Toshiba DVD, or U-571? (1 Viewer)

[ZackL]

Hi all,
I was watching u-571 last night and noticed that during certain time of the movie, it did the skip/pause thing, one particular spot was at at time counter 1:03:16, I tried playing the movie with the director commentary on, and it did the same thing at the same time spot,
I was wondering, if this is the Disc? or my DVD player? how do i test this out? btw the disc is a rental, and I have the toshiba SD-4700, I have been reading some reviews that the player skips, or pauses, and I am wondering if mine is doing the same thing?
http://www.audioreview.com/reviews/D...ct_83135.shtml
thanks for any help,

 

[Seth T]

Zack-
Nothing to worry about.
That's just the layer change on the DVD. Most every DVD has a layer change somewhere. Sometimes the studio hides it well in a fade to black or other un-noticeable place. Instead of having to flip the DVD over to watch the second part of the movie that is too long to fit all on one side, DVD players adjust the laser's power (from my understanding)so it reads a different layer on the same side of the DVD.
Some DVD Players handle it better than others too. My Pioneer DV-525 is pretty quick with most changes (1 sec or under), but my old 424 wasn't. My understanding is that Sonys are usually quick too.
-Seth

 

[RichardH]

I think it's more like the laser is refocused to the other layer, but it might involve a difference in power output as well, not sure.

There are DVD players with buffer memory so that you don't see the layer change at all. DVD players that use a computer DVD-rom as a transport also have extremely fast layer changes. Watching DVDs on my computer I don't think I've ever noticed a layer change.

 

[ZackL]

So, question is, should I get another DVD player?? This one came highly recommended by local best buy, well, please don't flame me, I gotta start somewhere,

What do you guys recommend? something w/ the same price rage, ~$200, what brand? I have a Sony 52' project tv, so progressive scan really doesn't do much for me, should i go w/out it?

 

[Seth T]

Personally, I wouldn't own a Toshiba. They've had far too many issues. I've had really good luck with Pioneer, and plan to stay with them. You CAN get Sony players for under $200 now, so that's an option.
This is of course assuming that you feel the need to buy a new player. Just keep in mind that a replacement might not necessarily be any better at layer changes.
It's just one of the TINY annoyances of DVD. Kinda like the "black bars" when watching a widescreen version. After 4 years, I don't notice layer changes OR black bars at all. Or rather, I notice the absense of the bars when a movie is full frame...and it annoys me.
Hey, at least we don't have to get up and flip the disc for the second half of the movie like Laserdisc owners do.
-Seth