limeyland

Can anyone tell me which standalone DVD players will allow me to watch DVDs at 1.5x or 2x speed while still being audible?

I find that I watch more and more of my DVDs on my computer (CyberLink PowerDVD 6.0) largely because I can watch them fast. This is especially true with TV shows, which are often purposely stretched to fill more time.

I'd like to watch shows that way on my TV, but none of my standalone DVD players have that feature. I've been looking to buy a new one, but the ability to play fast and still hear the audio is not generally a listed feature.

Any suggestions?

Alternatively, does anyone know another way to refer to this feature that might yield a successful keyword search?

X

You could search for "time-compression".

Spiky

Your attention span can't manage 22 minutes?

Mr. Salty

Yes. Get a prescription for Ritalin.

Alan Smithee

I have a Philips DVD recorder and a Wal-Mart "SV2000" brand one (both made by Funai) that can do this- they can also play at half-speed making everything slow. It's a lot of fun to use on music videos and porn. Unfortunately the sound gets mixed down to 2-channel PCM, and it won't work on DTS soundtracks.

kaze0

PS3 does it at 1.5

darthdelegate

Why do you feel the need to watch things in such a manner? If you don't care enough to watch them at normal speed, why watch at all? Explain.

cgray

I was also going to recommend the ps3, and agree that occasionally (again, mainly with t.v. shows) I'll flip parts over to the 1.5 setting. Sure, 7 seasons of Next Generation is great, but some episodes could... be sped up!

Raul3

Really?
I can't believe people would use a "feature" like that.

Brian Shannon

Wow, and I thought I had heard of everything.

This sounds like a giant mess. The video is sped up so the presentation looks like a vcr or fast forward but somehow the audio is taken out of sync with the video so that it sounds ok?

Everyone can like whatever they want but watching is as much a part as listening for me.

Alan Smithee

The audio doesn't go out of sync, it's sped up but the pitch stays the same so people don't sound like 'chipmunks' like when a record is played fast. Yes, it's a bastardization and I wouldn't seriously watch a movie this way, but it's definitely good for a laugh.

limeyland

Thanks for all the responses and suggestions, useful and/or snarky ones alike.

'time-compression' led me to some interesting information, but not to any new DVD players.

I've checked out Funai, and some of their DVD players do indeed have this "feature". They call it "rapid play".

As for what it looks and sounds like - speeding up digital media works a lot better than speeding up analog (like video cassettes). I don't really know how they do it, but since all digital media consists of a series of discrete samples, it should be easy. The standard sampling rate for video is (I think) 24 frames per second. That means each frame plays for .042 seconds. You could feasibly play each of these frames for only .028 seconds (2/3 normal) instead of .042 seconds and you suddenly have video at 1.5 times its normal speed without losing any frames. Sound would work the same way. It's sampled much more frequently (44.1 kHz for CD audio), but at that rate, if you delete the final third of each sample, the pitch won't change, the sound moves faster and there is no noticeable loss of any portion of the sound. There is probably an easier way, but it is definitely possible and doesn't make a mess of things. I'ts kind of like watching a kung-fu movie.

Still, I mostly use it for tv shows like Myth Busters. There is no need for me to wait while they purposely stretch out the episode to fill a half hour. I can catch all the witty banter and the exciting conclusion while watching at high speed. It has gotten addictive, though - I use if for more and more shows all the time, sometimes movies even.

I'm off to search for "rapid play" as a feature.

Mr. Salty

It's sad that you don't realize that "Mythbusters" is an hour-long show.

limeyland

Ha! You are right! What a thoroughly apropos mistake for me to make!

Spiky

If you like this even for film, you could try simply buying the PAL versions.

milo bloom

I have the Sony 5 disc player from last year and I accidentally found this feature. I'd have to get the model# when I get home.

cko

I'll chime in that I like to do this as well. It really depends on what the material is...not everything needs to be played for full dramatic effect. I find the 1.5x of the PS3 to be about as fast as is comfortable. I wish it had a 1.25x mode as well.

I listen to podcasts and audio books sped up in the car and it really helps to crank through the material in less time. I wish my Tivo HD had it because it would help get through more TV in less time.

Mordred

Pretty much all Sony DVD players from at least the last few years offer this. You can speed up (and slow down) the video in 0.1x increments from 0.5x - 1.5x. Sound quality isn't that great, but you can hear what they are saying although music sounds noticeably worse than dialog. Also it disables subtitles. I'll admit I've watched parts of a few movies that I wasn't enjoying on 1.2x just to get through them faster because I wanted to see how they ended but was bored to tears.