Rookie question (1 Viewer)

[David Giesbrecht]

When I watch DVD's on my player, about half way through the movie theres always a little pause or skip that happens. What is this and are there any players that don't do this?

 

[Vin]

Movies on DVD are encoded in two layers. What you're noticing is a layer change...some players do this better/faster than others.

Vin

 

[Wayne W]

There are players that handle the layer change without a pause using a memory buffer. My Denon 2900 has a 16 MB buffer and I have yet to notice a layer change. The buffer also prevents skipping on scratched discs, etc.

 

[David Giesbrecht]

Does the Panasonic RP91 have a memory buffer?

 

[Daryl Furkalo]

The RP91 is not considered to be the best at layer changes, I have one. The layer change is always noticeable, but it is maybe 0.5 sec at most.

 

[David Giesbrecht]

Whats a good player that has no noticable layer changes, scales non anamorphic DVD's like the RP91, is proggressive scan and offers DVD Audio? This is the beast I'm looking for!

 

[David Giesbrecht]

I need to know!! it has to exist!!

 

[Jeff Gatie]

David, throw in a 'time remaining' feature and you have the holy grail of DVD players. Unforutnately, if you want non-anamorphic scaling, your choice is limited to the RP91, some of the JVC's and the Malata (sp?), unless you want to get into a HTPC.

(I may have left one out, so if I have someone please correct me)

 

[David Giesbrecht]

Ok, I've decided that DVD Audio is not all that important to me right now all I really want is

1.Auto aspect ratio adjustment
2.proggresive scan output
3.0 layer change pause (a must!!)
4.optical output

I've decided that if I want DVD Audio I can always get a second player.

 

[David Giesbrecht]

And what's this chroma bug thing I keep hearing about?

 

[Dave Milne]

1.Auto aspect ratio adjustment

Does such a thing exist? I have a decent Sony 9000ES player, the best pre-pro there is (OK maybe second best if you include the Mark Levinson 40... well OK maybe third best if you include a optioned-to-the-max Casablanca II), a very capable video scaler and front projector... and I still have to fiddle with aspect ratio...

 

[David Giesbrecht]

Yes such thing does exist. The panny RP91 has auto aspect adjusment, a wonderful feature that should be on all players, period! The only trouble with the RP91 is that it still has that annoying pause that happens during layer changes. This kind of bull*&^% should not be a problem on Panasonics top of the line MODEL! Honestly, how hard is it to just install a stupid buffer in the player. This problem should have been addressed before DVD players even hit the market.

 

[Tony Genovese]

This kind of bull*&^% should not be a problem on Panasonics top of the line MODEL! Honestly, how hard is it to just install a stupid buffer in the player. This problem should have been addressed before DVD players even hit the market.

The at most 1/2 second layer change gets you so worked up? You need to get out more.

 

[David Giesbrecht]

sorry, sometimes I get a tad emotinal.

 

[Michael Reuben]

This problem should have been addressed before DVD players even hit the market.

A bit of history. When DVD players first hit the market in spring 1997, dual-layer discs were only a theoretical possibility. The first one did not appear until later that year (I believe it was the Artisan release of Terminator 2), and it would be at least another year before such discs became commonplace. Some of the earliest players had trouble even loading these discs when they were first released. My Sony 7000 needed a service menu adjustment before it would read them.

Panasonics have always been slow on layer changes. Maybe it has something to do with their basic design. My Panasonic HD1000 cost a lot more than the RP91, and it has the slowest layer change I've ever seen. On the plus side, though, the picture is fantastic, and the pause for a layer change doesn't mean much to someone who can still remember what a laserdisc side break was like.

M.

 

[David Giesbrecht]

I was not aware that dual layer discs were a new thing, up until last year all I had was VHS. Building a home theater is a slow process when your a 16 year old working in a minimum wage job. But the fact is, dual layer discs have been around long enough for companies like Panasonic to correct this annoying little bug.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

actually David, "correcting this annoying little bug" means adding substantial memory buffers and increasing the speed on the DVD drive. If you're willing to pay extra, you'll get it, but something tells me that on minium wage you're not going to like the price of that Denon

 

[Craig Robertson]

if you think the layer change pause is annoying, be glad you didn't deal with laser discs, with films spread across multiple (2, 3, 5...) discs.
the most annoying part of the layer change, imo, is when it is poorly placed. i can't believe some of the places where studios choose to place it.

 

[David Giesbrecht]

Jeff

What are the prices of Denon players? and do they make one with both auto aspect and the layer change problem fixed? I am willing to spend $800 or maybe even more.

 

[David Giesbrecht]

I was just on the Denon website and it looks like the 2900 has everything I want except I am not sure if it has auto aspect I was unsure about the meaning of the specs. The 900 has it so I imagine it does.