Technical Issues and Questions

Discuss North American DVDs and Blu-rays or other DVD and Blu-ray-related topics.
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Godot
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Joined: Sat Nov 06, 2004 12:13 am
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1726 Post by Godot » Mon Sep 02, 2019 5:36 pm

kekid wrote:
Sat Aug 24, 2019 2:17 pm
Thank you. I will look for the manual and the projector model number on Monday.
Kekid, were you able to fix the issue? If not, post the model numbers for blu-ray and projector, and someone here can likely discern from the manuals the proper settings. I agree with stanstelling, it's usually best to determine at the source player rather than the receiving display (should be passive throughput). If you were going through a high-end receiver, you could also use that middle step to upscale or adapt, but best is to use the power of the first step in the A/V chain - this is one reason Oppo players used to be so prized despite their high price.

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kuzine
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1727 Post by kuzine » Fri Nov 08, 2019 5:31 pm

I just moved continent to the US (yay academia) and hence am in the market for a new TV and player. Any recommendations for a TV in the 1k$ or below range? I assume there should be some deals to look out for later this month? My Oppo bdp-93 has served me well the past 9 years but would be considering an UHD player with region free dvd/blu capability. I know the US has issues with PAL and 1080i50, what should I look out for to not be afflicted by these as I never had compatibility issues to worry about in Europe? As it's a long term move, I will be shipping my collection over eventually with plenty of region 2/B stuff that I still want to watch.
Last edited by kuzine on Sat Nov 09, 2019 6:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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fiddlesticks
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1728 Post by fiddlesticks » Fri Nov 08, 2019 11:53 pm

Received this message regarding some Tartan DVDs I sold to a North American buyer. As they are R0, I assume the problem is that they are PAL. Is the problem likely in his DVD player or his TV, and is there likely a menu setting I can tell him to look for which might fix it? Thanks.
I was disappointed tonight when I tried to play the Ingmar Bergman DVDs I purchased from you. They do not play on my DVD player. I agree with your listing because the Region Code is marked on the box as 0, which is region-free in my understanding. However, the disc format PAL DVD 5, must not be supported by my player. Any suggestions?

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Adam X
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1729 Post by Adam X » Sat Nov 09, 2019 12:21 am

I'm sure someone in Nth America can better answer this, but from my understanding it's possibly both, as they've had a long history of equipment that solely supports the NTSC format. For the DVD/BD player, if available, there'd be a setting for video output where you can usually choose from PAL, NTSC or Auto. As for the TV, it entirely depends on whether it can display video at PAL refresh rate of 50 Hz (or multiples of this, ie. 100Hz).

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swo17
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1730 Post by swo17 » Sat Nov 09, 2019 2:25 am

I don't think you can just change a player setting and be able to play PAL

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domino harvey
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1731 Post by domino harvey » Sat Nov 09, 2019 2:28 am

fiddlesticks wrote:
Fri Nov 08, 2019 11:53 pm
Received this message regarding some Tartan DVDs I sold to a North American buyer. As they are R0, I assume the problem is that they are PAL. Is the problem likely in his DVD player or his TV, and is there likely a menu setting I can tell him to look for which might fix it? Thanks.
I was disappointed tonight when I tried to play the Ingmar Bergman DVDs I purchased from you. They do not play on my DVD player. I agree with your listing because the Region Code is marked on the box as 0, which is region-free in my understanding. However, the disc format PAL DVD 5, must not be supported by my player. Any suggestions?
I have this issue with my Region A player, there’s nothing you can do about it, it won’t recognize the PAL signal regardless of region coding. This is why I always treated any PAL disc as R2 in my item descriptions

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Oedipax
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1732 Post by Oedipax » Sat Nov 09, 2019 3:10 pm

fiddlesticks wrote:
Fri Nov 08, 2019 11:53 pm
Is the problem likely in his DVD player or his TV, and is there likely a menu setting I can tell him to look for which might fix it?
Short of buying a region-free player that can handle PAL-NTSC conversion, the only thing he could do that will work is play the discs on a computer.

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Adam X
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:04 am

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1733 Post by Adam X » Sun Nov 10, 2019 3:28 am

swo17 wrote:
Sat Nov 09, 2019 2:25 am
I don't think you can just change a player setting and be able to play PAL
Maybe not in the US? On my (Australian) Oppo BD player, under Setup Menu>Video Setup>TV System you have a choice of NTSC/PAL/Multi-system.
In this case, choosing NTSC or PAL will convert the output signal to this format if required (ie. an NTSC disc will be converted to PAL & vice versa). Multi-system outputs whatever is on the disc in its native format. My TV will display either.

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Lemmy Caution
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1734 Post by Lemmy Caution » Sun Nov 10, 2019 10:32 am

Same is true in China. On every player, I'm pretty sure.

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1735 Post by Michael Kerpan » Sun Nov 10, 2019 2:01 pm

US marketers prefer deliberately-hobbled devices.

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fiddlesticks
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1736 Post by fiddlesticks » Sun Nov 10, 2019 2:33 pm

Thanks, everyone. My buyer doesn't seem too concerned, probably since he paid <$10 for two discs, but it would be nice if they would play. Interestingly I sold other of my Tartan Bergmans to two or three other buyers at the same time as this one, which was over a month ago, and haven't heard from them. Maybe they knew what they were getting into. All of the disc players I've had for probably the past 15+ years did the PAL>NTSC conversion automatically so it never occurred to un-tech-savvy me that it might be a problem.

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NABOB OF NOWHERE
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1737 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Wed Dec 04, 2019 1:49 pm

In addition to my Oppo I have a bog standard Sony Bluray player bought in France and is Region B only and multi-region for standard DVDs. Recently I used it non-stop watching a series of BFI region B discs. The next time I used it for some Indicator titles it kept giving me the message that the disc didn't conform to the player as it was Region B only Puzzled I tried some other titles from Indicator and WB that were multi-region compatible which all works fine . I then tried a Region A Criterion title which surprise surprise worked
Never before in its 4-5 year old history has it been able to play Region A. It has not been chipped or modified in any way and there is no facility as far as I know to be able to use a code or similar to change it. I then went back into the settings and changed it to adopt the original factory settings but to no avail. I am still stuck with Region A.
Other than poltergeist intervention I am at a complete loss to understand what might have happened Any suggestions???

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Adam X
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1738 Post by Adam X » Thu Dec 05, 2019 3:24 am

Did you possibly update the firmware recently, and accidentally used the one for Region A players? Otherwise, I'd go with poltergeists.

Rupert Pupkin
Joined: Thu Oct 20, 2005 9:34 am

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1739 Post by Rupert Pupkin » Thu Dec 05, 2019 4:00 am

NABOB OF NOWHERE wrote:
Wed Dec 04, 2019 1:49 pm
In addition to my Oppo I have a bog standard Sony Bluray player bought in France and is Region B only and multi-region for standard DVDs. Recently I used it non-stop watching a series of BFI region B discs. The next time I used it for some Indicator titles it kept giving me the message that the disc didn't conform to the player as it was Region B only Puzzled I tried some other titles from Indicator and WB that were multi-region compatible which all works fine . I then tried a Region A Criterion title which surprise surprise worked
Never before in its 4-5 year old history has it been able to play Region A. It has not been chipped or modified in any way and there is no facility as far as I know to be able to use a code or similar to change it. I then went back into the settings and changed it to adopt the original factory settings but to no avail. I am still stuck with Region A.
Other than poltergeist intervention I am at a complete loss to understand what might have happened Any suggestions???
I have the same issues (but it can be easy solved) with my multi region player (not an Oppo by the way).

here is what is happened :

- I can turn it on in region A for Criterion US. It works.

- when I want to turn it for region B I can have a problem with some blu-ray which are region B :

some Artificial Eye Blu-Ray (UK Import) (François Truffaut movies for instance), and recently StudioCanal Steelbook "Leon" (Luc Besson) which are strictly Region B.

Even if I turn it off and set it for region B I have the alert "this disk does not play in this region" or something like that (depending on the blu-ray).
The thing is not that the other Blu-Ray region B are not strictly region B (and would be in fact region ALL); it's a matter of authoring.

the trick is that the blu-ray player kept some data in cache (bookmarks, etc...)
Thus, Blu-Ray disks authored with a strictly region B "protection" can check this cache and see what was the last blu-ray played; and if they noticed some region A blu-ray in the cache has been played (like the last Blu-Ray), then they will consider that the region player zone is region A (even if you have do the right settings to turn it for region B playing).

- I do not recommend to erase this temporary cache just to play a specific region B Blu-Ray disks (or you will lost all your resume marks, and bookmarks).
- I do not recommend to update the firmware


what you need to do is :

- turn your player for region B
- take a Blu-Ray disk which is a French import or European import but doesn't have this "strictly region B" authoring.
For instance I used to take some France Television 2 Blu-Ray French Blu-Ray, like "Les Beaux Gosses" (it's really a region B movie). (in an nutshell, just put a region B disk which used to work with your multi region player).
Put it in the player. You will see that it works for a region B disk.
Then go to the menu of this blu-ray and PLAY the main feature/aka the movie SO THAT the cache knows now that the last blu-ray player you put in your player was a region B disk (and not a region A)
If you just put the blu-ray and go only to the menu and eject the disk before launching the movie, the cache of the last disk played won't have this info.

Now eject the disk and put your Blu-Ray which did not work so far. You will see now that it loads the menu, and you won't have the region error.

In fact your multi-region player was in "region B" mode, that's just that this way of authoring is a reinforced protection for checking "region B" player checking the cache of your player.

What you have to do is just to keep next to you a "trusted" region B disks which works usually with your blu-ray player. So in case it happens again, then you will redo the same "trick".

voilà.
sorry for my bad English, but I'm French.
hope this helps.

patreig
Joined: Mon Jun 09, 2014 7:30 am

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1740 Post by patreig » Thu Dec 05, 2019 6:48 am

Brilliant ! Merci beaucoup !

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NABOB OF NOWHERE
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1741 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Fri Dec 06, 2019 9:42 am

Thanks for your suggestions. My point however is that the player which is a simple REGION B ONLY player has never been able to play Region A. There is no facility for changing the region as it is neither equipped or chipped for this option. Additionally, as it is very much a secondary player, it is not even connected to the internet so firmware updating is not an issue. I just cannot see how a change of region compatibility can happen out of the blue and particularly after 4 consecutive years of playing region B only discs.

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Oedipax
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1742 Post by Oedipax » Fri Dec 13, 2019 2:10 pm

Can anyone advise whether there is a difference in bitrate/encode quality among the various retailers of films in 4K streaming format?

Since it seems we may be waiting a while (or forever) for a physical 4K release of the new restoration of The Limey, I'm looking to purchase a streaming copy. It's available in a few places, like Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, iTunes, etc.

I'm unclear on whether you're purchasing the exact same file/encode from each of these sellers or if there is one that is clearly superior. Prices do vary a bit and then of course there's the question of whose ecosystem will play nicely with your streaming devices (in my case, I have an LG OLED with built-in Amazon Prime Video and YouTube but no AppleTV, as well as a 4K-capable Chromecast).

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Boosmahn
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1743 Post by Boosmahn » Sun Apr 05, 2020 11:07 pm

Off the top of your heads, does anyone know what Blu-rays have an "original/theatrical audio mix?" I'm thinking of something like the Original 5.1 Mix for Apocalypse Now or the 4.1 Surround for Alien.

Apologies if this is not the right thread, but it's the closest fit I can find.

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okcmaxk
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1744 Post by okcmaxk » Mon Apr 06, 2020 10:56 am

Synapse’s Blu-ray of Suspiria has the original 4.0 mix from the theatrical release.
Last edited by okcmaxk on Mon Apr 06, 2020 8:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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The Fanciful Norwegian
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1745 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Mon Apr 06, 2020 5:39 pm

Criterion's Last Year at Marienbad included the original theatrical audio as an option (alongside a restored track) per Resnais' wishes, which none of the subsequent editions have followed.

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ianthemovie
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1746 Post by ianthemovie » Wed Apr 08, 2020 8:56 am

Can the image quality of a BD played on a PS4 differ from that of one played on a Blu-ray player? I'm currently quarantined at my partner's house and we watched Valerie and Her Week of Wonders the other night on the PS4, and the image quality of both the movie and the special features seemed "unstable", almost having what I would call a wavering or flickering quality. I would wonder if it's the TV but I haven't noticed this on anything else we've watched on Netflix etc.

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tenia
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1747 Post by tenia » Wed Apr 08, 2020 9:36 am

Boosmahn wrote:Off the top of your heads, does anyone know what Blu-rays have an "original/theatrical audio mix?" I'm thinking of something like the Original 5.1 Mix for Apocalypse Now or the 4.1 Surround for Alien.

Apologies if this is not the right thread, but it's the closest fit I can find.
Be aware it might replicate the theatrical separation but still be adapted for home viewing.
See for instance Criterion's release of The Game, which offers both the true theatrical mix (ie in terms of mixing, EQ and dynamics) and a Near Field mix adapted for home viewing.
I know the French BD of Last Train to Busan used the Korean Theatrical mix. I'm quite sure there are others, but also that tracks claimed to be original theatrical mix might actually have been adapted.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1748 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Apr 09, 2020 5:16 pm

Apologies if this isn’t the right thread or if it’s been answered before on previous pages, but I’m wondering if anyone had experience recovering files that have disappeared on external hard drives, and if so what programs are recommended.

Almost my entire digital catalog of MO has disappeared saying it was last updated in January but I moved over a file that’s no longer there just last week and saw everything there. iBoysoft isn’t showing anything and I don’t believe they’re “hidden” because the amount of gigs listed in the folder reflects the six films that are in there (as opposed to the 20 or so films that were there last week). I’m positive that I didn’t accidentally delete them, unplug my hard drive inappropriately, etc. so I have no idea what happened but would ideally like to retrieve those files.

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domino harvey
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1749 Post by domino harvey » Thu Apr 09, 2020 5:58 pm

TestDisk works, but only if you haven't added anything new to the drive in question. It can pull what it can, but may not be able to pull full files if you've put anything else on the drive

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therewillbeblus
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1750 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Apr 09, 2020 11:08 pm

Thanks, unfortunately I've definitely added files to the drive since

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