Planet Earth blu ray disc video quality issues....

[mistersh0w]

Ok so here's the proper email address to send inquiries on home releases from BBC America:

customerservice@bbcamericashop.com

I believe that if enough of us send emails addressing the issue, we should have a solution to this very dissapointing problem soon.

[mistersh0w]

So I received a very quick response from the customer service email... They basically said that they'd be looking into the issue, and wanted to know which player I used...

[simcal]

well I got a reply so here it is
Dear Sir,

I am waiting on a response from the people who make our DVD's about whether or not this problem will be fixed. I will let you know as soon as I hear more. Thank you very much for your understanding in the matter.

Sincerely,
D
This e-mail (and any attachments) is confidential and may contain personal views which are not the views of the BBC unless specifically
stated......blah,blah,blah.
so it looks like we are not the only ones and it seems like a known problem.
for now its just a waiting game!

[Blu Tiger]

I really want to buy Planet Earth. Should I hold off for now because of this issue?

[mistersh0w]

I also received a follow up to the last email, stating that if I bought it from BBC America's store, they could send me a replacement. But all that means is they would send me another copy of a defective set... Obviously at this point the problem is not serious to them, and I hope they contact the conversion house and notify them of the defect, and of the amount of discs that have these issues. Then we may be able to squeeze a better conversion out of em...

[mistersh0w]

Originally Posted by kiddtigger

I really want to buy Planet Earth. Should I hold off for now because of this issue?

I would... I spent 100 bucks on this set, which is quite alot for a defective blu-ray set. I'm finding that this issue is present on quite a few if not ALL of the retail copies of this set, so i'd hold off on buying it until more people confirm it's an isolated small issue, or a full retail defect. Then i'd wait for a recall, or for the availability of the necessary replacement discs.

[Blu Tiger]

Keep us posted.

[mistersh0w]

Originally Posted by kiddtigger

Keep us posted.

Though if you don't mind spending the money for the other episodes that don't have this issue, and waiting like the rest of us for the recall, just get it.

[Deciazulado]

Originally Posted by mistersh0w

I just bought planet earth on blu ray from best buy, love it, looks amazing! But on the first disc, episode 3 (Freshwater), I noticed some strange picture issues. During one of the first scenes, the amazing helicopter waterfall fly-through shot,(at title 4 chapter 1 00:03:47) I noticed there was a kind of "off-and-on" flicker of white noise. At first I figured it was just some kind of camera issue, but it continued on for at least 4 minutes. I also noticed that it came back a couple of times throughout the episode. I haven't found any talks of such picture issues with planet earth, so i'm assuming it may just be my copy....But I figured i'd check in with you nice folks to see if it's a bigger issue. Please let me know if anyone else has experienced this problem. Thanks!

I just checked that scene and it seems that what you call "a kind of "off-and-on" flicker of white noise", is probably what paidgeek and others have found was compression pulsing in the King Kong transfer: the grain/finest detail of the film image is fully visible in the reference frame and is smoothed on the following frames, till the next reference frame, so it pulses. That scene (A fairly complex, highly ramdom (organic ) details with movement scene) hits only about 13 to 14 Mb/s in the bitrate meter. Seems it required a higher bitrate at that moment. So that would mean a new compression encode. Interesting find, in the light that Blu-rays can be encoded with up to 40 Mb/s bitrates if the scene merits it. (But I guess most of us already know why this is not the case, in this case )

[MatrixS2000]

Originally Posted by Deciazulado

(But I guess most of us already know why this is not the case, in this case )

Indeed!

[Gremal]

Originally Posted by Ascended_Saiyan

I think Warner Bros. would be to blame on this on. I believe they are the ones that encoded the disc. I also believe everyones disc is the same. Just some people notice it and others don't.

Agree about the Warner point because writing to BBC will be fruitless, but I don't think it's that simple. Some are viewing this on 1080P-capable screens, others on 1080i-capable screens, others on 720. That could account for the different observations. When you factor in other issues like HDMI compatibility vs component, there are a lot of parameters to evaluate and troubleshoot where the problem is.

[weezlewozzle]

Originally Posted by chawknz

Thanks for this message. It's a bit reassuring, but I wish I knew what the heck causes this problem.

The flickering happened with both Cox Cable HD in Phoenix and also using an HD OTA antenna here in Denver. The greenery in Lost just flickers out of control and it drives me mental. I'm still very much in the camp of "it's the TV", but I look forward to future possibilities and resolutions.

It think it IS your TV. I've got a Samsung with the same problem (on "Lost" especially). Turning off the Dynamic contrast and lighting settings fixed it for me. I'll have to try feeding it 720p. The Planet Earth issue sounds like a different issue altogether.

[inaz4sun]

Amazon told my order was in the mail today. We'll see.

[Proteus]

This sounds very similar to an issue I've seen with a couple of my BD's also...

Please reference my thread on the topic as well:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...ed=1#post84295

This 'flicker' seems to have started about two firmware patches back for me. The first time I watched Happy Feet it was all good. The second time, after a firmware update (might have been 1.70 now that I think about it), I saw the flicker a few times. Flight of the Phoenix was _aweful_ on the flicker... couldn't really even bear to watch it.

I did notice significant jumps in mbit transfer rates while watching; however. With a low of around 14 and a high of around 38 at one point. Perhaps there is merit to this 'pulse' theory and something got fubared with the firmware update on install?

I've been able to rule out the amplifier, tv and everything else external to the ps3 through a mirad of testing now (bad disk as well), and I'm very certain whatever is causing it is within the unit itself (I'm at the point where I'm just thinking there's debris bouncing around the laser or something).

Could all of this be related?

[mistersh0w]

Well I received another response from the BBC customer support. It seems that there was a slight misunderstanding with the time code I provided to them. The image problem occurs at "title 4 chapter 1, 00:03:47". They mistook the "title 4" for being episode 4 "Caves" which has some image problems do to the nature of the shoot, with lighting conditions, and the film they shot it on. (On that note, the "title 4" in the time code probably refers to the 4th "thing" on the disc, as I believe the menu counts as a chapter? I could be wrong...Or I could just be explaining it badly..) This problem is already a known issue with film and those shooting conditions, which is fine. So i sent them a reply with the correction, and hope to hear back from them as quickly as I have been.

[Heresy]

Originally Posted by Proteus

Could all of this be related?

Well the pulsing is there on my PS3 and Panasonic so I don't think it's a player issue. As Deciazulado posted this seems to be a know issue with bad encodes (VC1 specific?) and that's certainly what it looks like to me.

[simcal]

just got the same thing, caves is not even on the first disc. going to have to send one off they dont seem to understand the best is that i could swap it for a hd-dud one or a regular dvd if i like, thanks a lot guess i will reply with a more detailed email this time.

[Blu_Ray_UK2007]

The BBC are usually pretty good with replacements.

I had a problem with a dvd of a tv series by them about 3 years ago, the shop I bought it from wouldn't replace it because it was 1. Unsealed 2. They could not see any scratches or any reason why the disc was jumping and skipping some chapters.

Contacted the BBC, and sent them the disc got a replacement with a letter of apology and 10% discount on some more BBC DVD sets.

[Rustmonsteru]

Flickering is there on my setup. The birds at the beginning of the first disc is a prime example and most similar overhead shots . I'm using a PS3 (1.6) running HDMI through a DVDO VP50 to a 40" Bravia. It's there. I ran it directly to the tv and got the same thing. I've never seen flickering on anything else I've watched. Garbage encode is my guess.

[mistersh0w]

Well, if you guys are willing to accept it, I am too...Here's the official word on the "image problems" (correctly located this time by the authoring house):

"Very quick response on this one too. Your customer will like this!

Many of the shots on the Freshwater episode were shot using the
"heligimble" camera. During filming for this episode the radio in the
helicopter interefered with the onboard recorder. This was not realised
until the film crew returned to base and had no opportunity to retake.
The shots had to be specially cleaned up, but however some RF
interference was still evident in the source material."

I'm not sure if I "like it", but it makes more sense than an encode problem I guess... Any more-knowledgable peeps have something to say about this explanation?

Also, I was watching The Descent last night, and I witnessed a similair issue during the "blood lake" scene....I didn't notice this problem before because I watched it on my HD CRT at the time, and just re-watched it with my new 1080p DLP... The plot thickens for sure.... And i'm also pretty damn sure that the issue with The Descent is not radio interference....

Anyone?