Page 1 of DVD Player with seamless layer change

Hi,

Can anyone recommend a DVD player with a seamless / unnociteable layer change for under £200?

I was looking at the Sony DPV-NS330 and Toshiba SD330E, but have read conflicting reviews regarding layer changes on these. Also looked at the Sony DVP-NS700 which some say is excellent, and some say poor :(

I must admit I`m still surprised that most reasonable priced players don`t now include read-ahead buffering to prevent pauses during layer change (ie. play from buffer while laser refocuses), as most CD players, CD-ROM drives etc now incorporate such technology.

PS. Does anyone else think it`d be nice if manufacturers stated layer change performance in a similar same way they do for access & seek time performance for CD-ROM & DVD-ROM drives etc :)

Thanks for any help

TNH.

To be honest TNH layer change times aren`t really a big enough issue for manufacturers to start quoting read figures etc.

What you have to remember is that it`s down to the quality of the authoring and where they choose to put the layer change that`s just as important, not just the player itself. You`ll find that many budget players, (i.e. lesser known `supermarket` brands), are the best with layer changes as the laser is less sensitive and just breezes onto the next layer with the tiniest of pauses. More upmarket players from Tosh/Pioneer/Sony all exhibit a layer change a little longer as the components are of higher quality. The laser reads the disc more clinically, hence the better performance in the audio/video dept, lack of skipping on dodgy discs. Inevitably the layer change suffers as a result.

Until we get HD DVD which can hold an entire movie on one layer then layer changes are here to stay - and there is not ONE machine which has a seamless change :)

Live with it
Westy

Site Technical Help Editor and Moderator

Home Cinema Editor - Area450

This item was edited on Sunday, 27th July 2003, 14:36

It`s an interestion issue this, I have a Philips DVDR880 and a Aiwa XD480 and sometimes, say for example I watch Apollo 13, I can notice the lay change at around 1hr 6mins into the film, however, I have watch the same film on the same machine and you cannot even notice the change.

So I think there is a few things at work when it comes to lay changes but I can`t work out why one time you watch a movie you can see the change and another time you can`t.

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Regards, John72.

Quote:
Until we get HD DVD which can hold an entire movie on one layer then layer changes are here to stay - and there is not ONE machine which has a seamless change.

Aren`t there a number of Denon models with buffer memory to eliminate layer changes?

Chris i had a Denon 2800II and this had a buffer but the layer change was not seamless you could tell when it changed, it was very very quick though, but then again that probably wasnt a layer change but just maybe the player up to its usual tricks.

I`ve also seen the same disc, same player, different pause scenario before John72, and I think I have an explanation...

On some players, it appears as though if you have viewed any part of that DVD that is on the 2nd layer before watching the whole movie, the laser focuses and then remembers the focus setting (thus eliminating hunting) for the 2nd layer, making the layer change much faster or even unnoticeable during the movie, until you eject the disc.

As inza says, there are buffered players, but it doesn`t necessarily make too much difference. Surely some players focus to both layers during initial disc read and memorise the focus settings for faster change during the movie (seems like an obvious thing to do :D ).

PS. Looks like I might get a Toshiba SD330, as I`ve tried several players for layer change, and the Tosh is the only one that was completely seamless for several DVDs that are naffly placed including Gladiator & Contact. Also it has EVERY output - RGB, S-Video & composite via Scart, component video, Coax & Optical, MP3, WMA, DVDR, SVCD etc!

PPS. www.amazon.co.uk are doing it multiregion for £79.99 inc VAT & P&P!! :)