Opening DVD Ad encodings - maddening and should be stopped. (1 Viewer)

[MarkHastings]

^^ LMAO!

I posted this in an old thread, but it bears repeating:

 

[Jeff_HR]

Add recent FOX releases to the hostage taking list!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[widescreenforever]

Actually Fast Play and Main Menu come up ( as in Lady In The Tramp), if you hit Fast Play it guides you thru all the ads and promos,, Main Menu takes you to Main Menu where you can then start the movie..

Since I was the author of this post, I wanted to point out, that when I want to start the movie for my very young 4 year old grandchild,, It is THEY who have to endure all the scary and boring and pointless promos ,, and they may want to watch this title all day long... but the way that Universal set it up as I pointed out, the disc now just sits on the shelf instead,, while Grampa decides whether or not to buy any furure Universal products..

( I hope this post gets into someone's email over at Universal this week...)

 

[WesleyS]

i agree,and to make matters worse, when you load up the disc and watch the previews and you finally get to the menu, most of the time you can select the previews through the menus. ads on the other hand are annoying, esp. when you bought the film and you want to enjoy the dvd again,you have to sit through the ads with no skippable intervention. i dont like those piracy is a crime ads on fox dvds. i buy my dvds legal,and dont download my movies.so why do consumers who pay hollywood and support them by buying alot of movies from them legally, have to sit through piracy ads when we dont break the law. also I like previews you can skip. its ok to watch them the first time you get the dvd,but apoun multiple viewings its annoying as heck.

 

[MarkHastings]

This whole advertising thing (not just with DVD) is WAY out of control. I mean, I pay for my cable and I pay for my DVD's, yet I STILL have to sit through ads??? WTF!!!!

They should take a tip from the radio stations, if you want to bombard me with ads, then give it to me for FREE!!!!

 

[Frank@N]

This is an old issue (ads and junk on DVD boot), but some newer DVD players are starting to feature a 'fast play' option to go to the movie immediately upon inserting a disc.

I read this in passing regarding a Neo player (I think), but I'm not sure if it's the best player out there.

As far as I'm concerned, this is an almost Tivo-like ability that I need to get in my next player.

Does anyone have any idea which companies support this option, I'm guessing it's a smaller player in the market.

 

[John Alderson]

Frank,

I was under the impression that players couldn't get the DVD logo on it if they didn't follow the disc specs, which means following which controls should be locked out.

IMHO "chapter skip" and "menu" should never be locked out in any circumstance. I don't think I actually have any discs where both are locked out during ads, but FBI warnings and (grrr) menu animations really get under my skin when they're locked.

 

[JediFonger]

not really john,

with the internet, you can upload different firmwares to your DVD player bypass those types of things =). my 588 plays "title1" from any DVD you put it, usually that's the movie itself. i liken it to VHS days, put it in and it plays =).

 

[Frank@N]

Yi,

Who makes those firmware updates?

Major manufacturers or are they 3rd party hacks?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

As long as someone brought up features being locked up, I hate, hate, hate when a DVD won't let me use the "subtitle" and "audio" buttons on my remote. Sometimes I watch DVDs later at night and I don't want to be too loud, and occasionally I'll miss some dialogue and I'll just want to throw the subtitles on for a moment. I shouldn't have to go to the main menu to do that, but that's what some discs (*cough* Universal *cough*) make you do just that.

Same for the audio, I might be listening to a commentary and want to rewatch a scene they've just talked about, and I shouldn't have to go back to the menu when there's a perfectly good button on my remote designed to switch tracks.

Basically, I'm against any studio that provents me from using the DVD features to the fullest extent. Someone said that players need to comply with these locked discs to be certified with the "DVD" logo. It should be the other way around... the discs should let me use whatever function I want without restriction, or it shouldn't be allowed to be labeled as a DVD. Imagine if your VCR started telling you that you weren't allowed to fast forward the tape, or if your TV wouldn't let you change channels.

 

[JediFonger]

real hackers (not crackers or script kiddies).

it also depends on popularity of models.

josh, why not headphone for late night viewing?

as for these locks, they can all be modified.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

YiFeng, I end up having to watch a lot of video stuff with headphones at work all day, by the time I get home I've had enough for one day!

Most of the time I can hear what's on the TV just fine.... and sometimes the actors just mumble, or the music or effects kick in and drown out the dialogue, but only briefly. I just like having the ability to turn the subtitles on and off at will, that's the way I think it should be.

 

[Magnus T]

I installed an unofficial firmware upgrade on my pioneer 575 as well. Works like a charm.

Check out this page for those of you with pioneer players: http://www.pioneerfaq.info

 

[Porfirio]

The funny thing about these ads is, while the studios go out of their way to lock the FBI warning, a majority of the time you can easly skip the anti-piracy ad.

 

[John Watson]

I find most dvd menus ill-designed, with maximum frustration getting anywhere almost a given.

I attribute it to uncultured designers raised on video games or comic books...

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Possibly, that actually makes sense. I'm not a huge fan of those animated menus; all it does is make it take longer for me to get to whatever feature I'm trying to navigate to. I can deal with a little animation the first time you load it up, but the ones that go through it each time you select a different menu (the Star Wars films are particularly bad when it comes to this) are really a pain. I swear, with some DVDs, it's actually faster to put it in and use the chapter skip button all the way through the film than it is to go to the Chapter menu, with all of the animated menus and transitions and only a few chapters listed on each page, new music cues starting left and right, etc.

I know they can look pretty, but sometimes less is more. Criterion is really good about this. I like what Disney did on the Snow White DVD - there's a fully animated menu, but there's also the choice of a text-only listing of the features, so if you're not into playing around and you just want easy access, you can get it. I think all DVDs with complicated menus should offer this option.

Rare as it is, there are times when I miss watching VHS tapes just because you could pop in the tape and hit play and not have to deal with all of this other stuff.

 

[Stephanie B]

you think ads and previews on dvds are bad try sitting through them in a movie theature while your waiting for the movie to start thats really annoying

i have adhd so its incredibly hard for me to sit still unless im interested in something and if i cant fast forward through the ads and previews i will get up and do something else till theyre over

 

[MarkHastings]

This talk is all very similar to Flash animations on the web. I hate when I click a button and have to wait for some neat animated effect, before getting me to the section I want to read up on.

Just like with DVD and the internet, I don't usually have time to waste on cutesy animations, just get me to the damn content!!!!!

 

[Kelly Grannell]

Between the 10-minute long unskippable motion main menu (well it FEELS like it's 10 minutes long, and sometimes with spoilers right there in your face), FBI warnings, ads and forced trailers. I no longer watch my original DVD.

Everytime I buy a DVD (I don't rent), I extract it to my PC and burn it to (if necessary) to DL DVD-R and watch the copy. Usually by the time I finish taking a shower, change etc, the copy is done. Take it out of the burner, pop it into the DVD player, and I get to watch the movie right away.

I've done this to at least 600 of my 1500 DVDs. No menu, no ads, no FBI warning. Straight to the movie, just like the really-old LD days (when the FBI warning is at the end of the movie)

At the end of the movie, I put it in a DVD sleeve and store it together with the original disc. I only play the original disc if I want to see the special features etc (which I seldom do).

 

[widescreenforever]

At least with flash animations,, They Can Be Turned Off .. !

never to bother you again..