Info and forum posts by 'TimSmith'

RE: USA DVDs... NTSC TV needed??? help!

Jimbo,

I haven`t got many discs, but I`ve noticed picture judder on all the R1s I`ve bought, some examples are Twelve Monkeys, Toy Story, City of Angels. It`s most noticeable in scenes where the camera pans slowly. Maybe some people just notice it more than others. The trouble is, now I know it`s there, I`m always looking for it...

RE: USA DVDs... NTSC TV needed??? help!

I`m not sure about S-video, I`ve never used it, but I think it usually goes in using a small round connector, maybe on the front of the TV? I`d go with the RGB input, though. I found a site that gives 60Hz compatibility for TVs at http://www.geocities.com/mspritch/tvlist.txt, it might have your TV listed. As I said, though, my TV is down as as 60Hz compatible, but there is some visible banding in the picture, so it`s not ideal. Until I get round to buying a new TV, I`ve got the choice of 60Hz output, which gives a smoother picture, but has the slight interference lines, or the standard PAL50, which has a better picture, but jerkier motion!!

I think if I was limited to using PAL50, I`d be put off by the posts I`ve seen about poor PAL50 conversion in the Wharfedale, but then I`ve never seen one in action, so I`ve got no idea how good or bad it is compared to my LG3350!

RE: Jerky Picture

OK, your TV can handle PAL60 and NTSC, but is your player outputting PAL50? If you can change the player output, can you see a difference in jerkiness between PAL60/NTSC and PAL50? e.g. PAL60/NTSC will jerk often, but slight jerks (this is 3:2 pulldown). PAL50 will jerk less often, but bigger jerks (this is conversion to 50Hz).

RE: Any suggestions please.

I got my 3350 from www.21store.co.uk last year (Dabs were out of stock then as well). Next day delivery for 226.00.

Studio Cards are on 08706 01 11 22, or www.24store.co.uk. Doesn`t look like the website allows browsing though, so a bit of a waste of time going there unless you`ve already got a catalogue.

This item was edited on Sunday, 11th February 2001, 09:17

RE: USA DVDs... NTSC TV needed??? help!

Isobel,

If your TVs are not NTSC compatible, check they can take an RGB signal in on the Scart. Also check that the DVD player you buy outputs RGB.

Your DVD player will do `NTSC to NTSC` or `NTSC to PAL60` or `NTSC to PAL50` when playing a R1 disk, depending on which player you buy. If you are using an RGB signal, then `NTSC to NTSC` and `NTSC to PAL60` are the same thing.

If one of your TVs will accept a 60Hz refresh, then you`ll be OK with `NTSC` or `PAL60` output from the player (using RGB). This is a bit of a dodgy area, because accepting a 60Hz picture might not be mentioned in the TV`s manual. My main TV doesn`t mention anything about 60Hz, but it does show a PAL60 picture, even though there are some visible interference lines on the screen as it was never designed to work at 60Hz.

If your TV won`t show a 60Hz picture then you will need to use `NTSC to PAL50` This requires the DVD player to change the frame rate (i.e. screen refresh rate) which is where the jerky picture comes in. Some players are worse than others at doing this, the Lecson 900 and Wharfedale 750 have been reported as being a bit crap at doing this, resulting in a jerky picture. However. there is likely to be some jerkiness whichever player you have.

Another important point is that R1 discs are stored differently to R2 discs. This means that R1 discs will *always* be slightly jerky anyway compared to the R2 equivalent.

Hope this helps.

RE: LG 3350 problems - Eeeeeeeeeeek!

>As the sound changes during pause and single step, I think we are
>seeing LG relying on software to mute the D/A converter rather than
>the hardware - which is not used. A firmware upgrade would cure
>this I guess.

The PCM1600 has a Soft Mute function that is user software controlled. It also has a Zero Detect circuit that determines that state of the Zero Flag pins (pins 1-6), which are are presumably the ones you refer to above as being not connected? (Don`t have a cct diagram myself). The same Zero Detect circuit is also used by a Zero Detect Mute, which can be enabled/disabled by the user, and sets the DAC outputs to zero when a zero condition has been detected.

So presumably, LG are using either the Zero Detect Mute (which could be affected by noise on the data lines) or the Soft Mute (which is independant of the status of the data lines). It might be possible to confirm use of the Zero Detect Mute by monitoring the states of the Zero Flag pins, which should echo the active/inactive state of the Zero Detect Mute as they both use the same detection circuit.

You suggested that there are mute inputs on the following amplifiers which are not used? Your suggestion of linking a working mute signal from the other DAC to those inputs sounds interesting.

However, whether or not correct muting is sorted out is not really the issue. The problem is the fact that the noise is there during normal playback, and as you say, this is a design flaw. I`d be interested to know whether this problem exists with other players that have 5.1 decoding before giving up on the LG, though.

RE: Jerky Picture

A R1 disc would normally produce an output to suit a R1 NTSC TV i.e. 480 visible lines at 30frames/sec. It sounds like your player is doing a conversion to standard PAL which is 576 lines at 25 frames/sec. The frame rate conversion is making the picture jerky. Some players are better than others at doing the conversion.

If your TV can handle a 60Hz refresh rate, try switching to `PAL60` (sometimes called pseudo-PAL) or straight NTSC output (if you`re using RGB or your TV can handle NTSC) . On these settings the player won`t change the frame rate.

Apparently, though, R1 discs transferred from a film source will always have some amount of jerkiness because they are stored at 24 frames/sec and have an encoded `flag` to tell the player to use "3:2 pulldown conversion" to convert to 30 frames/sec, which introduces some jerkiness.

PAL R2 discs don`t have the problem because they are stored at 25 frames/sec, which gives a suitable output for a standard PAL TV. For the transfer, the film is played back slightly too fast to speed it up from 24 frames/sec to 25 frames/sec.

RE: LG 3350 problems - help please

MJJ,

I get this noise on mine as well. I`ve tried front + rear speaker outputs and it`s on both. As you say, sometimes the noise is there when paused, sometimes not, but the noise *always* starts as soon as I press `play`. That is, if I`m on pause, I can always hear the noise during the short space of time between actually pressing `play` and the time that the audio track restarts.

If the noise isn`t there on pause, it starts sooner or later when I start slow-motion, or step a few frames. The normal audio out phonos haven`t got the noise, but a slight `clicking` when stepping single frames instead.

The noise on mine has got a sort of chopping sound in it as well as the general electronic sort of noise, a bit like a helicopter.

RE: What ecuses work best for taking back a DVD to Tesco?

Only if there`s steam coming off `em !!

RE: What ecuses work best for taking back a DVD to Tesco?

Say anything you like, Tesco`s returns policy/customer service is about the best you`ll get. Wrap a turd in a bag and say it wasn`t the right shape for your arse - you`ll get your money back.

Famous Trollus

Front page news - well done Troll

RE: What player do you have, so I can work out the which players have sold the most.

LG-3350E

RE: REGION 1 IS THERE ANY POINT IN UK?

subzero30,
There is an excellent description of `anamorphic` at http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/anamorphic/

RE: REGION 1 IS THERE ANY POINT IN UK?

Also sometimes the R2 version is not anamorphic but the R1 version is (e.g. 12 Monkeys).

Then again sometimes the R2 version is anamorphic but the R1 isn`t (e.g. Truman Show)...

RE: Unlikely Title: LG3350 Problem!

Agree with ITTroll - the player is very quiet in normal play mode, but does make a bit of a noise when you move through menus. The only time I`ve had significant noise from it was when I put in an mp3 CD-R in a format it couldn`t read - it sounded like it wanted to take off.

Layer change on LG3350E

Just noticed a layer change on my LG, in Toy Story R1 at 1:04:12, end of chapter 25. Picture freeze + silence for a fraction of a second. Not too bad as it`s at the end of a scene, but it would be a bit annoying anywhere else! First one I`ve spotted.

RE: LG 3350E Review - Come get some!

Hi Troll,

You say that you only get short filenames for mp3 - have you tried burning ISO level 2 with ASCII filenames? I get 16 characters for directory/filenames incl. upper lower case and spaces on my 3350!

RE: Region 1 upgrades

How about the type of transfer? I`d buy an anamorphic R1 if the R2 equivalent was non-anamorphic (e.g. Twelve Monkeys)

RE: Aiwa 370 - what`s the proper format for MP3 discs?

I`m in the same situation with my LG3350. Made a simple test disc with just a few files in the root directory and used 8.3 filenames, but after displaying the filenames on the screen, the player just hunts for the tracks as you describe. I thought I might have a duff unit, so I tried the disc in an LG3350 on display in Currys, and then in an Aiwa 370 in Comet next door. Neither of them would play it. No idea what I`m doing wrong. (Needless to say the disc plays OK in the PC)

RE: Does anywhere have the LG3350 in stock?

Well, I explained that I needed it to respond to a remote hack, and if it didn`t work I didn`t want it - the bloke I spoke to said there would be no trouble sending it back. Give them a ring - it would be interesting to see if you get the same story. Anyway, the hack *did* work, so no problem!

This item was edited on Thursday, 7th December 2000, 09:57

RE: Does anywhere have the LG3350 in stock?

Have you tried www.21store.co.uk ? £226 including next day delivery. They said they would take it back if the hack didn`t work, as they have a 7 day refund policy. I agree with you about the remote. Even though I think the Aiwa looks a bit better, I went for the LG because of the remote and second Scart (I`m short of Scarts!).

RE: Scan vs LG vs Encore vs Toshiba vs Wharfdale

Darren,

The Techtronics site is ex-VAT, so it`s £230 delivered, but as you say, out of stock. I bought one last week from www.21store.co.uk for £226 incl. next day delivery. Very pleased with it, excellent picture - and such a sexy remote :) The only thing I can`t get to work is mp3 playback.

Tim.

RE: Help me....your my only hope

www.21store.co.uk are doing the LG3350 for 226ukp delivered. I ordered mine Wednesday lunchtime, arrived Thursday morning. They don`t advertise it as multi-region, but said I could send it back if the Pi hack didn`t work (it did work).