Page 1 of Monsters Inc - Picture problems

Hello all,

When watching the film, it seems to go from light to dark to light again as if someone has walked past my TV screen creating a shadow!

I watched the film a second time (but not for the above reason) but did keep a look out to see if there was anything in the film to create it intentionally, such as a flickering flourescent light in the background - but no!

I would assume that the film would have been recorded digitally so would not think that it could have been a production problem.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is my DVD player (Panasonic RV-41EBS) on its way out? Or could it be a problem with the disc itself?

Have you got your DVD player linked to your TV via your video?

Disney DVDs have their own funny protection thing, maybe linking through a video would do this.

If not that, then sorry, can`t help.

NP`s on a Sony DVPN 700S picture looked perfect.

Hi,

Thanx for the replies. It is connected direct to the TV via an IXOS S-VHS -> Scart lead (excellent cable).

It only happens on theis DVD and not on any others. I am slightly puzzled and cannot find an e-mail address on the disney (uk) website to ask them.

Unfortunately my R1 disc freezes 3 minutes from the end - up to that no problems.

CD WOW have once gain excelled themselves by dispatching an immediate replacement nad a freepost envelope for return of the damaged one.

I think you might find that this is the layer change, so you may find the same problem with your replacement copy.

Hugo connect your dvd player to your tv via and rgb scart this will cure your problem.

My mate had a panasonic tau and sony dvd player with this problem,the macrovision was affecting the s-vhs signal.

Right, I have tried to connect my DVd player to the TV via scart and still the same problems so this means that it is not the cabling.

I`ve re-watched the DVD and can give a better description of the problem. The picture flashing (going from light to dark) seems to be associated with the sound in someway and is only quite noticable on the background!

If you go the scene starting @ 11m 30s when the old monster puts down the newspaper and starts talking to Mike, the background flashes as described above in sync with her voice. This is exactly the same when Mike speaks. It is most noticeable in this scene because it is quite dark compared to some of the other scenes.

I know that this isn`t a plot element as the monsters do not use generated energy themselves and nor do they affect it unlike the human kids. Therefore I can only assume that it is somesort of production error. I can not believe that no one else has experienced this problem and just to be certain that it is the DVD and not my player I am going to go round to a friend`s house and try it there.

I hope the above info helps and please, please let me know what is causing it or if any one else has the same problems.

Last, what is Disney`s e-mail address? I just cannot find it.

Thanks to everyone for this.

Ok, another update, but this time with a better idea of the source of the problem.

I have taken the DVD round to my friend`s house anf tried it on both of his players and it works fine. I also discussed the problem with my friend`s dad, who is a technical guru, for his views.

He believes the problem is with annenuation. In other words there is something nearby that is causing interferance and is weakening the signal.

Regarding the problem that someone else mentioned about the macrovision and the lead. This is exactly the same problem as with attenuation. The longer a coaxial lead is the weaker the signal will be when it reaches the other end. The reason why leads made by Ixos and Qed are so much more expensive is because of the quality of manufacture. By using mylar foil wraps, etc., for shielding, it allows them to produce longer leads without the loss of quality. The quality will be not necessarily be any better than on a standard cable if the standard cable is short. This could be the main reason for the problem reported by the other user with s-video lead. The two wires could have got twisted. With S-video it has 2 wires - one to carry colour I believe and the other to carry luminance. If it was a problem with the cable itself then the picture would either be monochrome or green. However, you do gain better qaulity by moving say from a standard scart to s-video lead because of the way the signal is separated.

What is interesting is with digital cables. All digital cables are exactly the same quality, because they carry a digital signal does not degrade. Once again the only reason to opt for a Ixos or Qed (which I own and use) is purely for the manufacturing quality.

Remember that next time you visit Richer Sounds.

Still, the bottom line is that I still can`t watch monsters inc. properly without feeling that I watching a weak strobe!!!!!!!!!!!!

My R1 DVD also freezes at 84 minutes in. I am using a Pioneer DV-05 DVD Player. I called the 1-800 number on the disc and talked with technical help at Disney. They said that they were currently working with Pioneer to try and resolve this compatability problem. I was told that they would contact me ASAP and let me know whether a new disc would be issued or if it would be a hardware issue, and until then to watch the Full Frame version, as it doesn`t change layers.Full Frame doesn`t freeze at 84 minutes.