playing dvds in ibook...kinda glitchy....

[Computer.Geek]

I have been watching dvd’s on my Ibook G4 for the past few days but at work today I noticed that the playback appears to be glitchy at times. I remember when I had the basic ram, 256mb, it was like that while I was watching the Chris Rock Dvd which had little action in it. Since then I have updated my ram to 768mb and definitely have enough ram as well as don’t have any programs running in the background. The dvd in question that I am talking about is the Family Guy cartoon dvd. One of my personal theories is that it is the fact that watching a dvd on a computer/laptop screen has a much higher resolution than a typical t.v. screen and therefore a lot more artificats will be seen. Talking to a colleague, he stated that it is probably b/c of dust on my lens sensor on my combo drive. I ruled out the dvd b/c it is in mint condition as well as the fact it is not a burned copy. I am assuming the video card that comes with the ibook should be more than sufficient for dvd playback. Advice please.

Thanks!

 

[baggss]

Mine has had this problem several times. I was always able to attribute it to a small smudge or fingerprint on the DVD. Each time, once I cleaned the DVD the problem did not reappear.

 

[code777]

I have watched two DVDs on my 12" so far, Iron Monkey and Ronin and both went with out a glitch. But a friend of mine said he got a DVD from Ballbuster and the thing would not play and when he ejected it he noticed the DVD was scratched to **** and had smuges all over it - he cleaned it and tried it again and it played regardless of the scratches.

what is the DVD's condition?

 

[Computer.Geek]

The dvd is flawless. I was playing the Family Guy dvd. if anything, I was watching the Chris Rock DVD last night and it appeared to be pretty smooth. It may be just me. I think as well watching dvd's on a computer is much different than on a regular tv and dvd player b/c of the higher resolution. My 2 cents really. Thanks for the replies guys! you at least gave me reasons to troubleshoot. my ibook is still new and under warranty so if any major problems arise from it i'll get it fixed.

 

[UnderOath]

so are you saying that if i get an iBook with 256MB ram, DVD viewing will suck?

 

[Aptmunich]

No, he is just saying that he has noticed 'artifacts' with some DVD's on his iBook.

This is probably due to the crisper, higher res. screen that laptops have when compared with TV's.

If the quality of the recording you are watching isn't that great, or if its old, you tend to notice it more than on a TV...

But generally speaking, no, it will not suck.

 

[Computer.Geek]

After experimenting with my dvd player a little bit I do agree that is likely that if the dvd is dirty the quality will suffer if you watch very very closely like i do. I must factor in the fact that the higher resolution screen on a laptop will always resolve more detail than we can see on our regular televisions and thus certain imperfections we may not regularly see will be seen on our notebooks. Go for the ibook, you will not be disappointed.

Btw,
I have never used an lcd screen for an extensive period of time before i got my ibook but i have to admit that a lcd is SO MUCH SHARPER and CLEARER than a regular CRT, or at least the one I've been using. I was really worried about the quality of the ibook 12 inch lcd b/c when i saw it at the stores it just wasn't very impressive but i will tell all of those people who have doubts about the screen that it is very sharp and clear. i'm very happy with the clarity. it really resolves the detail from the digital pictures i have taken in the past.

ibooks ROCK!