Monsters Inc DVD (technical issues merged thread) (2 Viewers)

[David Barteaux]

I have Canadian version. There is a 1 sec pause which seems like layer change. I have Panasonic RP-91. The bass on the THX stampede intro is very powerful on my Bag End sub

 

[Michael Reuben]

John, I agree it's a cost-cutting measure more than anything. The old double amaray is probably on the endangered species list. More and more 2-disc sets are coming in some form of cheaper, lighter packaging. The 2-disc digi-pack used on the Tarantino films is just another example.

On the plus side, they do take up less shelf space. And I'm sure the etailers are happier to ship something smaller and lighter.

M.

 

[Marc_E]

Layer change noticed on my Denon 1600 but no freeze.
Love this disk (so does my 3yr old daughter by the way).
Marc

 

[george kaplan]

I haven't watched this yet, but stuck in the disc after reading all this to see what would happen. On my RP91, there is the slightest pause at the layer switch and it moves on. Frankly, I'm not sure I'd even have noticed it if I wasn't looking out for it.

 

[Ted Kontos]

MI freezes on my Pioneer DV-414 at 84:01, but the layer change is hardly noticeable on my region-free JVC XV-S500BK. My first problem disc for my Pioneer.

 

[cwhite]

Just in the off chance that this problem was exclusively solely with this disc, I exchanged it for another copy. The freeze was still there. So, can we expect some type of fix from Disney or am I relegated to just watching the fullscreen version?

 

[Mark Lensenmaye]

Monsters Inc plays correctly on my Sony NS700P (although the layer change is a little slow).

The disc hangs at the layer change on my Pioneer DVL-909. If you hit the fast forward button a few times, eventually it moves ahead the to next chapter.

The Sony shows the location of layer changes, and I can confirm the layer change at the lockup point.

 

[Jeff Savage]

No issues on my Pioneer DV-47A. Just to make sure though the screen shows them walking off the work floor then cuts to them opening the door(shot from inside the room). If that is the normal footage during the layer change then there are no issues here.

Laters,
Jeff

 

[Michael_T]

Ok so this is a layer change, but what "genius" authored this disc and decided to put a layer change with like 5 minutes left in a movie?

I know that there are two versions of the movie on the one disc - but there could have been a way to put each version on it's own layer, seeing that the movie is only 93 minutes long.

Usually I can't spot a layer change on my 3 DVD players, unless it is placed in such a stupid place like it is on the Monsters DVD. It was quite jarring - since it actually upsets the continuity of the action (which you can tell clearly when you watch the same scene on the Full Screen version).

I betcha Disney gets alot of returns on this disc - as I thought it was a defective disc until I came here and also went to alt.video.dvd.

 

[Malcolm R]

The bad news: My Panny A-112 won't even recognize this disc. Just a "no play" message and on the screen "this type of disc cannot be played, please insert another disc."

The odd news: It seems to play just fine on my cheapo Daewoo player with no hangs or freezes. And this is actually one of the better layer changes I've seen on any disc (unless it's just the player that's transitioning so well/fast). I wouldn't likely have even noticed the layer change if I wasn't doing a specific test on the disc.

So I wonder if it's worth exchanging or if all discs are going to screw up on Panasonic/Pioneer players?

And though I'm not an expert on DVD mastering, my guess is that there is a layer change in the widescreen version because there is more information tied to the WS version (i.e. the commentary and sound-effects soundtracks are available for the WS version only). The full screen version is "bare bones," as it were.

 

[Brian Kaz]

The bad news: My Panny A-112 won't even recognize this disc.

FINALLY! After all the posts in here, someone has my problem.
My H/K DVD50 played the trailers at the beginning, but after that, nothing. The player would just stop. After my 3rd try with it, it finally told me "DISC ERROR".
Disc Two of M-Inc plays fine. VERY frustrating.

 

[Malcolm R]

Well, I didn't even get trailers. Immediately after the player drawer closes, I get the "no play" message on the display. Almost like the player thinks MI is coded for a different region or something.

 

[David Lambert]

Ok so this is a layer change, but what "genius" authored this disc and decided to put a layer change with like 5 minutes left in a movie?

There's only one authoring package that allows the author to decide where the layer change goes. And it is the most expensive one out there. Head and shoulders above the rest, as I understand it. Almost no authoring house has it, for that reason. From what I hear, it doesn't offer any other advantages, either. But I'm no expert; just passing on what I am told, and what I've read here on HTF.


As to that disc's performance on my systems:
* Mintek players (both versions: super cheap version and version with Karaoke): Perfect performance on both. No detectable layer change. I'm really surprised. Especially as I've seen layer changes on these before.
* Panasonic A-120: Detectable layer change at that time index; nothing unusually long, and certainly no lockup
* PC (Athlon 900Mhz running WinME):
**DVDPlay utility free with WinME: Works perfectly, as with Mintek players above...no detectable layer change
**InterActual Player (comes on MI discs): Like the DVDPlay and the Minteks, works perfectly...no layer change pause
**MediaMatics (popular DVD player, came with my Compaq): VERY surprisingly, there was a detectable layer change at that time index. No different that the one on the Panasonic A120 player. I've never seen a layer change on that soft player before, but then it isn't used too often. I assume that soft player doesn't use the buffering technique I mentioned, or else there's something about the authoring of the layer change on the MI disc that defies the buffering. I'm not sure...but it's certainly weird.


I hope this helps some of you! Good Luck! Call 1-800-72-DISNEy to complain.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Hey, Dave! This is OT, but would you e-mail me sometime so I can pose a couple of questions about your Mintek players?
Back ON-Topic: This may come as a surprise to many, but my Toshiba 1600 plays it perfectly! I got my copy of MI at K-Mart. Go figure. Especially after all the earlier problems the Tosh 1600 had with many DVDs.

 

[Rob Tomlin]

My Toshiba 5109 plays it, but the apparent layer change near the end of the movie (that was different!) was quite noticeable! Much more noticeable than 90% of the discs I own.

 

[Ray Chuang]

David,
Here's the setup I have on my home computer playing DVD discs:

• Abit AB-BM6 motherboard running Celeron A 500 MHz CPU with 256 MB of PC-100 SDRAM
  Fujitsu 8.4 GB ATA-33 hard drive
  Pioneer SD-M1202 DVD-ROM drive
  ATI Radeon SDR 32 MB AGP graphics card
  PCI sound card with Yamaha DS-XG sound chip
  Drive formatted with Windows 98 (with all security patches installed and Internet Explorer 6.0 Service Pack 1 installed) in FAT32 mode
  Cyberlink PowerDVD XP 4.0 with current July 24, 2002 patch file

I never did see the layer change pause or freeze on the Monsters, Inc. DVD Disc 1. I still think this is caused by the DVD decoding chipset on the console players that has trouble doing layer changes.

 

[Malcolm R]

The bad news: My Panny A-112 won't even recognize this disc. Just a "no play" message and on the screen "this type of disc cannot be played, please insert another disc."

BIZARRE DISCOVERY: Well, for some reason I kept on fooling around with this disc and may have found a work-around for anyone with this particular problem (and a Panasonic player). In my frustration, I punched the open/close button on the player twice in a row. That is, I put the disc in the tray, closed it, got the "no play" message, pressed open then close again (so the tray came out, then went back in)...then the disc started and seemed to play fine.

I do get the pause/freeze for the layer change in this player, and it may have been slightly longer than the usual change, but it kept on playing.

So for anyone with problems reading the disc period, you might try this.

 

[Bolivar G]

I watched my copy of Monsters Inc. today and had no problems with it on my Kenwood Sovereign DV-5900M.
The layer change at the end of the movie seem as normal as any other.

 

[Damin J Toell]

I gave the disc a spin in my Sony DVP-S530D tonight. The layer change acted like most other layer changes on my player, no better or worse (placement aside). It's not enough to take much away from the enjoyment of the film for me, at least.

DJ

 

[Robert Spalding]

noticed a longer than usual layer change, but no freeze up.