Frame rate slowdown on Blu-ray player? (1 Viewer)

[follicle]

I just got my first (beginner) home theater set up. After watching a few movies, I can't believe how much the system enhances the movie viewing experience. I ended up buying a 42" LG LCD and a Philips Blu-Ray Home Theater System. In my opinion, the sound and picture are very high quality. In the end, I'm very happy with my purchase. I do, however, have a question.


I recently watched two (rented) Blu-rays: District 9 and Watchmen. The audio and picture looked great; however, I noticed from time to time there seemed to be a little bit of a slowdown in the frame rate. Most of the time it was extremely subtle. All-in-all, I would say there were approximately 10 (short) instances in both films when a slight slowdown occurred. The slowdowns wouldn't last longer than a few seconds. These slowdowns didn't necessarily come during scenes of action. Sometimes there would be a slowdown during sequences of dialog. Again, they were very subtle. No one in the room noticed them but me. Last night, I watched my first purchased Blu-ray (A Scanner Darkly) and didn't seem to notice too many issues. My television has a 120hz refresh rate, so I am fairly certain I'm not mistaking the slowdown for judder or blur (also considering that the slowdowns would occur during still, non-action scenes). Upon examining the rented Blu-rays, there were numerous hairline scratches on the Blu-rays ranging from 1/4 inch to an 3/4 inch in length. Not surprising, considering most of the DVDs I've rented from the local video store would hardly even play.


My question is: Do you think the frame rate slowdown was caused due to the scratches on the Blu-rays or something else like the Blu-ray player or the television? Or... is frame rate slowdown normal from time to time on Blu-ray players? Has anyone experienced anything similar?


Again, the slowdowns are subtle and I could live with them, but I would like to be sure there are no major defects in my system.


Thanks in advance for any replies. People are extremely helpful on here.

 

[chuckg]

Scratches could confuse your player, making it repeat a frame or two until it gets back on track. That's not a certain thing, just a possibility.

 

[Mark-P]

Since you say the TV has a 120hz refresh rate, I'm assuming it has some kind of frame-creation (motion-enhancement algorithm) effect and perhaps you are seeing the artifacts that result from frame-creation? Will the TV allow you to turn off the effect so you can see it without the enhancement? My projector has frame-creation which results in the soap-opera effect and I hated it. It made me dizzy and I could see motion artifacts that drove me nuts. I keep it turned OFF.