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03-24-2007, 06:31 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-24-2007, 06:32 PM by LemmingofGlory.)
I like movies, but even more, I like that current technology enables me to rent TV shows to watch at my leisure. Now, I don't have a DVD player for my TV, so I use my computer to watch DVDs. The only problem is that, for certain discs, I often get playback issues that make certain parts of the DVD unwatchable.
What usually happens is I'll be watching a DVD and the playback just freezes. Sometimes I can pause play, wait a few seconds, and resume with no problem. Other times, it's no good and I end up having to skip ahead anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes -- and that part REALLY sucks when it happens at the very end of a movie! I'm fairly certain it's not due to damage to the disc, because this happens on discs that are both clean and scratch-free. The fact that different media players consistently hang up, but at different scenes, further motivates my conclusion.
Some discs play and never, ever give me a moment's trouble. Other discs make the media player hang and die. These are clean discs with minimal (if any) scratches; they're rentals, so they're original discs. I'm wondering if it's maybe something about the way the disc is made or encoded or something (copyprotection?). For instance, "Scrubs" (6 discs) has been the most pathological: each disc has given me trouble (frequent freezing; I've missed entire scenes). "Nip/Tuck" (7 discs into the series) gives me minor trouble (freezes are infrequent; momentary pausing fixes it). I've yet to have trouble watching "The L Word" or "Hellsing", though I've yet to watch very many discs of either.
I'm currently using the most recent version of VLC media player, and I've also had similar issues with MPlayer. I'm wondering:
(1) Does anyone else run into this?
(2) Does the problem sound like the media, the software, or the hardware? [Non-exclusive 'or'.]
(3) Does anyone have an elegant solution? [Short of borrowing a friend's DVD player.]
(4) Can anyone recommend a media player superior to the two I mentioned above? When they work, they work fine. But when they don't, argh. [Windows OS.]
-Lem
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Make sure you have hardware for video, not software.
I have an older powerbook (A mac, but that makes no difference here) that has a DVD drive, but has no hardware decoding. It uses software rendering, and has ALL of the problems you describe. An iBook of mine has a DVD drive as well as hardware to decode... Plays all of the same discs absolutely fine.
And make sure you player is set up to use hardware. I know VLC on the Mac is defaulted to using software encoding. You must turn hardware support on and configure it a bit.
I hope this helps.
All alone, or in twos,
The ones who really love you
Walk up and down outside the wall.
Some hand in hand
And some gathered together in bands.
The bleeding hearts and artists
Make their stand.
And when they've given you their all
Some stagger and fall, after all it's not easy
Banging your heart against some mad buggers wall.
"Isn't this where...."
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Not all software decoders are created equal, to be sure. Honestly, I almost never watch DVDs anymore. I don't know if there are free versions of InterVideo's WinDVD available anymore, but that is probably the way to go if there are.
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Yeah, same issue here. I used to watch DVDs on my PC, but pretty much gave up on the idea (Though I have no idea when I'm gonna find the time to watch these other three 24 boxsets...).
Similar issue: I'd be able to watch a DVD for a certain amount of time, then it'd freeze. By placing a Glock at the application's head and executing it, I would be able to start again (from the bookmarked place, natch. I was using WinDVD and that pretty much allowed me to bookmark my position on a DVD even if it had frozen) but it wouldn't be long before it froze again.
Since a rather disasterous attempt at watching Spaceballs, I've never gone back to trying to watch a DVD on my PC.
When in mortal danger,
When beset by doubt,
Run in little circles,
Wave your arms and shout.
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From what you are saying, i'm leaning towards a hardware issue more than a software issue. how long have you had the dvd drive on your computer? I have the same issues with my Sony Dreamtheatre system. I got system the first year it came out and after about two years i started seeing all the same issues you are having on your computer dvd drive. I know a lot of players had these issues around that time. some of the major issues seem to arise while the disks switch between layers.
have you noticed any of these freeze issues while choosing dvd menu choices? ("play"/"Extras"/etc.) The first time i started noticing major issues with my system was after i bought the Sportsnight series. I think a lot of the dvds of tv series have a lot of interesting layer switches that might not be found in full theatrical movies.
on the other hand, even if it is a software issue, a lot of the decent software for dvd playback will cost you a good $40+ and unless you have a badass 30" widescreen monitor it would be much more economical for you to just purchase a cheep $50 dvd player and watch your disks on a tv. i don't know any hardware or software for a computer that can play dvds at the quality you will get on a tv.
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Quote:From what you are saying, i'm leaning towards a hardware issue more than a software issue. how long have you had the dvd drive on your computer? I have the same issues with my Sony Dreamtheatre system. I got system the first year it came out and after about two years i started seeing all the same issues you are having on your computer dvd drive. I know a lot of players had these issues around that time. some of the major issues seem to arise while the disks switch between layers.
have you noticed any of these freeze issues while choosing dvd menu choices? ("play"/"Extras"/etc.) The first time i started noticing major issues with my system was after i bought the Sportsnight series. I think a lot of the dvds of tv series have a lot of interesting layer switches that might not be found in full theatrical movies.
on the other hand, even if it is a software issue, a lot of the decent software for dvd playback will cost you a good $40+ and unless you have a badass 30" widescreen monitor it would be much more economical for you to just purchase a cheep $50 dvd player and watch your disks on a tv. i don't know any hardware or software for a computer that can play dvds at the quality you will get on a tv.
Many, but not all, Macs come with DVD decoder hardware that is far better than most TVs. The 20 inch iMacs and various flat paneled Macs have far better image quality. Which is why people use them for digital theatres in their homes.
All alone, or in twos,
The ones who really love you
Walk up and down outside the wall.
Some hand in hand
And some gathered together in bands.
The bleeding hearts and artists
Make their stand.
And when they've given you their all
Some stagger and fall, after all it's not easy
Banging your heart against some mad buggers wall.
"Isn't this where...."
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Quote:Try VideoLAN:
http://www.videolan.org/
Quote:I'm currently using the most recent version of VLC media player
Lemming, does this freeze issue also occur when watching images of DVDs saved to your hard drive?
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Quote:Lemming, does this freeze issue also occur when watching images of DVDs saved to your hard drive?
My harddrive is woefully small. Consequently, I've never tried that.
-Lem
Posts: 904
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Joined: Feb 2003
Quote:From what you are saying, i'm leaning towards a hardware issue more than a software issue. how long have you had the dvd drive on your computer? I have the same issues with my Sony Dreamtheatre system. I got system the first year it came out and after about two years i started seeing all the same issues you are having on your computer dvd drive. I know a lot of players had these issues around that time. some of the major issues seem to arise while the disks switch between layers.
have you noticed any of these freeze issues while choosing dvd menu choices? ("play"/"Extras"/etc.) The first time i started noticing major issues with my system was after i bought the Sportsnight series. I think a lot of the dvds of tv series have a lot of interesting layer switches that might not be found in full theatrical movies.
I've had the DVD drive in my PC less than a year, but it is a used DVD drive and I have no idea how old it is.
I've not had trouble with freezes at menus.
Quote:on the other hand, even if it is a software issue, a lot of the decent software for dvd playback will cost you a good $40+ and unless you have a badass 30" widescreen monitor it would be much more economical for you to just purchase a cheep $50 dvd player and watch your disks on a tv. i don't know any hardware or software for a computer that can play dvds at the quality you will get on a tv.
I should've specified that when I ask about software, I speak of software that falls within the narrow range of "Things that won't cost money."
-Lem
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I have a sony DVD player for my tv that is roughly 4 years old that has the same problem. It seems to always happen closer to the end of the movie. Seems like a hardware problem to me. Must not be able to read on the outside/inside (?) of the disc well. It has been doing this for years.
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I currently have a MSI DVD drive which came with the creatively named MSIDVD player, neither have given me any problems so far (4 years).
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Quote:Lemming, does this freeze issue also occur when watching images of DVDs saved to your hard drive?
*Blush*
Yeah, I was kinda tired and read the post fast, my apologies^_^
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Quote:I have a sony DVD player for my tv that is roughly 4 years old that has the same problem. It seems to always happen closer to the end of the movie. Seems like a hardware problem to me. Must not be able to read on the outside/inside (?) of the disc well. It has been doing this for years.
Freezes at the beginning/end of play are not characteristic of the problem, and they seem no more frequent at the beginning/end than anywhere else. I only singled out freezes at the end of play because it especially sucks when I miss pieces of the ending.
-Lem
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04-01-2007, 05:29 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-01-2007, 05:30 AM by GhastMaster.)
[quote name='LemmingofGlory' date='Mar 25 2007, 04:40 PM' post='126397']
"Freezes at the beginning/end of play are not characteristic of the problem, and they seem no more frequent at the beginning/end than anywhere else. I only singled out freezes at the end of play because it especially sucks when I miss pieces of the ending."
I see. Do they make a cleaner disc that you can insert to clean the optics for dvd players? That may work. I have never tried it on a cd or dvd player. Perhaps dust is the culprit.
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