DVD Master Issue
 

I have prepared a DVD-R master for replication. I have done this many times with excellent results using "tried and true" settings for encoding and authoring. As a matter of practice I play a master on several DVD players to check for any problems before manufacturing. On my most recent project I noticed when played back on a new 32" Sharp Aquos monitor about 10 frames with 2-3 pink pixels in a heavy motion scene containing rushing water. I cannot duplicate this problem on any other TV or player I have tested. I have even hooked the same player up to another CRT-TV and it plays ok. It is so quick that most viewers would not notice it. Do you think this is a problem inherent to the LCD monitors during heavy motion scenes? Also I cannot replicate the issue on 4 different computers.

Regards,

Does the same thing happen on that monitor with different DVD players?

Hmm... I have not tried that yet. Seems like it is worth a shot. Will try it tonight.

Heavy motion is hard to decode for your digital TV's processor, that's more than likely the explanation.

Are you using an HDMI or an analog connection between the two units? I dare betting you it's an analog connection and so your TV has to do the hard work of digitizing all that analog signal... and it fails.

Ervin,

Yes, that was what I was thinking. I am using component in from the DVD player. I guess the best solution is to replace the offending high motion scene and redo the master. For anyone else out there, the offending scene was the "worst case" motion situation anyone would come across. Rushing water out of focus behind moving tree branches that are in focus.

Thanks,

Before I would do that, I would test the DVD with an HDMI capable player and monitor. Since we're both in Atlanta, if you would like to do that, I'd be more than happy to stick your DVD in my Philips HDMI player and Mitsu LCD monitor... if you mail me one.

It's really not a DVD or player issue, it's a lazy display IMO. Tried any other high motion DVD in that setup yet?

Thanks Ervin,

Contact me via private e-mail with you address and I'll send you a copy to look at. The pink pixels appear at time 9 min. - 13 seconds.

Thanks again.

E-mail sent.

Thanks Ervin,

The DVD went out in the mail today. How about posting your findings here. I think with the surge in LCD monitor sales this might be a analog vs. digital issue others want to here about. I've always reviewed my dvd masters via analog but I may have to now rethink this process.

Great idea!
 

Mark, it's a pleasure to work with you. I always admired your nature clips on your website. I've visited some of those places and I must say, you captured the very essence of the beauty!

Testing your DVD will hopefully reveal something others on this forum want to hear about, so I'll be glad to post my findings. Also, I have four different DVD players in the house, plus two computers - I'll test your DVD on all of them.

As a side note: I think I remember seeing Windows Media clips on your website... now it's all QT and I must confess, I'm not a big QT fan especially since it became so intrusive and wants me to install close to 100 MB of software just to watch a video clip... so I learned to live without it. Just think for a minute about other potential viewers with similar views... you're excluding quite a few people from viewing your clips. Might be a good idea to provide WM as an alternative. Just a thought...

Ervin,

Thanks for the comment. Development of my new website is an ongoing process and I hope to have the posted clips available in WM also. I've just got to overcome a bit of a learning curve on website development to make the interface of WM clips more to my liking.

Regards,

All is well
 

Mark, I tested the DVD in my Philips DVD player and viewed it on my Mitsubishi HD LCD monitor via HDMI. There are no pink pixels in that rushing water scene. I agree, that scene is a total nightmare for an encoder and would probably take hours of work for an encoding engineer in any Hollywood duplication studio.

I noticed, however, some blockiness in the right upper corner of that scene - I hope we're talking about the same scene: the main water flow is on the left, with a secondary, smaller flow on the right hand side.

Bottom line, personally I would let it go the way it is. As suspected, it is more than likely a monitor issue.

Thank Ervin,

I appreciate you checking it out.

Best Regards,

What were your videos shot with and what settings?
 

Mark
I watched some of your videos. What camera were they shot with? Was it HDV? 1080i60? Would you fill me in a bit with your setup from capture to final web publishing. What encoder program etc. you use. Thanks

Hi John,

About 95% of the clips were shot with a Panasonic DVC-30 which is a SD camera. The clips for the web were exported from the editing timeline as .avi files, then encoded using Quicktime Pro h.264 around 1000kbs and Windows Media Encoder 9 at around 750kbs. The Quicktime Pro encoder is $29 and WME9 is a free download. Frankly I am quite impressed with WME9 and its multitude of controls. To find the sweet spot for the web is difficult as picture quality, image size, audio quality all play off one another to affect the final file size. I probably encoded the same clips about 20 times until I hit the right combination that I was satisfied with.

Hope this was helpful.