DVD pet peeve (1 Viewer)

[Nick Senger]

I hate wrinkled cases, too, but what I hate ten times more is what just happened when I opened my new Touch of Evil dvd:

I was taking off the top security sticker and I didn't notice that the cover insert was sticking out over the top of the plastic sleeve. So, I peeled off the security sticker, and riiiip! there goes the top of the cover art.

I doubt I could have done anything even if I would have noticed it. And it had to be a dark cover, too, where it's more noticeable.

 

[MarcinL]

Snappers, and trying to find a movie that the spine is straight and lined up properly and not of center.

 

[Randy A Salas]

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.

On every Fox DVD on every DVD player I have or have had (at least a dozen), you can press the "next chapter" button to skip ahead to the next warning screen. It takes three or four presses to get to the menu--but just a few seconds vs. a minute or two.

 

[wally]

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.

Me too.

Hate defaced packaging do to non-necessary stuff as well.

 

[cwhite]

I hate those lengthy, splashy intros before the main menu. The James Bond series and Star Wars E1 & E2 comes to mind over this one. Just put the disc in and show me the main menu

 

[Damin J Toell]

On every Fox DVD on every DVD player I have or have had (at least a dozen), you can press the "next chapter" button to skip ahead to the next warning screen.

For the first few years, these screens were unskippable on Fox discs. A couple of years ago, they finally started making them skippable.

DJ

 

[Aaron Cohen]

Several times, despite carefully taking off the security stickers with a knife, the cover of my dvd case is ripped... This is because many times I have found that the sleeve is sticking down below the plastic area and the security sticker is actually attached the cover art sleeve itself.....

Many of my cases have very warped plastic packaging as well....so I always make sure to find one that does not have it when purchasing. I always get really wierd looks by all the employees when looking to make sure the security sticker is not attached to the cover art sleeve or the plastic warped but I don't give a damn.

 

[Ron Reda]

-A problem with the case. Such as tabs missing on a snapper, chipped piece of plastic, or a hole in the case.

Here we go...confessions of an anal DVD freak...

Just call me "The Shaker"! Here's what I do when I'm looking for a new DVD...I pick up the case and I shake it to get a feeling if the tab broke during shipping and if the DVD is knocking around inside the case, getting all scratched up. Once I've found one that I'm comfortable with (only the inserts are jostling around), then I buy it!

 

[Chris Will]

I pick up the case and I shake

You're not alone, I do the same thing. I have cleared the self of a single title just to find the one that has my name on it. Call me crazy, but there is this warm feeling that comes over you once you find that ONE and then you walk do the isle with your new baby. Yes I know, I'm sick in the head. What can you do?

 

[JoeMKal]

personally I could care less about the packaging in most cases, one time though I received a DVD in the mail with the button thingie that holds the DVD in place broken so the DVD would slide around inside that kinda annoyed me

 

[Carl Johnson]

None of the above issues bother me. Not being able to switch audio tracks on the fly is a bit of an annoyance but but I never gave it much thought cause I assumed that it was to keep J6P from frying his speakers by playing a DTS track on a non compatible system.

 

[Dan Shogren]

"FACES" covers. Even for movies that dont even have recognizible people in them.

 

[Darren Haycock]

Ahahaha, I'm a shaker too! I thought I was the only one...

 

[Will_B]

I've just read on another forum that one of the reasons why the ability to change options "on the fly" is banned on many commercial DVDs is because of a subtitle issue - specifically, the subtitles that occasionally appear in English films when someone speaks in another language.

According to this theory, if you jump around various playback options during the playback of the film, the player will not remember that it is supposed to light up the subtitles during those brief exchanges.

This theory is based on the belief that in DVD authoring there is no flag per se to denote a "forced subtitle," but rather some kind of macro is played from the menu of the disc which tells the player to play the movie picture and (for example) the third subtitle track (the one with the occasional subtitles).

If so, this may explain why they're being overcautious about "on the fly" change-ability. Though it wouldn't explain why they'd make people sit through the FBI warning and studio logos.

 

[Malcolm R]

As if the snapper case isn't bad enough, Warner sees fit to inflict upon us the security sticker that cannot be peeled off in one piece. The sticker that's along the opening edge of the snapper has little cut-outs that cause the sticker to split into multiple pieces when being removed.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Thousands of DVDs that do not contain DTS and do not contain any spurious "subtitle" sequences for English viewers bar on-the-fly audio and subtitle changes.

It sucks. It's bad DVD production.

If DVD producers cared, they could limit such features on titles that make it relelvent, and enable for the vast majority of discs where it's a non-issue.

BTW, I was able to switch audio tracks on-the-fly with Chicago (Miramax) between the DTS and 5.1 DD. Personally, I *love* being able to do this...makes comparing the soundtracks very easy. Also nice to have that feature to switch between commentary soundtrack and movie mix.

Also, I don't buy the subtitle rationale. Why wouldn't cycling through the subtitle options place you back where you started when the movie was first played?

 

[TommyT]

There was a fun thread that appeared a couple of mos ago that addresses many of these peeves:

Thou Shalt Not...

Too bad it sorta died a while back...

 

[MarkHastings]

I've just read on another forum that one of the reasons why the ability to change options "on the fly" is banned on many commercial DVDs is because of a subtitle issue

Maybe, but here is my thinking on this issue:

Have you noticed all of the messages about "The opinions on this disc are not necessarily those of the studio" - Yadda yadda yadda...Now they are starting to put that screen in after you select the "Audio Commentary" feature.

Maybe they don't want you to change the audio because they want you to see that warning before listening to the commentary?

I know it sucks, but unfortunately there are people out there who get offended by commentary tracks and go after the studios :rolleyes, so we (the consumer) get screwed by not being able to switch tracks without seeing the studios "get out of jail - free card" first.

 

[Simon_Lepine]

I can live with this stuff, for the most part. What really drives me nuts are hubs that are so tight, you almost have to bend the DVD (and risk a heart attack) sometimes to take it out.

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Malcolm (I'm going to pretend to be a Warner exec.) "Now, about those stickers that come off in pieces. At least now you don't complain that the stickers take off some of the cardboard. See that problem has stopped. Well, for our new releases anyway." (end BS)

I think I'd rather go back to the old ones. Now I have to pretend that I am blind and feel my way down to make sure that all of the sticker has been removed. The whoole sticker thing is a total pain in the ass.

Glenn