Why do my DVDs lag when playing?

[lazyturbo]

My DVD player plays VCDs and SVCDs with no problem. But with many DVDs, when it gets into an hour or so into the movie, it starts lagging. The video just pauses for a few seconds and begins again, and this happens quite frequently.

Why do they lag like this and how can I fix this?

[Treebeard]

Are these dvd's that you have burned? or are these retail store bought dvds?

[big8ptbuck]

Yes.

Here is my process:

1. VCR to PC via firewire, digital camcorder, SCLive as an .avi
2. Encoded using TMPGEnc Plus (lordsmurf template)
3. TMPGEnc DVD Author (menus and burn).


DVD Burner: Lite-On LDW-411S

[johns0]

Sounds like a burning problem with media,try a different name brand.

[lazyturbo]

Nope. All the DVDs that had lagged were bought. Inlcluding the Matrix and Lord of the Rings. I rented Matrix Reloaded once, but it didnt have this problem.

[johns0]

Then its a dvd player problem,try cleaning the lense.

[lazyturbo]

It kinda started lagging right when I bought it, and my friend who has the same one has the same problem, so it's probably not the lense. The player probably just can't read fast enough or something.

Are there any functions in a DVD player to help make video run smoother? Like the scan options....

[Craig Tucker]

I have read of some players having this problem when they get too hot. Make sure the vents are not covered up and that it is not stood on a carpet. Personally I would take it back and get a better player

[lazyturbo]

Oh. I can't return it anymore cause I've had it for quite a long time. I guess it might be getting too hot, because I also stack my VCR on top of it. I'll try moving it to another location to see if its better.

Though it doesn't explain why some DVDs have this problem and some don't. And it has no problems playing VCDs...so I guess it gets hotter when playing DVDs?

[nufan292]

Older dvd player huh? I'm thinking that your dvd player has a problem with layer breaks, where it switches layers. This usually occurs around the 1 hour mark on most dvds I have. Don't feel too bad, even some new players still have this problem.

P.S. Nothing you can do about it, except buy a new player.

[lazyturbo]

I would say its about 2 years old. But this problem arose right from the beginning when I tried to watch the Matrix on DVD.

Hmmm....for some reason there are times when I can play the DVD perfectly fine, and other times it starts to lag. And these are also the exact same parts on the DVD.....so that's kinda weird.

I think I've found that if I let it lag long enough, the DVD player eventually fixes itself, like after 40min....LOL

When it lags it sounds like something's breaking inside the player....but oh well....as long as it doesn't ruin the DVD.

[nufan292]

If it occurs throughout the video it isn't the layer break issue. I have a crappy Daewoo that gives me that problem you just mentioned, usually occurs to a dvd if on the previus dvd I hit eject while playing before stopping disc. Then I just stop the disc, then eject then start it again and it works fine. Or you can also try unplugging it for awhile. Don't know if any of this will help, but easy to try.

[lazyturbo]

When I'm playing a DVD that is lagging, long enough, the problem actually goes away and I can play the discs that come from the same movie perfectly fine.

But once I load in a different movie...the problem arises again when I'm an hour into the DVD. I tried restarting the machine and stopping discs before ejecting....but none of these tricks seem to work.

And when I insert the DVD that was playing perfectly fine before I loaded in a new movie, it now no longer works anymore....does the DVD player have to get used to the "layers" or something?