DVD pet peeve (1 Viewer)

[Chris Will]

I'm I the only one that finds myself looking through every copy of a movie on the self to try to find the one case without wrinkles in the plastic sleeve. What do they do to DVDs in shipping. I would say that 70% of the DVDs I purchase have creases and wrinkles in the plastic.:frowning: It annoys me to death. They need to learn to package these things better or ship them safer. Its worse with older dvds. The odd thing is that every PS2 and Xbox game I have ever bought has had flawless packaging (no wrinkles or creases, zip, zero). What is the gaming industry doing that the DVD industry is not when it comes to packaging. This is just a pet peeve of mine. I just bought an older DVD today that I've wanted for a long time and both copies in Best Buy look horrible packaging wise. I also bought an Xbox game and once again, perfect packaging. Come on DVD industry, get your act together.



Any one els have similar feelings.

 

[Scott Ware]

I believe that the wrinkling is caused by all of the security stickers that are put on them. Xbox, PS2, and GC games don't have wrinkling because they only have one sticker. I suppose it's a tradeoff: less theft with more damaged packaging.

Personally, what bothers me are: long menu sequences, slipsleves (I prefer slimcases, ala "Futurama", "Family Guy", and "King of the Hill"), snappers, menus that come up when DTS is slected asking me if I'm sure that I want the DTS soundtrack, rediculously long FBI warnings, and forced ads.

 

[Dan Shogren]

Never seen a dvd with wrinkled packaging. I have bought a dvd in a carbord case with the cardboard slightly distorted. Thats it though.

 

[Arnie G]

I hate it when you select "language selection" and when the next screen comes up, there is only one selection, english. What kind of selection it that? Why offer a choice if there is only 1 language on the thing to begin with?

 

[Elizabeth S]

I feel the same way, Chris. I hate those wrinkles in the clear plastic cover of the case! At least I can choose the best one at the B&M, but you never know with the online orders.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I hate forced ads and ridiculously long FBI logos, and ridiculously long studio logos and long menus. Every time I want to put in a Fox DVD, I have to sit still for at least half a minute for the FBI warning to clear. Other DVDs have menus that last a minute before allowing you to press play. Some of this stuff is getting ridiculous. I don't consider "interactive menu" to be a desirable special feature. If they must do that, I wish they would also have a page that had all of the links to everything without having to go through different animated menus to get to what you want to see.

I also don't like DVDs where language selection and subtitles are locked; in other words, where you can't press the "audio" or "subtitle" buttons on your remote, you have to exit the film and go through the menu. I don't even understand why anyone would design it like that. I like to press the "audio" button on my DVD remote; sometimes I want to toggle between commentary and the film itself. And sometimes I'll start off watching a film without subtitles, and then decide that I want them afterall.

Even worse are films where the original burned in (optical) subtitles in the film are replaced by a subtitle track on the DVD player. MGM It looks bad, even distracting, and things can go haywire if you're trying to switch to a regular subtitle track or anything else. Take the USA Films DVD of Traffic and then the Criterion; which subtitles are more aethestically pleasing? If you answered "Criterion" with the original theatrical burned in subtitles, you're correct.

 

[James L White]

I also don't like DVDs where language selection and subtitles are locked; in other words, where you can't press the "audio" or "subtitle" buttons on your remote, you have to exit the film and go through the menu. I don't even understand why anyone would design it like that. I like to press the "audio" button on my DVD remote; sometimes I want to toggle between commentary and the film itself. And sometimes I'll start off watching a film without subtitles, and then decide that I want them afterall

UNIVERSAL, he's talking to you!!!!!!!!!!! my biggest pet peeve as well.

 

[Will_B]

I also don't like DVDs where language selection and subtitles are locked; in other words, where you can't press the "audio" or "subtitle" buttons on your remote, you have to exit the film and go through the menu. I don't even understand why anyone would design it like that.

Indeed. If you back up your DVDs, it is possible to remove this prohibition, so you can turn on subtitles on the fly, or change languages, flip between the commentary track or the regular audio, even fast forward through studio logos.

 

[Tony-B]

Call me anal, but here is what ticks me off about DVDs...

-Wrinkled plastic.
-Sticker residue on cardboard cases (like on ET).
-Any type of sticker on the actual case.
-Scratched slipcases.
-Hubs that don't hold the disc securely (they can easily rotate).
-Long, non-skippable studio logos, FBI warnings, Rating information, advertisements, trailers, and menu transitions.
-Burned in subtitles replaced with player-generated subtitles (Excusable on anime and foreign films).
-When there is no insert.
-When the insert is not held securely by the clips.
-If you select DTS and they ask if you are sure. They make you think it is a bad thing, or something.
-When you can't change subtitles, angles, or audio tracks on the fly.
-When you get a DVD and folded in half insert that is floating around in the case, like what happened to me when I got Goldeneye!
-A problem with the case. Such as tabs missing on a snapper, chipped piece of plastic, or a hole in the case.

Yeah, I may be going overboard, but don't we all!

 

[rich_d]

I also don't like DVDs where language selection and subtitles are locked; in other words, where you can't press the "audio" or "subtitle" buttons on your remote, you have to exit the film and go through the menu. I don't even understand why anyone would design it like that. I like to press the "audio" button on my DVD remote; sometimes I want to toggle between commentary and the film itself. And sometimes I'll start off watching a film without subtitles, and then decide that I want them afterall.

I can only guess it is a misguided way of protecting the consumer. Rather than trusting that anyone who can find the audio button might actually want to use it - they force everyone to go through the menu system.

Perhaps some genius at the studio decided that people might return the disc if they put on DTS and didn't have a DTS receiver etc.

This so sucks when you want to compare audio options or go to the commentary track for just a small part of the film ...

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Here's my pet peeve: companies that insist on putting 3(!) security stickers on a case (one for each open edge of the case)! It's bad enough having to peel off one, but 3? This smacks of customer abuse.

 

[Glenn Overholt]

One solution for waiting for the DVD to get to the menu. You put the disk in and head for the kitchen, get your beer/whatever and return. By that time the FBI logo is gone, and the menu is usually up.

As for the DTS, I heard that if you select DTS on a receiver that doesn't have it, you can do some serious damage. I have no idea how true this is and frankly, I don't want to try it out.

To me, the wrinkles are a joke! I got one DVD in the mail with two knofe slits across the front cover! The plastic had a huge 'V' shaped flap on it!

Glenn

 

[Todd Robertson]

delamination....my only concern.

 

[Dan Shogren]

those plastic security tabs that are placed underneath the clear plastic dvd hubs, as in my memento case. I could probably take it off if i slowly and carefully peeled back the big plastic dvd holder, but then the glue will get lose and not hold it in.

 

[EdwardKarlinski]

those plastic security tabs that are placed underneath the clear plastic dvd hubs, as in my memento case. I could probably take it off if i slowly and carefully peeled back the big plastic dvd holder, but then the glue will get lose and not hold it in.

Take a very slender blade and slowly cut under the tab until it is completely loose. Then pull under plastic until out. The adhesive should hold it to the blade. Be warned that this may remove a small amount of surface.

 

[Neil Joseph]

I check for wrinkles sometimes. One of my beefs are the two-disk amaray cases that don't hold their dvd's properly in the spindles. When you place both disks in the case and snap the case closed, sometimes one of the disks pops loose from its spindle. Glued on stickes on the front of the case is a major beef for me too.

 

[PhilipG]

What annoys me more than the plastic wrinkles, are the slim 2-disc alphas - the ones with a flap for the second disc. The hinges on this flap invariably mangle the edges of the insert.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I've come to terms with most of the obnoxious DVD stuff, and I can even deal with the long FBI notices at the beginning (though I hate how Columbia's FBI warning doesn't come up until you hit play - now I just go to the chapter list and select chapter 2, and then hit the "back" button on my remote to start the movie and I skip the FBI stuff.)

I really hate any encoding that prevents me, the owner, from fully enjoying the disc. Universal is probably the biggest culprit with the audio on their discs, and the inability to switch it. Ideally, in the course of normal use of a DVD utilizing the buttons on the remote designed to access standard and special features, I should never get a stupid "Illegal Action" error.

Can I count region coding as a DVD pet peeve, or is that more of a major f'in psychotic issue?

 

[Troy*H]

Worst thing is those frigging cardboard cases....they don't fit properly in my dvd stand and they always get ruined

 

[Andy_MT]

bi-lingual covers. english film for (majority) english speaking market, english cover please. put french cover on reverse and put a sticker on the front of the case (in french) advertising it. or at least, make the french title smaller on the spine. squashing up two titles in this small area makes it harder to read. small french title on cover as well.