Layer Changes in DVD players.

[Scot]

I'm about to purchase my first DVD player, and don't understand some of the terminology. Reviews of several players complain of layer changes of 1 to 4 seconds. What are layer changes? Does the screen go blank? How often does this occur?
My TV is old, so I don't want progressive scanning. At present, am leaning toward the Sony DVP NS 400 or the Pioneer DVD 440. Any recommendations either way would be most appreciated.

[magking]

Layer change is when a player changes from layer one to layer two on a dual layer disc. This only happens one time on a disc, at about an hour(+/-) of a movie. The picture freeze and the sound mutes.
On my Denon DVD 3000 this takes about 1 second, and it differs from movie to movie.
Which player you should get i leave to someone else. Good luck.

[Reiner]

Correct. And unfortunately this problem could be avoided using a buffer most manufactures don't do this (cost?).

More technical: the DVD (2-Layer) is first read from the inside to the outside, then the laser needs to re-focus on the 2nd layer (and that's the problem as it needs a little bit of time to do so) and continues to read the disc to the inside.
They call this RSDL - reverse-spiral dual layer.

See also the excellent DVD faq at http://www.dvdreview.com/faq/dvdfaq.shtml chapter 1.18

[Steve T]

The newer players do a better job of it though.

My first player was a Tosh 3107B and the layer change was never very good. I've had a Pioneer 545 for a couple of months and it seems to cope better with it.

What annoys me is when DVD's are produced with no consideration to the layer change. With very little effort you could put a layer change in a scene change (preferably not during a loud action sequence). It amazes me how some discs are produced where you don’t notice the layer change whereas some really interrupt your viewing. It's just laziness IMO.

[alpha10]

Try a Denon 2800, it has a buffer and a double spin drive, so you don't get any layer change pause. I changed from a Denon 3000 which as said above takes upto a sec to change on some discs, once you get used to no pause it really annoys you when watching a player that does..

[Nic Rhodes]

Much of the problems with layer change are also down to the softawre / firmware in the player as well. My Tag was already very good in this department but the latest software has improved this considerably with 3.5 software (as well as additional features).

[Geoffc10]

The layer change never bothers me. Why should 1/4 sec interupt be worrying. The layer change isnt noticable on the Denon 2800, but it has got problrms( see other posts!) Cmon its only a film!

[GarethH]

I agree, while my Pioneer 747A is a top player it still has a noticable layer change. However, at the end of the day when it performs excellents in all other areas, who cares?

[andypandy]

As time goes on, I'm sure it's an area most manufacturers will eventually fix.

I heard your comments above, it's only a film, etc, etc , but that noticeable pause is always something people notice in the film and people do say..what was that ? - then you have to answer , etc,etc,

I use to have the Samsung 709 and noticeable on that machine, but to tell you the truth now that I have the Pioneer 444 I have hardly noticed it - so much so I completely forgot about it (or took it for granted !) until I read this thread !

[Rob]

The new Denon 1600 has the same buffer and layer change speed as the 2800, very fast by all accounts and would make a better buy, as prog scan is not important to you.

What is annoying is when a layer change is made in the middle of a scene. I find this a bit distracting, although a rarity now. An example of this is the R1 version of Das Boot. The R2 version was at the end of a scene, therefor hardly noticeable.

Rob.

[Reiner]

My old player (Yamaha DVD-S700 US) used to jump to the beginning of the next chapter on somes discs after the layer change:
"Hey, didn't I just miss something!?" Press fast reverse and play ...