Biffer

Hi Folks,

Can anyone explain (in plain English) why some shop-bought DVDs seem to stick and freeze up, making them practically unwatchable? Is it just my ultra-cheap DVD player (a Digitrex GK-1100)?

Strangely, the only discs I've experienced this problem with have all been bought from HMV shops. On one occasion, I had to take back three box-sets of a TV comedy series because of this problem - all of them seemed to stick and/or freeze completely at similar points in the disc(s). For all I know the fourth set might have the same problem - I just haven't had the heart to check it thoroughly yet.

I've been considering replacing my DVD player with a more expensive model ... but hey ... it's more expensive, so it's not something I'd want to do if not necessary.

Any help, tips or advice greatly appreciated.

'Biffer'

MrT

Does your dvd player have the "progressive scan" feature? This seems to give better playback. It's not on all players, especially at the cheaper end of the market, and was only introduced some 2 - 3 years ago. I bought a really cheap player (without progressive scan) and the difference was immediately noticeable. Some juddering and picture freezing on discs that I knew were ok, and continue to play ok on better quality players. If a player has progressive scan it is usually prominantly displayed on the front panel, a bit like "NTSC playback" on the front of VHS recorders a few years ago,

Mike (MrT)

Biffer

Thanks for that, Mike.

Progressive scan? I doubt it (it's so cheap, the on/off button is an optional extra).

Seriously, though: there's no mention of this feature in the paperwork, so it's highly unlikely to have it. I'm giving thought to replacing it with one that will allow me to make discs from old VHS tapes (or at least, copy disc to disc). "Progressive Scan" is a feature I will definitely look out for.

Right ... off to trawl through the posts for recommendations.

'Biffer'

Carmel

Hi you are not the only one that has trouble with DVD's from HMV i have a really good DVD player and i bought a few DVD's from HMV that i had to take back and get replaced. Other DVD's i bought from Virgin mega store and other outlets have never gave me any trouble so i for one do blame HMV as i really dont think some of their DVD's are up to scratch. The best DVD's that i bought and seem really good quality are from Xtra vision i dont know if there are any shops in England but their DVD's are well priced and good quality, and you can always get good bargins there.

Nick Dando

My Arcam DV88 does this too. I've just had the firmware upgraded from 1.79 to 1.81 but it still does it. It doesn't affect every disc, but some are worse than others. Symptoms are a stall, when I can hear the mechanism whirring away, hunting for the next piece of data; and then there's the freeze, where I have to switch the player off and back on again.
I've had the player from new for the last four or five years, so maybe it's due for an overhaul. A new motor is £120 or so, so in the meantime, if I have a problem disc, I have to put it in the Panasonic DVD burner to watch.

Anyone else out there with the Arcam blues?

Nick

Jim

In my experience with cds/dvds, which is pretty bad, I find that the cheaper the kit, the better it will serve you. Bloody digital age!

I have cds that won't play on a cd player but will play on a dvd player, a set of three discs where only 2 of the 3 will play on the computer and not on a cd player! I give up!

Good morning boys.

spinalman

The stuttering sounds like a data throughput issue...maybe your DVD can't handle the high amount of data coming off the disk. This May be an issue with the compression rate that was used by the DVD producers. Some try and push the highest quality, least compressed images onto the DVD, which is all very laudable but it does mean it pushes playback to the limit, particularly on PCs. The big name titles and blockbusters are less likely to get it wrong, but low popularity publishers just might overcook their settings.

The test is to try the disks on a range of players and maybe a player/recorder that can give you a readout of the data rate as it plays (press display normally on a recorder). What were the titles of the one's that did not play cleanly, and what sort of action was on the screen at the point of stutter?

Paul

Biffer

I forgot to mention in my original post that with my latest purchase from HMV, "The War of the Worlds (1953) Special Edition" - all the extras played just fine, but the main feature stuttered and froze in the finest tradition of HMV. Different recording parameters, maybe? Still weird though ... and b####y annoying.

'Biffer'

joegib

Sorry, but I find the suggestion that discs supplied by HMV are somehow different from those sold by other retailers hard to credit. I've been buying DVDs since 2000 and have accumulated around 500 disks in that time. About 200 have been bought from HMV, 200 from Virgin and the remaining 100 or so from other suppliers like Tower, Smiths, Fopp and Music Zone.

In that period I've had to return 3 disks due to playing defects, 2 of those being to HMV. These defective disks were clearly due to manufacturing/authoring errors -- I tested them on 2 standalone players and 2 computers with DVD drives and all these devices had problems playing them. That's down to the manufacturers, not HMV.

Disks are supplied to retailers by distributors who pre-package the goods. All that HMV, Virgin etc do is stick their price labels on them. Why would pre-packaged titles supplied to HMV by Fox, MGM, Paramount etc be any different to stock supplied to Virgin and other retailers?

There's nothing special about the kit I play DVDs on -- an old Pioneer DV-350 player (2002 vintage?) and a Panasonic E55 digital recorder (2004). I do, however, handle the disks carefully and clean the player laser lens occasionally.

I think you need to do more checking before pointing the finger at HMV. How do the suspect disks play on your computer? Have you asked friends to try them on their equipment? Have you tried a laser cleaning disk in your player to see if that improves matters?

I hasten to say that I have no brief for HMV -- like most of the high street retailers, their goods tend to be overpriced compared with on-line sources but I don't think they're the problem here. As it happens, I also treated myself to a copy of the War of the Worlds Special Edition from HMV a few months back. Plays fine on my standalone player and computer except that I can now see the the wires suspending the spacecraft :.

ChristineCB

That's only on the HMV version. (ha ha)

I agree that it's hard to believe that one vendor could be reselling 'bad' DVDs except that distributors have contracts to supply vendors. And upstream from the distributor, there are various disc-makers. From what my peabrain has learned, a single title could be manufactured at any number of manufacturing plants, and some of those plants could be shipping all of their product to one distributor, not another, and that one distributor could then pass those disks onto one vendor.

So, it is possible for one DVD-manufacturing plant to be continually supplying one vendor.

And if that one plant is using peanut butter, jelly, honey and other sticky substances... well... it could happen! Actually, I think there's a greater chance that the algorithm used to store the bits and bytes of data is probably 'less optimal' for that one variant of DVD player.

Or our friend Biffer is using feeding his DVD player Crunchy Peanut Butter instead of my player's preference of Creamy. I could have told him this would cause problems, but does he listen to me?!! NOOO0000oooo.

chrisdc

maybe its the way they are stord

hmv do not have them made just for them the only difference that can between hmv and other shopes is maybe the way they are stord

just gessing really

Carmel

Yes i have done some checking, i have asked my friends to try them before i bring them back and they dont work on their DVD's and i have tryed it on the computer and that dosn't work and i Do clean my DVD heads often. So in MY opinion it is HMV's Dvd'S FOR ME THAT ARE THE PROBLEM. Now anyone that just brings them back without checking first is a real fool. and as they say everyone to their own opinion.

Steve Crook

It could be the case for some boxed sets which are made just for HMV. For those, all the DVDs in the box are made just for HMV

Steve

Biffer

Since it was me who started this thread I feel I should comment after gaining some more experience of DVD buying/playing.

In essence, I feel everybody is right in their comments (bet that's a 'first' on here). No, it doesn't seem logical that HMV-bought titles should be troublesome, since they are a retail outfit and not a manufacturer. But as has been said, if certain titles are being sourced by HMV from a less than perfect manufacturer, then this WOULD account for the 'curse' of HMV. BTW - yes, I did test the HMV ones on another machine - same problem.

I've bought DVDs now from a range of retail outlets and internet sellers. Most have been fine, but there is still an annoying minority that stick. These tend to be ones with lots of extras included (the ones we all prefer, unfortunately). Discs with just the main feature on them, and nothing else, play fine.

I conclude from all this that the problem lies with the way some manufacturers produce their discs, coupled to the inability of low-end players (without progressive scan) to deal with the mass of data being processed.

In other words .... I'M STUFFED!!!

Hope this helps?

Biffer

PS

Anyway, it's all ChristineCB's fault. She's the one who told me to feed my machine with creamy peanut butter (see? I DO listen)

Gaumont

Just a thought ... were all these DVDs from the same branch of HMV?