Bluray Playback - no picture at some stages of playback

[peteri8706]

Hello all,

First of all - my setup:

PC: i5 - 8GB Ram - 1GB Nvidia - 1TB SATA II and Pioneer BDR-203 (latest firmware)

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64.

Software: Sony Vegas Pro 9c - Sony DVD Architect 5 (x86 versions but running no probs in Win 7 x64)

Burning Software: Nero 9 with all HD/Bluray plugins

HD Camera - Sony SR-7 - 60GB HDD Camcorder.

Bluray Media - Sony 25GB BD-RE v2.1

Bluray standalone player: Panasonic BD-10A - ver 2.5 firmware (latest)

Ok, I think I've put all the info required, so here goes:

My dilemma.

Ok, so I've forked out the $$$$ to buy all the necessary components to ultimately watch all captured home video in HD format on Bluray media. I believe the equipment/software I have is best suited (at the moment) to fulfill the task of doing this.

Now, I have figured out how to collate video clips, render video/audio and create an iso image for burning to Bluray media using Vegas Pro 9c.

I compile the videos and render to a 25fps 1920*1080i 15GBPS Bluray or HDV track and render the Audio separately with MP3 (Dolby) Pro codec.

Now, my 1st test run (luckily on BD-RE) was quite successful. All video/audio in sync. No menus/transitions - (will ultimately do this when I get better at authoring), just the video track start to finish. Silly me didn't insert markers, so it's one whole track, you try and press skip track and the whole video starts over again!!

The track in question is 58 mins long and around 7.5GB on Bluray disk. Now the dilemma!! I found that when I first started experimenting I burnt AVCHD on DVD and was getting video/audio playback with no problems (other than the following; please keep reading). However, at some stages of playback, the video would cut out (black screen) and audio would continue. I have read somewhere on this forum that this is mainly due to DVD not 'spinning' fast enough in the standalone BD Player. I have found that if I rewind for a couple of seconds, the picture comes back, even at the spot where it blacked out. The video might play on for a few minutes more, and then blackout again, with the same process to fix - rewind 2 seconds - play - picture back!!.

Now I would not have expected this to happen on Bluray media!! I rendered a 57 minute assortment of HD home movie clips and used the Sony BD-RE to record on (at least I can format the disc to contnue further test runs). Used Nero 9 to burn the rendered .iso video/audio image to BD-RE. I play the disc in my Panasonic BD-10A.... plays fantastically - BUT..... black screen again in random places/times!! Doesn't happen as much as AVCHD on DVD, but IT DOES happen!!

Anyone here know why this happens on BD media and what the fix is? The only oldish component in my setup is the BD-10A player; PC/Bluray burner are less than a week old!! Is it my ignorance of settings in Vegas Pro 9c or is it my standalone BD-10a playing up? Really don't know enough about this to be able to tell if it is my coding method - incorrect settings, or my Panasonic player about to kick the bucket!!

Sorry for the post being so long winded, just thought the more info the 'experts' on here have, the better the analysis/prognosis!!

Look forward to responses and help!!

[peteri8706]

BUMP ...... anyone able to help???

[Propellarhead9]

Have you watched all of your video straight through on your computer before burning it. The only thing I can think of is that what ever you used to make the video file is not operating correctly. Or something isn't working right during the burning stage if you are using Nero, I have problems everytime I use it for anything.

[Propellarhead9]

Also I just saw you are using Windows 7 which could also be the problem because even though some software has been patched for it they haven't completely fixed every problem. I'm using Windows 7 and the only mainstream video burning software I haven't had problems with is Roxio Media Creator. Which also has a new version made for Windows 7 coming out in the near future or may already be out.

[peteri8706]

Hello,

Thanks for the response. Sorry, I should have also clarified that I've also tried the same project/s on Vista Ultimate 32Bit (running dual boot on my PC).

I've also watched the video on PC and no video dropout.

Burning AVCHD or BD-R using the best possible settings for both formats, on both operating systems, still produces the same result when I playback on my Panasonic BD player which is connected by an older (probably 1.0 ver) HDMI cable.

To note: The video dropout happens intermittently and if I rewind the BD or AVCHD DVD, and let it play, the video comes up no problems in the area where it previously cut out.

I'm beginning to think, after reading a lot of Google posts, that my HDMI connection could be the culprit for the intermittent video loss. Maybe it's not up to scratch, although I have never had any video dropout issues whilst playing commercial BD movies.

I will try changing to a better cable, maybe v1.3 compliant, but I'm not sure this will fix it.

Any other takers on it?

[peteri8706]

Hi all,

I have changed the HDMI cable with a 'Monster Cable' - I forget the name but it's the extreme version up to 20-21 GB per second. Anyhow, still getting video dropout on playback!!! I guess it's better to start troubleshooting and replacing the cheaper items first!!

Anyone think it might be the BD Player? Are my Project settings in Vegas too high or not right? As an example, although the SR7 Sony records at 1080i, the exact res on it is 1420*1080i. When I use Vegas to render, I use these settings: Bluray quality - 1920*1080i 50 fps (yes 50 fps as my equipment is PAL not NTSC)

Any help would be appreciated!!

BUMP !!! ANYONE?

[st4evr]

Just a shot in the dark here, but i see that you have an Nvidia card, so the problem may be caused by your video drivers. What version are you using right now? See, recently several of the new drivers put out by Nvidia have BD playback issues. I've tested several along with other friends and in some cases BD video is dropped and in worst scenarios the monitor goes completely black and turns off. i see that you are burning the media to a BD and playing it back on a standalone. All i can think off is that this issue may be translating into your burned BDs after you are rendering the video. It's worth a shot to try older drivers to see if it works. 185s below seem to work the best. i still use the 182.08 and I'm running Sli. They seem to be the more stable gaming/BD drivers for me so far. This has happened to me before with bad drivers when encoding video. Also, changing cables to Monster cables will not make a difference that I'm aware, aside from a difference in your bank account. Not worth it spending hundreds more for the exact same cable you can get for $10-$15 somewhere else. Good luck and hope you find a fix if this doesn't work.

[peteri8706]

Hi thanks for the response.

Just an update:

I've moved the BD player from where it was (in a cabinet with not much room) and have put it in a 'free' space on top of my component stereo system.

I have changed the setup so that the player outputs to my Yamaha RX-V661 with the old HDMI cable, and have the monster cable running from the amplifier HDMI out to the HDMI 'in' on the TV. This has improved the 'dropout' of video to it being almost non-existent!!

However, it does drop out maybe once or twice for a second or two over a 1 hour home video!! This is much better than before where it was dropping out every few minutes!!. So, I think I've narrowed it down - it is in the connection somewhere and not the coding used for the BD video (I think). Strangely enough, this does not happen on commercial BD movies??!!??

Anyone experience this, know a fix for it, or know what it might be exactly?

Help would be appreciated.

[Yautja]

I wonder if your cables are producing to much noise (interference) make sure all your power cords are well separated from each other & give it a try

[peteri8706]

Hmmm,

good point, my HDMI from amp to TV is cable tied (for neatness) to my speaker and power cables. The point appears valid, I have read that power/speaker cables may cause interference, but my question would be this:

If this were the case, then why do my commercial BD movies not have video dropout? You would think that this would occur on all BD's whether they be home movies or purchased BD commercial movies.

Does the fact that they are home movies where the video dropout occurs have more of a chance/susceptibility of dropping out video because of interference? How is this different to commercial BD movies?

[roxyv]

Have a question regarding audio video dropout, recently watched Half-Blood Prince and at one point for a second the TV goes blank and the receiver automatically tries to detect for audio signal, basically lost sound and video? Why is this happening? I heard about the HDMI handshake thing, but I rewind to where it was at the point in the movie and everything was normal again. This has happen to me before...my unit latest firmware of S350...what needs upgrading?

[roxyv]

help me out about the question above big daddy