DVD player/drive problems. Help please.

Hi,

Am I so bad lucky? I have one DVD player (GE model, bought more than two
years ago) and one DVD drive on a computer (it is Creative PC-DVD Encore
Dxr3 drive with a hardware decoder, and I bought the computer with the
drive about three years ago) in home. I did not play DVD very often. But after
a year or so, none of them worked properly. Initially I thought the DVD
disks were not good. Now I believe it is the player/drive's problem. I wonder
whether anyone has experience about the problem in the player/drive.

The DVD drive plays DVD smoothly with proper audio, but video is not
okay (I use the DVD player that cames with the drive). It doesn't use right
color, and video looks sometimes like negative films or looks as if the video
were played on 16 colors screen when actually my monitor is running at high
color (32bit). In a word, it looks terrible. I tried to clean up the drive,
but it doesn't solve the problem. I also tried to use InterActual DVD player
2.0 and got an error message: "Playback failed due to a problem with the
video subsystem. Lowering your screen resolution or color depth may fix the
problem." Of course the suggested method does not fix the problem. Does any
of you have an idea what is the problem and how to fix it?

The GE player works only for a few minutes, then picture freezes and the
disk stops spinning. But the same player plays CDs and VCDs properly. I
believe that warranty of this player already expired, which means the DVD
player is just a CD player I am thinking about buying another player.
But if all DVD players are just like mine and are very short-life, I probably
won't buy it now.

Any comments or help are highly appreciated.

Paul.

Paul

>The DVD drive plays DVD smoothly with proper audio, but video is not
>okay (I use the DVD player that cames with the drive). It doesn't use right
>color, and video looks sometimes like negative films or looks as if the video
>were played on 16 colors screen when actually my monitor is

SNIP

The problem is not with the drive. Check your computer settings.

Also, ensure that you have the most up-to-date drivers for your video card and
DVD decoder card.

Also, try to obtain the most up-to-date version of the Encore player software.
Go to Creative Labs' website to obtain updated software and drivers for your
Encore DVD player hardware:

http://www.soundblaster.com/

Another possibility is to replace the Creative hardware DVD card with a
Hollywood Plus DVD hardware card.

Sigma Designs HollywoodPlus is a superior card to the Creative Labs Encore
card.

>The GE player works only for a few minutes, then picture freezes and the
>disk stops spinning. But the same player plays CDs and VCDs properly. I
>believe that warranty of this player already expired, which means the DVD
>player is just a CD player:

Depending on the vintage, your GE DVD player may have been OEMed by Samsung,
which had problems with their DVD players at that time.

I would say that buying a replacement player is in order.

Your next player ought to be a Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic, JVC, or Pioneer.
Don't bother with anything else. - Reinhart

LASERandDVDfan

"LASERandDVDfan" <> wrote in message
news:...
> >The DVD drive plays DVD smoothly with proper audio, but video is not
> >okay (I use the DVD player that cames with the drive). It doesn't use
right
> >color, and video looks sometimes like negative films or looks as if the
video
> >were played on 16 colors screen when actually my monitor is
>
> SNIP
>
> The problem is not with the drive. Check your computer settings.
>

Agreed, you might just need to adjust brightness, contrast, and saturation
etc in the Encore player software under configuration - video - advanced

> Also, ensure that you have the most up-to-date drivers for your video card
and
> DVD decoder card.
>
> Also, try to obtain the most up-to-date version of the Encore player
software.
> Go to Creative Labs' website to obtain updated software and drivers for
your
> Encore DVD player hardware:

I recommend getting the sigma designs drivers and apps instead from
www.sigmadesigns.com/support

>
> http://www.soundblaster.com/
>
> Another possibility is to replace the Creative hardware DVD card with a
> Hollywood Plus DVD hardware card.
>
> Sigma Designs HollywoodPlus is a superior card to the Creative Labs Encore
> card.

They are the same cards using a different firmware ID. You can use the
SIgma software for your Dxr3 card.

>
> >The GE player works only for a few minutes, then picture freezes and the
> >disk stops spinning. But the same player plays CDs and VCDs properly. I
> >believe that warranty of this player already expired, which means the DVD
> >player is just a CD player:
>
> Depending on the vintage, your GE DVD player may have been OEMed by
Samsung,
> which had problems with their DVD players at that time.
>
> I would say that buying a replacement player is in order.
>
> Your next player ought to be a Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic, JVC, or Pioneer.
> Don't bother with anything else. - Reinhart

Biz

"Biz" <> wrote in message news:<kd_Sb.41602$>...
> "LASERandDVDfan" <> wrote in message
> news:...
> > >The DVD drive plays DVD smoothly with proper audio, but video is not
> > >okay (I use the DVD player that cames with the drive). It doesn't use
> right
> > >color, and video looks sometimes like negative films or looks as if the
> video
> > >were played on 16 colors screen when actually my monitor is
> >
> > SNIP
> >
> > The problem is not with the drive. Check your computer settings.
> >
>
> Agreed, you might just need to adjust brightness, contrast, and saturation
> etc in the Encore player software under configuration - video - advanced

I played with player's all possible configurations and they are not helpful
at all. I also reinstalled the software and driver in the CD coming with the
DVD drive and the problem is still there. I checked the web site

http://www.soundblaster.com/

and there is no updated driver or software available for that particular
DVD drive. I am going to try to contact the manufacturer to see if they know
what is going wrong. But I doubt whether I can find anybody to contact or
whether he/she is willing to help me if I can find such a person.

> > Also, ensure that you have the most up-to-date drivers for your video card
> and
> > DVD decoder card.
> >
> > Also, try to obtain the most up-to-date version of the Encore player
> software.
> > Go to Creative Labs' website to obtain updated software and drivers for
> your
> > Encore DVD player hardware:
>
> I recommend getting the sigma designs drivers and apps instead from
> www.sigmadesigns.com/support
>
> >
> > http://www.soundblaster.com/
> >
> > Another possibility is to replace the Creative hardware DVD card with a
> > Hollywood Plus DVD hardware card.
> >
> > Sigma Designs HollywoodPlus is a superior card to the Creative Labs Encore
> > card.
>
> They are the same cards using a different firmware ID. You can use the
> SIgma software for your Dxr3 card.

I will see if I can find the software.

Many thanks for your help.

Paul.

>
> >
> > >The GE player works only for a few minutes, then picture freezes and the
> > >disk stops spinning. But the same player plays CDs and VCDs properly. I
> > >believe that warranty of this player already expired, which means the DVD
> > >player is just a CD player:
> >
> > Depending on the vintage, your GE DVD player may have been OEMed by
> Samsung,
> > which had problems with their DVD players at that time.
> >
> > I would say that buying a replacement player is in order.
> >
> > Your next player ought to be a Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic, JVC, or Pioneer.
> > Don't bother with anything else. - Reinhart

Paul

Creative drivers are here: http://us.creative.com/support/downloads/

Choose storage devices in the 1st box, PC-DVD CD rom in the 2nd, and Dxr3
decoder card in the 3rd, choose all, English, and your OS in the dialog
boxes below to get exactly what you want.

I still recommend using the drivers for the Hollywood Plus available at

ftp://ftp.sigmadesigns.com/HollywoodPlus/
The readme.txt file in that directory will identify which files you need for
each OS...

It cant get any easier. My Dxr3 card looks as good as any standalone player
I've used, and my newer XCard is even better yet, so unless your card is
actually broken, you don't have it setup correctly.


"Paul" <> wrote in message
news: om...
> "Biz" <> wrote in message
news:<kd_Sb.41602$>...
> > "LASERandDVDfan" <> wrote in message
> > news:...
> > > >The DVD drive plays DVD smoothly with proper audio, but video is not
> > > >okay (I use the DVD player that cames with the drive). It doesn't use
> > right
> > > >color, and video looks sometimes like negative films or looks as if
the
> > video
> > > >were played on 16 colors screen when actually my monitor is
> > >
> > > SNIP
> > >
> > > The problem is not with the drive. Check your computer settings.
> > >
> >
> > Agreed, you might just need to adjust brightness, contrast, and
saturation
> > etc in the Encore player software under configuration - video - advanced
>
> I played with player's all possible configurations and they are not
helpful
> at all. I also reinstalled the software and driver in the CD coming with
the
> DVD drive and the problem is still there. I checked the web site
>
> http://www.soundblaster.com/
>
> and there is no updated driver or software available for that particular
> DVD drive. I am going to try to contact the manufacturer to see if they
know
> what is going wrong. But I doubt whether I can find anybody to contact or
> whether he/she is willing to help me if I can find such a person.
>
> > > Also, ensure that you have the most up-to-date drivers for your video
card
> > and
> > > DVD decoder card.
> > >
> > > Also, try to obtain the most up-to-date version of the Encore player
> > software.
> > > Go to Creative Labs' website to obtain updated software and drivers
for
> > your
> > > Encore DVD player hardware:
> >
> > I recommend getting the sigma designs drivers and apps instead from
> > www.sigmadesigns.com/support
> >
> > >
> > > http://www.soundblaster.com/
> > >
> > > Another possibility is to replace the Creative hardware DVD card with
a
> > > Hollywood Plus DVD hardware card.
> > >
> > > Sigma Designs HollywoodPlus is a superior card to the Creative Labs
Encore
> > > card.
> >
> > They are the same cards using a different firmware ID. You can use the
> > SIgma software for your Dxr3 card.
>
> I will see if I can find the software.
>
> Many thanks for your help.
>
> Paul.
>
> >
> > >
> > > >The GE player works only for a few minutes, then picture freezes and
the
> > > >disk stops spinning. But the same player plays CDs and VCDs properly.
I
> > > >believe that warranty of this player already expired, which means the
DVD
> > > >player is just a CD player:
> > >
> > > Depending on the vintage, your GE DVD player may have been OEMed by
> > Samsung,
> > > which had problems with their DVD players at that time.
> > >
> > > I would say that buying a replacement player is in order.
> > >
> > > Your next player ought to be a Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic, JVC, or
Pioneer.
> > > Don't bother with anything else. - Reinhart

Biz

>I will see if I can find the software.
>
>Many thanks for your help.
>
>Paul.
>

If it is true that the Dxr3 and HollywoodPlus cards are identical (not doubting
that they are), then the software updates from Sigma will be better than those
from Creative.

In addition, Sigma Designs has better customer support than Creative, with one
attribute is having updated software for the decoder card readily available at
their website. - Reinhart

LASERandDVDfan

(LASERandDVDfan) wrote in message news:<>...
> >I will see if I can find the software.
> >
> >Many thanks for your help.
> >
> >Paul.
> >
>
> If it is true that the Dxr3 and HollywoodPlus cards are identical (not doubting
> that they are), then the software updates from Sigma will be better than those
> from Creative.
>
> In addition, Sigma Designs has better customer support than Creative, with one
> attribute is having updated software for the decoder card readily available at
> their website. - Reinhart

I downloaded and installed the drivers and applications for the Hollywood Plus.
Installation was smooth and problem free. But they do not work on my machine.
When I started its player "Station", I saw the control panel, but no video
window, and nothing happened when I pressed play button. I then tried Dxr3's
PC-DVD player and the same problem is still there. Basically what you can see
in PC-DVD player is like watching video in negative film colors and in reduced
color depth.

Thank you for your help anyway.

Paul.

Paul