Forcing DVDs to skip the garbage... (1 Viewer)

[Chet_F]

"Essentially: we should have power over how we view our own discs"

EXACTLY!!!!!!! That was one of the major 'selling points' when DVDs came out. This was touted by the studios etc to get people into buying them.

"Look at this great feature..you can skip to ANY part of the DVD."

And then the studios decide to take that control back for 1 simple thing.......more $$$ to line their pockets. I'm sick of it !!!!

So to you studios FORCING us to watch your CRAP!! Keep it up and people will stop buying or worse buying pirated discs that don;t have FORCED trailers, PSA, etc, etc, etc, etc.

Rant over.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Not likely. And in general, bootlegging is a subject we try to avoid here.

M.

 

[Carl Johnson]

I think switching of audio tracks on the fly is disabled to keep people with non compatable receivers from frying their speakers by inadvertently selecting a DTS track.

 

[PaulP]

That's the only reason I can think of as well, and that's perhaps it. Switching audio tracks on the fly should always be enabled, in my opinion, for reasons stated above, like checking what the commentary track(s) have to say about a particular scene, etc.

P.S.: Criterion DVDs with DTS tracks allow audio switching.

 

[Chet_F]

"How exactly does preventing audio switching on the fly "line their pockets"?"

I guess I need to be crystal clear. When the studios, who by the way gave us these featrues to sell their product, FORCED us to watch their trailers to get more $$$ from increased sales from those same FORCED trailers.

"And in general, bootlegging is a subject we try to avoid here."

And that is EXACTLY my point. If the studios continue down this road they will see exactly where poeple go to get there product. Bootlegging exists. Just because we don't talk about it doesn't mean that people don't go down the street to get it. I am in NO way saying anything positive about bootlegging. I am just pointing out to the studios that their WAR on it will be lost by going in this direction. They are taking away from the added benefit of purchasing their prioduct and giving a selling point to the bootleggers, i.e. "Buy our product because we don't force you to sit through the trailers."

It's all about perceived value. If the priduct is perceived to be a product of value people will purchase.

Case in point when DVDs came out they had ADDED vlaue over VHS. One of the added value to ME was the ability to jump to any part of the disc. I though that was the greatest thing since sliced bread. And because of ALL of these added benefits I purchased THEIR product.

Now the studios understand that they have the general public buying DVDs in the mainstream and NOW they are taking these features away. But as a fan of collecting DVDs and watching MOVIES(not trailers) I am turned away by this practice.

As well I feel 'duped' by the studios. They got me hoooked with this great product because of the 'FEATURES'. These features have been a staple of just about EVERY DVD I own.

But now 1 day some studio exec comes walking along and needs to line his pocket with more greanbacks.

And so NOW I have FORCED trialers. Do you SEE my displeasure?? Does this make any sense???

Just my 2 cents

 

[Matt Rexer]

It doesn't really matter why the studios disable certain remote buttons at certain times. They'll never change their ways because it'll never bother enough people for them to care.

Which brings me back to my original question: I want a DVD player that'll ignore those commands for me.

PaulP says DVD Region Free is the solution for HTPC people and Mike_Richardson says the Toshiba SD-3900 might be something to check out.

Any other suggestions?

 

[Erik.Ha]

I think you're wrong about this...

Why not use this and other HT forums to "Boycott" particular titles and distributors, and/or organize a petition drive. I guarantee if you submit a petition saying you won't buy titles with "Forced trailers" and get just a fraction of this forum's membership to sign it, you will SCARE the studio execs into rethinking THAT particular policy....

 

[Michael Reuben]

No, I don't really see it. Your recollection of history doesn't match mine. It's not as if forced trailers and promos are something new. They have existed on various discs since DVDs first appeared in 1997. So the whole argument about the studios "taking away" features doesn't hold up.

Universal was mentioned earlier in this thread as a studio whose recent discs generally contain forced trailers. Now I don't have The Hulk or Lost in Translation (once in theaters was more than enough viewings for me), but I do have Seabiscuit. When the initial trailers start, there's a screen that says something like "Hit fast forward to go to the menu". I did, and it did.

M.

 

[Chet_F]

"When the initial trailers start, there's a screen that says something like "Hit fast forward to go to the menu". I did, and it did."

I did not have to do that to ANY movie back in 1999.

We will agree to disagree then as my history is VERY different then yours.

"It doesn't really matter why the studios disable certain remote buttons at certain times. They'll never change their ways because it'll never bother enough people for them to care."

You are correct Matt and I am afraid that is the direction end-users will have to go as the studios(with forced trailers) obviously do not give a rat's a$$ for their true fans.

I would DEFINATELY be interested in a DVD player that will provide me with that feature.

 

[Matt Rexer]

Button prohibitions are annoying, but are nowhere near a deal-breaker/boycott-worthy issue like censored or MAR releases of movies. I seriously doubt any petition would get anywhere with this issue.

T'would be far easier to use technology to get around this issue, I think. It solved the (similar) region coding problem for a lot of us, after all...

 

[Michael Reuben]

Sorry, but this isn't an issue of perspective. It's a historical fact that many of the first DVDs ever released contained forced promos of one sort or another. Columbia TriStar was one of the two studios to initiate the DVD revolution (Warner was the other), and nearly all of their early titles began with a trailer advertising other titles -- and you could skip it with the chapter or fast forward buttons. I still have some of those titles, including the original release of Legends of the Fall.

You may have been fortunate enough not to encounter any of these titles when you started collecting, but that doesn't change the facts.

M.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

There's no need WHATSOEVER for forced trailers on a retail DVD. Have them accessible in the menu by all means, but having them when the disc loads is just dumb. When you watch that same film in two years' time, how relevent will those trailers be then?

They've been around for a long time sure, but it seems they're getting included in a more aggressive way by means of disabling the menu and skip buttons. This stinks and it's just treating the purchaser like an idiot (as if that is new). It's just another sign of DVD being a mass-market, cheap-ass consumer product.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Here again, it's good to remember history. That was always the plan (remember the name Warren Lieberfarb?). The question in the early days was whether the format would succeed, which is now has beyond anyone's wildest dreams. As a film lover, I much prefer having a standardized, inexpensive format for delivery of home video that is capable of impressively high quality -- as opposed to before, when the choice was between expensive laserdiscs (assuming one was even produced) and VHS junk.

There are a lot of things wrong with the movie industry right now. Cheap, mass-market DVDs are not among them.

M.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

Most of my adult DVD collection has non-skippable, non-fastforwardable commercials, PSA'a, and legal filler on them. You just have to remember to start the disk ten minutes before you want to watch it. Kinda like baking a potato (I think I'll be hungry wednesday...better start the potatos.)

 

[Michael Reuben]

You got me there. But in this instance, I don't think we can blame the major studios.

M.

 

[Julian Lalor]

Universal is by far the worst of the major studios as regards forced trailers. You actually have to fast forward through them to get to the menu (on my copy of Sylvia there are 6 minutes of trailers). I know you can fast forward, but do we really need to? Paramount allow you to go to the menu or choose trailers when inserting the DVD (I have one Paramount DVD that has 9 minutes of this worthless gumpf) and Disney allow you to go straight to the menu. No, it's not a dealbreaker, but it is damn irritating.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

The fact that they disable any kind of skipping is regrettable. Why only allow fast-foward? So you have to watch the trailers - even at x16 speed, that's why! I shouldn't have to do this for a title I've bought to own. It's not enough that we buy the film, we have to have ads for others thrust in our face at the same time.

 

[Ray H]

If I have a DVD that doesn't allow me to skip through trailers or intros, I simply just turn off my player, turn it back on and before the disc starts playing, I hit "1" to go directly to title 1 which is usually the movie.

Works pretty nicely. Does anyone know if it's at all unhealthy for my player?

 

[Dave_P.]

I would imagine it's putting wear and tear on your player's motor and power supply with the additional power cycling.

Forced trailers blow, plain and simple. The next logical step for Universal is to disable the FF button, so you HAVE to watch the trailers, not just sped up ones. And then we'll start seeing Mountain Dew dude and movietickets.com ads. Hell maybe they'll eventually interrupt the movie itself with ads like broadcast TV. Sounds great!

 

[Chris PC]

Bruce Almighty has forced trailers. Very frustrating.