LOTR DVD issues (merged thread) (1 Viewer)

[Neil Joseph]

Merging this thread into the main issues thread

 

[Stephen C]

Todd,

I have an A-120U. When I first got it a few years ago, I had artifact problems with a number of DVDs, including Ronin and Lethal Weapon 4. The problems seemed to disappear and I attributed this to updating authoring methods. This is the first problem I've had with a disc in probably a year and a half, and I watch quite a few in this player.

Steve

 

[Espen Braathen]

"(Columbia Tristar is a major offender in this area)"

Eh, CT is the only company who actually seems to use dial_norm as intended by Dolby... At least their dial_norm value is not the default -4 on many titles. Do you suggest that their values are not based on the measured average loudness, but just some random number?

The Holman article is in fact in the April 2002 issue of Surround Professional. To quote: "As explained before in these pages, dialogue normalization with AC-3 on DVD is usually set so the absolute level is "turned down" by 4 dB, and Home THX gear turns it back up by 2 dB, for a net loss of 2 dB, just about the right amount to get the same perceived level in your living room. I guess two "wrongs" sometimes do make a right".

Afaik, the THX compensation used by all products with the compensation is +4 dB as far as I can tell, if not the "offsate" message shown in the display will not make any sense IMO.

As for the THX site; it does not contains any usefull or factual tech information IMO. I guess it's a secret we should not be trusted...


Also, in the same article Holman mentions the perceived volume at reference level for some of the movies shown at the sound nominations academy bake-off:

Monsters Inc, Amelie (pleasant level)
Black Hawk Down, Pearl Harbor (satisfyingly loud)
Lord of the Rings (very loud)
Fast and the Furious (ridiculously loud - fingers in the ears the whole time)


Esp1

 

[Anthony Connor]

I had the problem of the dialogue was to soft. I had to turn up the centre speaker. +3

I have the Region 4 widescreen edition. My system is a yamaha Rx2095

Regards

Anthony

 

[BrianShort]

I have a Panasonic A-120U, and was going to post that the only problem I had was a very brief sound cutout sometime in Lothlorien. But then I remembered I've been watching DVD's on my Playstation 2, so I guess that's not going to be any help.

Brian

 

[Stephen C]

We exchanged our problem DVD at Blockbuster, and the new one doesn't have any problems with our Panasonic A-120U. So, somehow, it must have been that first disc . . . .

 

[todbnla]

Gents,
When I first put my LOTR disc in, fresh from a sealed box, it almost immediately started pixelating and almost locked up, I took out the disc and cleaned it, after that, it worked perfectly. I have had my A120U since new and watched many, many, dvds with it. This is my main and currently only player. I have only had about two or three problem discs in the hundreds that I have watched. I hope my next player works as good as this one does.
PS-what chapter is the layer change?
I am watching LOTR again, now, as a matter of fact.

 

[James David Walley]

FWIW, I bought my copy at Costco (Widescreen at Costco? Amazing! ), and it didn't have the coupon, either.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Sony DVP-S560D. I watched the movie all the way through, and there were absolutely no problems. Layer change went by without even a pause. Then, I switched over to the second disc. The few features I played worked fine--until I got to the Two Towers Behind the Scenes preview, that is. Pixelation. Freezes. I noticed the feature was on the second layer, so I tried the other features on the same layer. They were fine. So, I exchanged the disc. Same problem.

Anyone else having problems with this feature? The girl at BB said she's getting a lot of returns, and the second disc has been the culprit most of the time. I wouldn't be that worried about this one feature, except another disc I bought last week also had a few random freezes. I really hope my player isn't malfunctioning.

Now that I'm seeing people talking about errors at the layer change on disc one, I'm worried that my exchange copy will have that problem now, too. I'll have to check that out later.

 

[Lewis Besze]

As previously stated; the sound mix on LOTR is extremely loud by any standard.

Yep and it's partly because Mi Casa not only used the -31db setting for the DD encoder,but also reportedly used some compression,and bumped up the volume by 6db!
It is still very dynamic we can agree on that.
Espen,
I also had observed the "compensation" thing on my Denon 3801,and it isn't a THX certified product,but Denon known for to use some of the "higher end" features on it's mid level receivers.
It is also true that not all movies requires the same value,just what CT does.For instance on Vertical Limit I belive the DN value is set at -7 and sounds just "right" as oppose to the default of -4,which used by TPM from Fox,yet that movie is still to low in overall level, compare to most other discs I have including Vertical Limit.

 

[Leon Liew]

My Onkyo 676 do display 'Dial Norm +4db' when LOTR DVD &
SPR LD (DD version) are played and it's not under THX cert.
for the receiver.

 

[Greg_S_H]

And, as I feared, my new copy has layer change problems. :frowning: I wish now I had kept the first copy. I can deal with one unplayable feature, but the movie is another story. When I watched the movie originally, I was pleased to see that the layer change was undetectable. Now?
I wonder if I have a bad copy, though, or if my player is going bad. I've been getting errors on a few discs lately (yes, I handle them carefully), and I foolishly got into the service menu and did an auto laser realignment. I wish I had the old disc to see if it can still handle layer changes correctly. As it stands now, I've rented another copy and will see how that one goes.
As an aside, this is only the second disc I've rented, and I'm appalled at the condition. The DVD's been out, what, two weeks? This thing has all kinds of fingerprints and scratches already.

 

[todbnla]

 

[Greg_S_H]

Between 23/24. Right after the fellowship is formed, and right before Bilbo gives Frodo the gifts.
The rental copy screwed up, too. :frowning:

 

[Greg_S_H]

This thread is fading, but I'd like to update my situation for archive purposes (ie, so people who buy the discs later will be able to compare their experiences with ours):
* First purchase: Disc one worked perfectly, to the point where I purposely searched for the layer change after the movie was over, just out of curiosity. Unfortunately, I got freezes and pixelation on the Behind the Scenes: Two Towers featurette on disc two. I took the set back.
* Second purchase: Same problem on disc two, but now major problems on disc one. The movie plays fine until the layer change (between chapters 23 and 24), but then chapter 24 freezes, pixelates, and the disc skips ahead several chapters. When I allow these other chapters to play, they also freeze, pixelate, and the disc again skips ahead. It does this until it comes to the end of the movie, at which point it drops to the menu. The disc does this even if I start directly at chapter 24. I took this set back as well.
* Third purchase: Same problem on disc two, but disc one seems to be working fine. As a test, I immediately skipped to chapter 24, and it played through. Then, I went back to chapter 23 and let the layer change happen. I got light freezing and pixelation, but it was much less pronounced than it was on the previous set. And, the disc did not skip ahead. Still not great, so I took the disc out of the player and lightly wiped it. This time, there were no problems after the layer change. I'm hoping I'm out of the woods now. I will watch the disc in its entirety later this weekend to double check before giving it the okay. I'm not keen on doing another exchange, though, I can tell you!
I don't know the answer for my problems with disc two. I am going to chalk it up to my player not liking the way it was encoded, because I tested it on another player with better results. The movie is the main thing, so I'll just have to live without it.
Further information: the girl at the exchange counter said she is getting a lot of these discs returned, and the returnees are citing problems with both discs one and two. I've seen complaints on the internet as well. Maybe a recall is in order?
The third set I picked up did not have the book of coupons the previous copies had (it did have a single coupon), and I was hoping that would indicate a later pressing and thus solve my problems. Of course, since I am now basically back to where I was with the first copy I purchased, that theory is pretty much out.

 

[Harry Callaghan]

I had the problem of the dialogue was to soft. I had to turn up the centre speaker. +3 I have the Region 4 widescreen

I also have the exact same problem with the region 4 widescreen. Centre channel had to be seriously beefed up. I also found the general volume to not be at the same level as some of my other discs, like The Phantom Menace, Saving Private Ryan (DD) and The Matrix.