DVD Wierdness

Bob-Dubery

I have got the latest series of Transatlantic Sessions on DVD. I noticed some wierdness with these DVDs, but only under certain circumstances.

Especially on disc 2, the sound seems to be coming in and out all the time. It sounds like there is a bad cable with a connection making and breaking, but that's NOT the problem because repeated plays will demonstrate that the fades in and out always occur at the same points in the playback.

I get this when
1) Running the stereo output from the DVD player into another amp (and wether that output is in raw or PCM mode)
2) Playing the discs on my laptop PC using Inter Video WIN-DVD

I do NOT get this when
1) Watching on my DVD player using it's own amp and 4+1 speakers (nor does it pan like crazy between front and rear speakers)
2) When watching on my desktop PC using PowerDVD

Is this some kind of copy protection mechanism? Do I need to upgrade my equipment? The discs ARE DVD by the way, not BlueRay.

FatBoy

Could be an encoding issue I guess, but not sure at all unfortunately.

AlanRatcliffe

I'm doing some edjumicated guessing here, but I suspect it's something to do with a bad stereo mix. DVDs can have a different mix for stereo to the one for 5.1 (as well as different versions for movies in different languages) and they are not always equal - The Steve Vai Astoria DVD has a bad stereo mix with a lot less low end and you can't hear the bass guitar as well, but the 5.1 mix is fine. I suspect you have something similar.

I think that PowerDVD will be mixing the 5.1 mix down to stereo on your desktop (or you have a 5.1 system on your Desktop PC), while WIN-DVD is using the stereo mix on the disk. I think my copy of Ulead DVD player also uses the 5.1 mix.

So in short, I think your problem is a bad stereo mix. I'd probably query it with the manufacturer/distributor and if I decided to keep the disk, I would also see if PowerDVD does indeed sidestep the issue by using the 5.1 mix for stereo.

Heath

its not down mixing properly to stereo , well the software is not down mixing it to stereo properly , most dvds has a few options for down mixing , but inter video is not the greatest software to watch dvd's with anyway . power dvd all the way .

Bob-Dubery

Tailon. wrote its not down mixing properly to stereo , well the software is not down mixing it to stereo properly , most dvds has a few options for down mixing , but inter video is not the greatest software to watch dvd's with anyway . power dvd all the way .

Yeah.... but it happens on my DVD player as well. The raw stereo output from that has the same problem.

TomCat

Could also be a compressor algorithm in the DVD player.

Some DVD players include a compression facility to prevent peak overloads on the output. I know my DVD player would pump badly on my 'Brand new day' tour DVD. When I bypassed the compressor it sounded much better and did not "cut out".

Bob-Dubery

TomCat wrote Could also be a compressor algorithm in the DVD player.

Some DVD players include a compression facility to prevent peak overloads on the output. I know my DVD player would pump badly on my 'Brand new day' tour DVD. When I bypassed the compressor it sounded much better and did not "cut out".

It's not cutting out on volume, it's not a compression/limiting issue. I've turned off all the fancy pro-logic stuff on the DVD player and that makes no difference on the stereo output. It sounds just like there's a bad lead and somebody's shaking it around. Indeed I initially suspect a bad headphone connection on my notebook machine.

Oddly the title sequences at the beginning of each episode, and the music playing behind the menus are fine (and much louder).

So, yes, I'm starting to incline to the view that it's a mix problem.

AlanRatcliffe

X-rated Bob wrote
Tailon. wrote its not down mixing properly to stereo , well the software is not down mixing it to stereo properly , most dvds has a few options for down mixing , but inter video is not the greatest software to watch dvd's with anyway . power dvd all the way .
Yeah.... but it happens on my DVD player as well. The raw stereo output from that has the same problem.

The DVD player will automatically use the stereo mix (if there is one) for a stereo output. Only if there is none will it use the 5.1 mix and mix it down (which is theoretically a worse option than using a mix designed for stereo as you can get phase issues when the rear channels are mixed with the front).