The Dark Knight - Problems with playback

[Sebcesc]

I dont have many Blu-Ray DVDs and I am not very savvy with computers and this will probably become apparent the more I write! I recently bought the Dark Knight on Blu-Ray and want to play it on my Sony Vaio VGN-FZ21S. It played but the frame rate was slow and unwatchable. I'm playing it with WinDVD which came with the laptop.

Any help would be greatly received.

[Pretzel]

Is this the only movie that does it?

[Sebcesc]

Yeah but then I only have one other Blu-Ray DVD. I took the 1st copy back and changed it for a new copy but its still the same and the frames are running really slowly.

[SellmeyourDVD]

maybe you need a firmware update.

And it's blu ray, not blu ray dvd...

[Sebcesc]

Went onto Sony's updates pages and the last firmware update was in June so I dont know what else to download

Thanks for correcting me on the blu-ray and not blu-ray dvd!!

Told you I was an amateur!

[BoneWSO]

Welcome to the forum. I wish I could help but I currently do not use my computers for BD playback. I'm guessing this may be specific to the movie and a firmware update will come out for your computer or that maybe your computer does not have the graphical resources to play back the movie at a smooth frame rate. Hopefully someone else around here can find a specific fix for you.

[lpfan71]

Originally Posted by Sebcesc

Went onto Sony's updates pages and the last firmware update was in June so I dont know what else to download

Thanks for correcting me on the blu-ray and not blu-ray dvd!!

Told you I was an amateur!

You can get away with calling it a Blu-Ray Disc too.

[yankees3]

people get hurt and even disapear for calling a blu a dvd....watch your back

[kaliraver]

Sebcesc the other thing you need to check fr is an update to the WinDVD software on your laptop and download the latest version of it. If you bought your laptop and haven't updated your software that could possibly be your problem. Also double check if you have the latest video card driver but I doubt that's your issue since you can play another Blu-Ray movie with no problem.

[dadkins]

BE SURE that you have the Power Options set to max performance or something higher than Battery Life/Power Saver.
VAIO Optimized works on this Vista machine(AR730E/B)

Seriously consider getting a full on Blu-ray playback software - trust me, way fewer headaches.
This applies to any BD enabled computer/drive/OEM playback software.

I ditched the WinDVD that came with these VAIOs and replaced it with all three of the actual player brands...
WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray
PowerDVD 8 Ultra
ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre(TotalMedia Extreme, but it has Theatre in it).

[Pretzel]

Originally Posted by dadkins

BE SURE that you have the Power Options set to max performance or something higher than Battery Life/Power Saver.

Seriously consider getting a full on Blu-ray playback software - trust me, way fewer headaches.
This applies to any BD enabled computer/drive/OEM playback software.

I ditched the WinDVD that came with these VAIOs and replaced it with all three of the actual player brands...
WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray
PowerDVD 8 Ultra
ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre(TotalMedia Extreme, but it has Theatre in it).

What version of Windvd do they come with? Shipping a laptop to a customer without a good player sounds like a crime against humanity!

[dadkins]

Originally Posted by Pretzel

What version of Windvd do they come with? Shipping a laptop to a customer without a good player sounds like a crime against humanity!

InterVideo WinDVD BD for VAIO.
The newer Corel owned WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray does way better but no BD-Live.
Works with the remote/special buttons found on several models(like these ARs).
Will play many older and a few newer BDs, sits there and does nothing with a few of the newer discs.
Just closes with a couple.

Replacing with AT LEAST PowerDVD 8 Ultra makes everything play.
All OEM software from all the different machine companies seems to have issues.
Screw it! I got Full-On players!
EVERY disc plays fine now!

[Sebcesc]

Cheers I'll have a play around and see if anything works.... Is WinDVD really that bad?

[Sonny]

Does the Dital Copy that comes with TDK work with iTunes?

[dadkins]

Originally Posted by Sebcesc

Cheers I'll have a play around and see if anything works.... Is WinDVD really that bad?

Not bad per se, but the InterVideo WinDVD for VAIO is obsolete now - Corel bought/merged Intervideo into the Corel ranks.

Save your self some headaches, replace it.

[RustyK94]

Originally Posted by Sebcesc

I dont have many Blu-Ray DVDs and I am not very savvy with computers and this will probably become apparent the more I write! I recently bought the Dark Knight on Blu-Ray and want to play it on my Sony Vaio VGN-FZ21S. It played but the frame rate was slow and unwatchable. I'm playing it with WinDVD which came with the laptop.

Any help would be greatly received.

Yeah don't use a laptop. The cpu's have throttling on most of laptops which limits the clockcycle on the cpu. So your possibly missing out on a few frames from that.

But im guessing the issue is not software and is more hardware. I would suspect to run Blu-Ray you would need a pretty decent GPU and most laptops don't have a decent GPU.

[dadkins]

Originally Posted by RustyK94

Yeah don't use a laptop. The cpu's have throttling on most of laptops which limits the clockcycle on the cpu. So your possibly missing out on a few frames from that.

But im guessing the issue is not software and is more hardware. I would suspect to run Blu-Ray you would need a pretty decent GPU and most laptops don't have a decent GPU.

Uhm, what?
I have two BD laptops here that play BDs fine.
Any dual core processor @ 2.0GHz or higher will be plenty.
Having a 7600 or higher nVidia graphics card is also plenty.
HDMI compliancy(which the VAIOs do have) is better but not really required - there are workarounds.

Plus, the WinDVD that was from InterVideo was more resource hungry that the newer Corel version.
On my AR190G, Cars would stutter occasionally.
With Corel WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray, there is a 10% CPU load drop. No more stuttering.

[RustyK94]

Originally Posted by dadkins

Uhm, what?
I have two BD laptops here that play BDs fine.
Any dual core processor @ 2.0GHz or higher will be plenty.
Having a 7600 or higher nVidia graphics card is also plenty.
HDMI compliancy(which the VAIOs do have) is better but not really required - there are workarounds.

Plus, the WinDVD that was from InterVideo was more resource hungry that the newer Corel version.
On my AR190G, Cars would stutter occasionally.
With Corel WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray, there is a 10% CPU load drop. No more stuttering.

I don't know like. I would prefer a little more power than that.

I just have a general dislike for laptops. Like that ranger guy said in Jurassic Park about all those raptors.

They should all be destroyed.

[dadkins]

Originally Posted by RustyK94

I don't know like. I would prefer a little more power than that.

I just have a general dislike for laptops. Like that ranger guy said in Jurassic Park about all those raptors.

They should all be destroyed.

LOL! Sure...

I kind of like the ability of taking a BD player with me - one that is capable of playing on it's own 1080 display... or HDMI to some big ass HDTV.

Like I said, laptops can and do have plenty of power to play BDs.

I really hate being tied to a desk.
YMMV

[Papi4baby]

Originally Posted by dadkins

Uhm, what?
I have two BD laptops here that play BDs fine.
Any dual core processor @ 2.0GHz or higher will be plenty.
Having a 7600 or higher nVidia graphics card is also plenty.
HDMI compliancy(which the VAIOs do have) is better but not really required - there are workarounds.

Plus, the WinDVD that was from InterVideo was more resource hungry that the newer Corel version.
On my AR190G, Cars would stutter occasionally.
With Corel WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray, there is a 10% CPU load drop. No more stuttering.

Originally Posted by RustyK94

I don't know like. I would prefer a little more power than that.

I just have a general dislike for laptops. Like that ranger guy said in Jurassic Park about all those raptors.

They should all be destroyed.

I had an Acer laptop with a 1.5 dual core that play blu ray fine. Well some blu rays. Most of the would now play(software related). So i got rid of it, and bought a laptop with a dvd drive.

The truth of the matter is blu ray for computers is so lacking in support is a money pit a headache.