bluetoast

Because I just realized...I haven't seen a layer change in years. And I'm talking about when I watch regular DVDs on a BD player.

Imprint

I noticed the layer change when watching a DVD on my Panasonic BD80 last night. I don't see them often, but still do occasionally. Might just be the player.

milo bloom

I always assumed the biggest factor in the layer change was the amount of system memory to buffer the data as the laser refocused. With a Bluray player the amount of system memory is going to be way over what any DVD player probably ever had, so it just handles it better.

Or, maybe it's the speed of the laser refocusing on the second layer and the Blu lasers are just that much quicker.

Just my guess.

Gizmo

I cant remember the last time I watched a DVD.

Superdaddy

I see layer changes on my Panasonic SC-BT200 also. Seems a bit odd since they seemed to have become less obtrusive of late on other brands of players.

My wife and I have an old Toshiba TV/DVD combo upstairs, that we don't use anymore. (Our older son uses it now, to watch kids' DVDs). Although this unit may never have been state of the art, layer changes on that thing were so fast they were practically unnoticeable.

milo bloom

You know what I've always found odd about DVD forums over the last 14 or so years? How so few people on the "inside" that could explain something like this post on them. I mean, NDA's and all that aside, there's got to be somebody that can explain something like this without causing trouble, right? Why don't we know more about this stuff?

Spottedfeather

I've noticed on my blu-ray player that there are still layer changes, but they are much, much smoother than normal. That's if I even notice them at all.

Jon2

The may be a tad faster, but I can't say I've noticed any difference. They still happen.

Solid Snake

this

Anubis2005X

I don't recall ever seeing a layer change on my PS3, DVD or Blu...

Eric F

What's this "DVD" of which you speak?

PopcornTreeCt

I still watch DVDs. Watched The Sopranos complete series.

DarthMarino

When I first got my PS3 the layer changes were visible. When I applied the firmware disc that came with it, they were seamless and have been since.

Trevor

Are you all exaggerating for attempted humor? Or are your tastes very narrow? For every title on BD there are 50 only on DVD.

SterlingBen

Your avatar makes everything you write read as crazy.

Gizmo

Blu-ray + Netflix = never need to watch a DVD.

Josh Z

The Blu-ray format specs require that Blu-ray players be built with a video buffer so that the layer change is seamless... on Blu-ray discs. (Some DVD players have a similar buffer, but it was never mandatory.) Most Blu-ray players are programmed to apply this buffer to DVD playback as well, but I suppose there may be some that don't.

Also, in my experience, the length of the layer change is worse on some DVDs than others. A couple of really distracting ones that I recall are Monsters, Inc. and Tomorrow Never Dies. You may still see a pause on really bad discs like that, but it should be shorter than on a player with no buffer.

Gomezfan69

I just checked a couple of problem DVD's on my PS3 and the layer changes are completely seamless now. I haven't really thought about layer changes in quite a while. This thread brings back memories.

Gerry P.

I use Netflix and copy the DVDs to hard drive so I can send the discs back the same day I receive them. I haven't put a DVD in a player and watched it that way for years.

SethDLH

Come to think of it I haven't seen a really noticeable layer change in quite a while. I know some DVDs had worse than others but since getting a BD player it definitely isn't as bad. My DVD player is reserved for other region DVDs only at this time so I don't see nearly as many discs on that as I do my BD player.

AmityBoatTours

I havent watched a single dvd since 2007. has nothing to do with having narrow tastes it has to do with the picture quality difference is so big that i cant bring myself to watch dvds anymore/ especially if its a movie i love i dont want to watch it dvd quality, Id sooner wait the years it could take to come to BD, then watch it in SD now.

Supermallet

Mod Note: Please refrain from discussion of illegally copying DVDs. It is not allowed on this forum.

Trevor

These questions are out of curiosity, I'm not attacking you.

So you don't watch anything on TV if it's not HD? You limit yourself to a scant percentage of film and TV possibilities because it isn't in HD? The presentation of the story is that important to you?

I'd much prefer my favorite films to be available in HD, but almost none of them are, and I can't imagine not watching them just because a couple thousand other films are available on HD.

Numanoid

Since I've been using an HTPC for years now, layer changes are just a faded memory. I also don't have to wait more than 5 or 6 seconds for blu-rays to load.

Mabuse

Yeah, it sounds like some people actually choose to watch Pirates of the Caribean 3 over Captain Blood because one is in HD and the other only DVD. That's a poor choice.

Anyway to answer the OP: I have a Panasonic BD80 blu player and it DOES NOT handle DVD layer changes as well as my Oppo DVD player. The Oppo made layer changes disapear. When I upgraded to Blu I had to go back to being annoyed by layer changes.