DVD taking forever to start playing

[Jo-Anne]

I bought all seven seasons of Grey's Anatomy to watch on my 3.5-year-old
WinXP laptop computer (using VLC Media Player). I've had some minor problems
with seasons 1-5 and season 7. Season 6, however, is the worst. It takes
about 30 seconds for each DVD to start playing after I click "Play." In
fact, I was sure the first DVD wasn't going to play at all when suddenly it
started.

As the DVD began playing, I noticed something on-screen about its being a
Blu-Ray disc. When I bought this season, there was no indication that the
DVDs were Blu-Ray. Once I saw the on-screen notice, I checked the box--and
there's an insert in a pocket that says it's a Blu-Ray set. (There's no such
insert in the season 7 set.)

Is it possible that the Blu-Ray format is causing the problem on my laptop?
Is there any other explanation?

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

 

[Char Jackson]

I bought all seven seasons of Grey's Anatomy to watch on my 3.5-year-old
WinXP laptop computer (using VLC Media Player). I've had some minor problems
with seasons 1-5 and season 7. Season 6, however, is the worst. It takes
about 30 seconds for each DVD to start playing after I click "Play." In
fact, I was sure the first DVD wasn't going to play at all when suddenly it
started.

As the DVD began playing, I noticed something on-screen about its being a
Blu-Ray disc. When I bought this season, there was no indication that the
DVDs were Blu-Ray. Once I saw the on-screen notice, I checked the box--and
there's an insert in a pocket that says it's a Blu-Ray set. (There's no such
insert in the season 7 set.)

Is it possible that the Blu-Ray format is causing the problem on my laptop?
Is there any other explanation?

I've seen other BluRay players that took about that long to start, so
it doesn't seem out of the question. The important thing is that it
looks like you intended to buy a DVD set and somehow ended up with a
BluRay set! Luckily, your laptop apparently has a BluRay player.

 

[Paul]

I've seen other BluRay players that took about that long to start, so
it doesn't seem out of the question. The important thing is that it
looks like you intended to buy a DVD set and somehow ended up with a
BluRay set! Luckily, your laptop apparently has a BluRay player.

When I read the article on Blu Ray on Wikipedia, it mentioned a new
way to provide DRM, that involves effectively loading software
off the disc (BD+). Maybe that's what is taking the extra time - some
kind of virtual machine implemented in software, that processes
what is coming off the disc ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu_ray

"In a June 28, 2007 press release, Twentieth Century Fox cited Blu-ray
Disc's adoption of the BD+ anticopying system as key to their decision
to support the Blu-ray Disc format."

"BD+, effectively a small virtual machine embedded in authorized players,
allows content providers to include executable programs on Blu-ray Discs."

*******

The other option, would be to look for media errors. But I haven't located
good info on that yet. A transfer rate test is one option, but that would
only indirectly hint at errors being present.

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=115137

Paul

 

[Char Jackson]

When I read the article on Blu Ray on Wikipedia, it mentioned a new
way to provide DRM, that involves effectively loading software
off the disc (BD+). Maybe that's what is taking the extra time - some
kind of virtual machine implemented in software, that processes
what is coming off the disc ?

My point was mainly that it's somewhat normal for a BluRay to take
longer than a DVD or CD to start playing. I think that's what the OP
was asking.

If you Google "BluRay slow start", for example, there are numerous
reports of BluRay players taking unusually long to begin playing.
Whether they're loading software or spending time deciding whether the
inserted disc is a BR, DVD, or CD, or doing something else entirely, I
don't know.

<https://www.google.com/search?q=bluray slow start>

 

[Jo-Anne]

I've seen other BluRay players that took about that long to start, so
it doesn't seem out of the question. The important thing is that it
looks like you intended to buy a DVD set and somehow ended up with a
BluRay set! Luckily, your laptop apparently has a BluRay player.

Thank you, Char! That eases my mind. Definitely odd that the company chose
to make this season Blu-Ray and the following one not. I wonder if there
were complaints about difficulty in starting up the discs.

Jo-Anne

 

[Jo-Anne]

When I read the article on Blu Ray on Wikipedia, it mentioned a new
way to provide DRM, that involves effectively loading software
off the disc (BD+). Maybe that's what is taking the extra time - some
kind of virtual machine implemented in software, that processes
what is coming off the disc ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu_ray

"In a June 28, 2007 press release, Twentieth Century Fox cited Blu-ray
Disc's adoption of the BD+ anticopying system as key to their decision
to support the Blu-ray Disc format."

"BD+, effectively a small virtual machine embedded in authorized
players,
allows content providers to include executable programs on Blu-ray
Discs."

*******

The other option, would be to look for media errors. But I haven't located
good info on that yet. A transfer rate test is one option, but that would
only indirectly hint at errors being present.

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=115137

Paul

Interesting info, Paul. I wonder if part of the time issue is that I've
disabled the automatic starting of programs on my CD/DVD drive to help me
avoid malware. Of course, if the DVD couldn't start its DRM program, I would
think it wouldn't play at all.

Jo-Anne