CONSOLIDATED LOTR:FOTR Extended Ed. Problem Thread; Please Post ALL Problem Reports Here! (1 Viewer)

[Charles M Berry]

Earlier today I posted the following in the HTF: Review of LOTR:EE thread:

At times in the movie, mostly in the faster moving scenes like when Arwen is being chased and riding on horseback with bilbo, the DVD is very choppy. Also, the scene with the Green Dragon.

I am using a Panasonic RV31 DVD player. The choppyness seems like my player is having a hard time keeping up with the disc. I have never had any problems with this player on any other discs. I have no problems with the theatrical release DVD. Maybe the problem lies with the disc?

Since this is the new and improved problem thread, I am moving my problem here. So far it seems like almost no one else is having my problem, so it may be more my hardware than a pervasive disc issue.

 

[Charles M Berry]

do you have a harman/kardon receiver?

I do, why do you ask? Is there a problem with HK that I don't know about?

 

[Chris Farmer]

Was watching on a PS 2, DD track. Right before the layer change on Disc 2, there was a freeze as Aragorn was talking to Boromir (not at the layer change, but about 30 seconds before). It was bad enough that the PS2 simply stopped playing the disc entirely, with the message "Unable to continue playing." I had to restart the disc, tried to rewind back to the spot where it froze, and it simply refused to go back further. Popped the disc out, wiped it off, stuck it back in, there was a hesitation at the freeze point, but it went past it, then played normally.

Anyone have any similar problems?

 

[Joe Woj]

Anybody else experience the same problem I had on the DTS track at that point in the movie?

 

[Jason Guardiano]

Anyone see what the special DVD Rom features are? The disc locks up my system if I try to play the DVD with Interactual although I have no problems watching the movie with Windvd and I can see the Ep2 dvd rom features with no problem.

 

[Jamie Steeves]

Joe W -

I only watched the first 1/2 hour or so last night, but I DID notice a slight hiccup/"pop" noise at the first point you mentioned in the DTS track.

Specifically, it was during the dialogue when Bilbo says "...a Hobbit's tale, by Bilbo Baggins", during the word "Bilbo".

Haven't checked the DD track yet.

Anyone else confirm?

-Jamie

I'm running a Toshiba SD-4700 with Denon AVR-3300

 

[Josh Lowe]

I do, why do you ask? Is there a problem with HK that I don't know about?

the LFE channel when using DTS is lower than it should be on H/K receivers. Like by 5db. It's my only real gripe about my 520.

 

[GregoryP]

To those asking about the pause during the layer change, it's perfectly normal and it happens with practically every DVD player out there. Now I'm sure that the folks around here could point to some players that do not experience a pause during the layer change, but I do not know of any.

Gregory

 

[Michael Reuben]

Also, there could be a volume offset (not just bass though) depending on the dialnorm setting for the DD track.

The extended edition of FOTR, like the DVD of the theatrical release, has a neutral dialnorm offset of -31dBFS. As a result, it should play 4db higher than most DVDs, which use the DD encoder default of -27dBFS.

M.

 

[Ray Chuang]

Before we all gripe about the LoTR:EE disc being unplayable on Windows-based computer systems, let's ask the following questions:
1. What operating system are you using?
2. If you're running Windows 2000 Pro or Windows XP, did you log on with full Administrator rights?
3. What graphics card and driver version of the graphics card are you using?
4. Did you enable DMA mode for the DVD-ROM drive?
5. Did you load the latest motherboard chipset driver?
6. What DVD playback program are you running? Did you try toggling on and off Hardware Acceleration mode on the DVD playback program to see if it helps? Have you installed the latest patch from the DVD playback program manufacturer?
Answering these six questions correctly will usually determine if the computer is at fault, more or less.

 

[Brent Hutto]

So does that explain why the Extended Edition plays at the same level on my system regardless of whether I choose DTS or DD tracks? On other DVD's with both audio streams, the DTS usually plays louder than the DD. The LFE does seem a bit lower on the DTS, though. Onkyo 575x receiver.

 

[Michael Reuben]

So does that explain why the Extended Edition plays at the same level on my system regardless of whether I choose DTS or DD tracks?

It's certainly a big part of the explanation. The same phenomenon was observed on the initial group of Warner DD/DTS remasters from a few years ago, all of which had a neutral dialnorm setting, at Dolby's suggestion.
The LFE differences were addressed earlier in this thread.
M.

 

[Josh Dial]

My pioneer player paused during the scene on the snowy mountains, just before Boromir takes up the ring on the chain. It's like the player was changing layers, but then it simply paused (though it was not actually paused). I cued ahead one frame and it was fine for the rest. And the disc 1 played perfectly. No clue here
cheers!
Josh

 

[MichaelG]

My OS: WinXP Pro
Admin: Yes
Radeon AIW 7500
DMA : Yes
MB chipset driver: not since May
PowerDVD 4 with hardware Acceleration enabled

My computer locked up both times that I loaded EE Disc 1 in PowerDVD. The Menu starts to load and about 1/2 way through loading the computer freezes. I can not CTRL-ALT-DEL or do anything. I left the computer alone overnight even and it never recorvered, so I had to power it off/on.

I say that it starts to load but only gets half way because I can see it starting to load, but the menu is sort of half lit. Like when you fade into a picture, it looks like it is faded 1/2 way in.

I didn't have much time to mess with it last night and try ATI's player, or try on my standalone Toshiba 4109X player. I will do all that tonight and see what is going no. I have never had ANY problem loading or playing any other DVD on my PC so far though. When I first inserted the DVD I got that Interactual Install screen that I cancelled though, so that tlls me that the DVD ROM can read the disc at least. I will post more later

 

[Jason-Walsh]

The problem I am having is with the Canadian Alliance release... I am also having the noticeable skipping. I almost got up and stopped disc 2 when it seemed to lock up for a good minute or so last nigh. But the most annoying thing is the silver leafed Alliance Logo on the shrinkwrap has been left stuck on the beautiful packing. All up and down the spine. Anyone else have this problem? Anyone know how to get it off safely.

- J

 

[TheLongshot]

Michael,

Just as a note, I do have PowerDVD 4, and it seems to run fine. I'd personally would get the latest patch from Intervideo and see if that solves your problem.

Jason

 

[Charles M Berry]

OK, here's the update to the problem I mentioned earlier about the very choppy picture I was getting with my Panasonic RV31.

I have now isolated the problem. I have NO problems with the image when playing the movie in DD, straight through or jumping around. I have no problem playing the movie in DTS if I simply hit play and let it go.

Here's where I DO have a problem: Whenever I select DTS and then do alot of jumping around between chapters, say punching through 5 chapter stops and then letting it play, I get a wicked CHOPPY picture. Remember, this is with DTS only. Basically, I don't think it is a disc problem, but more a player problem. However, I have never had any other problem with the player, except that it is slow to skip tracks on a CD.

So, does anyone have any idea why selecting DTS and then jumping around alot would make the picture get choppy. It almost looks like the disc pauses for fractions of seconds, plays a second, and then pauses again. Eventually, after about 60 seconds, it cleans itself up.

Thoughts?

 

[Wayne Bundrick]

I've got a problem with the extended edition. I don't have enough time to watch all of it before I have to go to work this afternoon.
(It said to post ALL problems here.)

 

[Carlo_M]

FWIW, here's my experience:

I've only watched disc 1, and I changed on the fly from DTS to DD about 1/2 through the disc.

The only pause I noticed was the layer change which is normal. The bass on both DD and DTS sounded quite fine to me, not as "hot" as the original disc, but definitely not lacking. I'll get some time to watch #2 tonight and will post my experience.

Using Panny RP91 and its onboard DD/DTS decoder, going via 5.1 input to Sony STR-DA555ES and displaying via component video to Panny PT-47 16x9 HDTV.

[EDIT]I purchased the U.S. 5 disc set

 

[Tom Tsai]

I'm having the same problem. When I select the DTS track, the video stutters throughout chapter 3 as if some frames were missing. Other chapters work fine though. This doesn't happen if I choose DD.
Mine's the Alliance Atlantis (Canadian) release and I'm using Panasonic RP62.
What should I do? :frowning: