Problems with Smallville
 

I was watching the first episode on the Lex Luthor disc (disc 3, I think) and have noticed something strange. Interlacing can be clearly seen in all scene transitions in that particular episode. I tried it on another DVD player, and had a friend try it on his, and this problem shows up in all three cases.

This issue is very distracting to me, but I searched here and there don't seem to be any mentions of this. Do people just not care about improper tagging like this? If that's the case, is there even going to be a recall like with The Meaning of Life?

I haven't had a chance to watch this episode yet - can you please describe the problem in greater detail? I think I know what you mean by "interlacing" but I'd like to hear more....thanks

I watched all of the smallville set and they all played fine, never noticed anything. Does it do it through the whole episode or just once. How far into the episode does it happen, i will check mine to be sure

This is episode 9. The issue is that during every scene transition (it's especially obvious when you're moving from a dark scene to a light one and vice versa), the transition frame is interlaced. That is two frames, one from one scene and one from the other, appear in one frame - with each successive scan line being from a different frame. This is quite unlike normal interlacing where the effect shows up during every sequence containing fast motion (on a non-interlaced display like a computer monitor).

NTSC is interlaced. While it pushes out 24 frames per second, it only pushes out 640x240 worth of data every frame (NTSC is approximately 640x480). Each pair of frames is then interpolated, line by line, into one frame to give you 640x480 worth of data. That is to say that a full 640x480 image is only transmitted 12 times per second. This is 480i, and it's the only thing my TV supports. There is also 480p, also known as progressive scan, which pushes out 640x480 image 24 times a second.

Snarff: did you perchance watch it in 480p (progressive scan)? If so, it might explain why you're not experiencing the problem. Could you check episode 9 in 480i and see if it shows up then?

I did watch it in 480p, i will try it in 480i in a little while, im watching the new smallville right now

tried it in my xbox i noticed at the start of chapter 2 just for a few seconds

I noticed it to. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me

So there is a problem!

Has anyone attempted to contact Warner Home Video about this?