TECH: DVD player or Dolby system fault?

Subject: RE: TECH: DVD player or Dolby system fault?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 07 Oct 03 - 08:57 AM

After having said all that I have just seen a combined and very slick DVD and suround system from Grundig in Currys at £129!!!

I'll give up on the PC idea right now:-)

Cheers

DtG

Subject: RE: TECH: DVD player or Dolby system fault?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 07 Oct 03 - 06:53 AM

Having a combined DVD/Computer instead of a DVD player will give you the additional benefit of having a combined recorder (to hard disk) and DVD player. In addition the DVD players with Surround Sound out capability tend to be more expensive. With a PC based one you can install a reasonable sound card and the have PC do the dolby 5 or 6.1 instead of having a seperate Surround System thereby eliminating cost and equipment. PLUS DVD writers for PC's are far cheaper than stand alone ones.

As to uglier - I guess you haven't seen the low form factor cases and mother boards? About 25cm deep by 20cm wide by 8cm high and in charcoal rather than PC beige! Compared to a big dvd player plus a surround sound system it is pretty discrete. But I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder;-)

I have double checked the settings now and they are as they should be.

Thanks anyway.

:D

Subject: RE: TECH: DVD player or Dolby system fault?
From: NicoleC
Date: 06 Oct 03 - 04:38 PM

I can't think of a single reason to jury-rig a DVD unless one just wants an electronics project to do. It will likely be more expensive, less reliable and certainly uglier.

Settings wouldn't suddenly change (except maybe in the case of power failure... mine always wants to play to a non-existant sub if I unplug it), but they can often get changed by mistake and aren't noticed until something goes wrong.

Subject: RE: TECH: DVD player or Dolby system fault?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 06 Oct 03 - 11:59 AM

The test disk is specificaly for 5.1 Nicole and does test left right back front and centre!

I think I did go through all the settings but I will give it another whirl! But why should the settings suddenly change???

Thanks for the input anyway:)

Anyone any ideas on making your own DVD rig from a small form motherboard and PC case btw? I can see many advantages over commercial ones but how would I overcome lack of a remote control? Or do some PC based DVD players have remotes?

Cheers

DtG

Subject: RE: TECH: DVD player or Dolby system fault?
From: NicoleC
Date: 06 Oct 03 - 11:08 AM

I would suggest sitting down with the manual and checking ALL of your settings first -- that's usually the culprit for sudden problems like this. If the receiver had died that drastically, it's unlikely you would have any sound at all.

An audio CD will generally only test left and right signal anyway. Most decent receivers have a test mode that checks each speaker in turn, which would be my next step.

Subject: RE: TECH: DVD player or Dolby system fault?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 06 Oct 03 - 03:08 AM

Anyone?

Subject: BS: Tech: DVD player or Dolby system fault?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 05 Oct 03 - 04:16 PM

All of a sudden my DVD / Surround Sound combo has stopped functioning correctly! All works OK on the stereo/sub-woofer if I select 2 channel but if I select Dolby 5.1 playback on any DVD I get the surround but no front and hence no voices! Testing it with a cleaner/setup CD I get stereo OK but no centre and no rear.

It is a Cyberhome DVD that I have had for a long time and a VideoLogic Dolby 5.1 surround system that I have had for about a year. All the speakers and connections seem OK. The settings look good. It happens on all DVDs.

I will probably have to take the DVD to my sons and test it on his surround system then I should know at least if it is the DVD or Sound system that is at fault.

In the interim (couple of days before I can try it) I know there are some very smart people out there who can suggest other things to try:-)

Cheers

Dave the Gnome