: not all video files are readable by DVD player NS-16309HIR. Check section “Video file formats accepted”.

Supported USB stick versions are at least a USB 1.0/2.0 (I was not able to determine the exact version). I have not tried myself USB 3.0.

Switch on DVD player NS-16309HIR. Change source to USB by clicking on “Source” button, move down to media, press “Play”, select “USB”, then press “Play” again.

File browser showing USB content will be displayed. Browse through the files, and when your video file is selected press “Play” button.

How to watch movies from SD Card Slot

Copy movie file from a computer to a SD Card.

Note: not all video files are readable by DVD player NS-16309HIR. Check section “Video file formats accepted”.

Switch on DVD player NS-16309HIR. Change source to SD card by clicking on “Source” button, move down to media, press “Play”, select “USB”, then press “Play” again.

File browser showing SD card content will be displayed. Browse through the files, and when your video file is selected press “Play” button.

Optical disc formats supported

DVD, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW.

Video file formats supported

When using USB port or SD slot input, not all file formats are supported.
Supported files depends on these factors:

• File type (e.g., .mpg, .avi, etc.)
• Codecs used on video compression (e.g. H.264, etc.)
• Video resolution

Supported file types:

• .MPG file with video codec MPEG2 + audio codec MPEG2 [sound codec: MPEG-1/2 Video (mpgv); audio codec: MPEG Audio layer 1/2 (mpga)]
• .AVI file
• .MP4 file with the supported video and audio codec (could not find a supported codec)

If you know the supported codecs for MP4 containers, please add a comment or contact me.

Unsupported file types:

• .MKV (not displayed on file browser)
• .PS (not displayed on file browser)
• .TS (not displayed on file browser)
• .MPEG (not displayed on file browser; you may rename it to .MPG)
• .MP4 with video codec H.264 + audio codec MP4

  (error “Video codec not supported”)

• .MP4 with video codec MPEG-2 + audio codec MP3 (error “Video codec not supported”)

Supported video codecs:

• MPEG-1
• MPEG-2

Unsupported video codecs:

• H.264

Supported audio codecs:

• MPEG Audio

Unsupported audio codecs:

• MP4
• MPEG / AAC

Possible error messages found on NS-16309HIR DVD Player:

• Video file does not appear on DVD player file browser (e.g., MKV files)
• File appears, but when trying to play there is the text “Video codec not supported” (e.g., some MP4)
• File appears, but when trying to play there is the text “Video resolution not supported”
• File appears, but when trying to play there is a screen blink and no error message (e.g., original .ts file renamed to .mpg)

File browser of device display up to 20 characters of filename, without taking into account file extension, which is hidden.

USB format type I used was FAT32 and had 2 GB. I ignore if it is compatible with other USB configurations.

I have a video file that is not readable by DVD player. How do I convert it?

There are many programs that allow us to convert a video file into another one with different codecs. On this post, we are proposing to use VLC Player, that is free, open-source and available on most platforms.

Instructions to convert a unreadable video file into one supported by DVD player NS-16309HIR:

1. Open video file with VLC media player, go to menu bar > “Convert / Save…” > Codec Information.
2. On tab “File”, click on “Add” and select the video file to be converted. This file will be added to the list.
3. Click on “Convert / Save” button.
4. Next to the “Profile” drop-down list, find a button with an icon to create a new custom profile.
5. Enter the following data on custom profile:
   1. “Profile name” text box
      • Enter text “Norauto – MPEG-2 + MPEG (MPG)” (or whatever you prefer)
   1. “Encapsulation” tab
      • MPEG 1
   1. “Video codec” tab
      1. “Encoding parameters” tab
         • Check “Video”
         • Codec: MPEG-2 (MPEG-1 works as well)
         • Bitrate: 1374 kb/s
         • Frame rate: 29.97 fps

         “Resolution” tab

         • Frame width: 800 (832 and above is not supported)
         • or alternatively: Frame height 240
   1. Audio codec tab
      • Codec audio: MPEG audio
      • Bit rate: 224 kb/s
      • Channels: 2 (default)
      • Sample rate: 44100 Hz
6. Ensure your new profile is selected in the following screen (when you create it, it is not selected automatically).
7. Click on “Browse” on “Destination file” field.
8. Choose location for output file . Default container is .mpeg1, but you should change it to .mpg.
9. Click on “Start”.
10. The initial black screen of VLC Player will be displayed, and it will start conversion with a similar interface as playing a movie. If conversion does not start automatically, click on “Play” and wait until it is completed.

Sometimes I got the VLC Player error “VLC could not open the mp4a audio encoder”, related to audio codec MPG. It appeared to me at the beginning, but fortunately it stopped happening at some point.

I got an VLC error when using video codec MPEG-4; I could not try it myself, but it may work as well.

Can I update the codecs used on DVD player NS-16309HIR?

Unfortunately, you cannot update the codecs on the DVD player. This has been confirmed by Norauto as an answer to one of the customer’s questions in their webpage.

How to display images on NS-16309HIR

How to display images from USB stick or SD card

Copy images files to USB stick or SD card.

Connect USB stick or SD card to DVD player.

Supported image file formats

According to user manual, the only allowed image file format is JPG.

So far, I was successful on playing the following image file formats:

• JPG

How to listen to music with NS-16309HIR

How to listen to music from CD/DVD player

Put music CD or DVD into DVD reader and music will start to play automatically.

How to listen to music from USB stick or SD card

Copy music/sound files to USB stick or SD card.

Connect USB stick or SD card to DVD player.

Switch on DVD player NS-16309HIR. Change source to USB/SD by clicking on “Source” button, move down to media, press “Play”, select “USB”/”SD”, then press “Play” again.

Supported music/sound file formats

According to instructions, the only allowed music/sound file format is MP3.

So far, I got to play the following file formats:

• MP3

Similar Devices

NS-16309HIR has many similarities with other DVD players like Takara VIC67. Probably both are built by the same electronic device manufacturer.

You might be also interested in…

• How to change Codecs used on a Video File

External references

• “2 lecteurs DVD pour voiture NORAUTO SOUND NS-16309HIR“; Norauto (French)
• “Norauto Sound NS-16309HIR Reproductor de DVD“; BackMarket (English)
• “NS-16309 User Manual” (French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Russian)