DVD Press Error Question

[Robbie]

I recently bought a box set of DVDs, not the Land Of The Lost set, this was a set by Anchor Bay and in one of the episodes it played fine through the opening theme and several of the other episodes, then these pixels and squares come on the screen in one episode causing it to freeze and start up I took the DVD out of the player and looked at it and there were no scratches or anything. What causes this, are any DVD experts that know what causes this?

[Galilee55]

I would hope not, but it could be DVD rot.

I don't know much about it, but here is one article on it.

http://www.manifest-tech.com/media_dvd/dvd_compatibility.htm

[BigTimeFan]

Robbie: My guess is that it is a press error from the manufacturer. I have found that DVD pressing is not so reliable as CD pressing. I have bought over a thousand CDs in my life and never has one had any sort of error. During my time as an owner of a DVD player I have bought several DVDs with press errors. Rhino home video has had some. But anything by Warner Home Video or Reprise or any of their sister companies seem to have a high rate of errors. Paramount has had none up to this point. I would return it if it is within the 30-day or 14-day return policy for an exchange. If not, I would contact the manufacturer by email or written correspondence to explore your options. If you notice on Rhino's page, there is a FAQs link and one person mentions a press error for one of Rhino's products. Rhino responded that they would be happy to replace it free of charge. I am sure the same good customer service would result if you dealt with the manufacturer of the DVD media you have purchased.

[AlSharptonsHair]

I don't know anything about Anchor Bay, but with DVDs as with anything, you get what you pay for.

I bought an old Flash Gordon serial pressed by a public domain cheapie firm from Media Play's cast-off bin for a buck ninety-nine or thereabouts and it pixelated to no end. Threw it away, not worth the gas to drive back there to complain.

[BigTimeFan]

AlSharptonsHair: Normally I would totally agree with you. However, Time Warner and Reprise is a huge company, dominant in the entertainment industry. There is no excuse for them to have such a high percentage of press errors. Even both of my Lord of the Rings DVDs (made by Warner) have a distinct 'pause' in the action where the audio mutes and the picture holds for about one or two seconds. Not exactly pixelated in terms of annoying, but still a press error in my book.

[Robbie]

That might be from the player changing layers on a duel layer dvd because there several that pause.

[BigTimeFan]

Robbie: You are probably right. And I can live with that little pause. I am not used to the dual layer format and its idiosyncracies. However, I do not let them get away with pixelation.

I keep on exchanging one live concert DVD and every time it has the pixelation occur about the same places, sometimes worse, sometimes not so bad. I wonder if it could be their source tape or digital master with the flaw...

[Robbie]

Here is an interesting site from an expert on Duel Layer DVD Rot http://www.andraste.org/discfault/discfault.htm.

[BigTimeFan]

Thanks for the link, Robbie. That is some very interesting reading. I wonder if some companies have more problems with the 'spotting' than other companies...

[slatch1117]

I've had that pausing issue someone mentioned as well as some of the pixellation on a few discs, but then I've had them play fine other times. When this happens, being the cheepskate that I am, I open the drawer on the player and let loose a big burst (hopefully dry) air. This seems to help. Any little piece of dust or anything can screw up playback. You can also buy that compressed air, of course, which is probably the better way to do things.

[vader93490]

I've had that pausing issue someone mentioned as well as some of the pixellation on a few discs, but then I've had them play fine other times. When this happens, being the cheepskate that I am, I open the drawer on the player and let loose a big burst (hopefully dry) air. This seems to help. Any little piece of dust or anything can screw up playback. You can also buy that compressed air, of course, which is probably the better way to do things.

Perhaps the pausing issue is being caused by the player switching layers. On almost every DVD I have, it makes the statement that it may pause in a certain area. My old Toshiba DVD player did that, and my Sharp portable player will do that as well. However the Philips DVD recorder I now have doesn't pause during playback... perhaps because the laser reads at a different frequency? Or perhaps it's due to newer technology?

Some websites like DVD Talk will document where a movie will pause in playback. Address is dvdtalk.com

[BigTimeFan]

I can live with pausing. But pixellation that is not due to dust, debris or a damaged disc is unacceptable. I have bought hundreds of CDs over several years and not one has any manufacturer defect, whereas I have had several DVDs with moderate to heavy pixellation at certain points. Probably a lot more can go wrong with a DVD given its greater storage capacity and features, but technology is a lot better as well, so there shouldn't be any excuse.