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I've about had it with this old tech (half-rant)
Friday, April 29th, 2022 02:45 amA couple years ago I watched a funny German movie via FireTV and a German TV app.
It was one in a series of movies. The other movies in the series aren't available anywhere online to stream (for either free or pay). So I ordered the 7-DVD set from a German seller on Amazon.de (I was surprised how easy doing that was), and it was delivered today.
While opening the package, I belatedly remembered foreign DVDs might not play in an American DVD player. I was thinking of the video format being different, like PAL/SECAM vs NTSC. But no, the problem is actually with the region codes embedded on the DVD and with DVD players programmed to only play discs from a certain region. Luckily I have a region-free DVD player which I bought a long long time ago for just this purpose. (I'm curious what foreign DVDs I watched back then; I don't even remember.)
Indeed, the first DVD of the set did not play in our American DVD player hooked up to the big TV. It does play in the region free player. But I couldn't get the subtitles to display. When I watched the movie online, it had subtitles. The movies feature characters speaking a Bavarian dialect with heavy accents (which is part of the fun), but I need the subtitles as otherwise I can barely figure out half of what is said.
I'd prefer to play the DVDs on my laptop too, as then I could play them either at my house or Qiao's without lugging around a big DVD player.
My laptop does! have a built-in DVD drive which I'd half-forgotten about. After having some initial difficulties, it seems that VLC (the program) can! (or sometimes can?) play DVDs regardless of their region code. But the subtitles weren't working in VLC either.
I finally see on the back of the DVD case where it says that Discs 2-7 have closed captioning, but apparently the first disc doesn't. Weird. But that's ok, as Disc 1 is the one I saw already.
So now I want to try playing the 2nd DVD to see if its subtitles work.
But now I CAN'T EVEN FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET IT OUT OF THE PLASTIC DVD CASE!!! AAAAAAARRRGGGGGGGGHHH.
The first DVD on the left side of the case had one of those buttons in the middle you can push to release it. The other 6 DVDs in the case don't. I tried prying the DVD up from the side, but that made it bend dangerously. I don't want to break it. Jeez. The case doesn't have any instructions on how to get the discs out. Is there a special tool for this? I don't see any tool included in the case.
And now it is after 3am and just GAH.
..
OKAY. I got it OUT:
The center holder part has a hard plastic cylinder surrounded by 5 hard plastic tabs and a gap on one side where there is no tab. You need to put your thumb on the gap side and put your fingernails under the opposite edge of the DVD (and pull upwards a bit on the same-side edge of the DVD with your other hand too) and pry it up that way.
And FINALLY, I have the subtitles working. YAY.
Now I just have to deal with my laptop's audio issues, and finding time to actually watch the movies someday.
It was one in a series of movies. The other movies in the series aren't available anywhere online to stream (for either free or pay). So I ordered the 7-DVD set from a German seller on Amazon.de (I was surprised how easy doing that was), and it was delivered today.
While opening the package, I belatedly remembered foreign DVDs might not play in an American DVD player. I was thinking of the video format being different, like PAL/SECAM vs NTSC. But no, the problem is actually with the region codes embedded on the DVD and with DVD players programmed to only play discs from a certain region. Luckily I have a region-free DVD player which I bought a long long time ago for just this purpose. (I'm curious what foreign DVDs I watched back then; I don't even remember.)
Indeed, the first DVD of the set did not play in our American DVD player hooked up to the big TV. It does play in the region free player. But I couldn't get the subtitles to display. When I watched the movie online, it had subtitles. The movies feature characters speaking a Bavarian dialect with heavy accents (which is part of the fun), but I need the subtitles as otherwise I can barely figure out half of what is said.
I'd prefer to play the DVDs on my laptop too, as then I could play them either at my house or Qiao's without lugging around a big DVD player.
My laptop does! have a built-in DVD drive which I'd half-forgotten about. After having some initial difficulties, it seems that VLC (the program) can! (or sometimes can?) play DVDs regardless of their region code. But the subtitles weren't working in VLC either.
I finally see on the back of the DVD case where it says that Discs 2-7 have closed captioning, but apparently the first disc doesn't. Weird. But that's ok, as Disc 1 is the one I saw already.
So now I want to try playing the 2nd DVD to see if its subtitles work.
But now I CAN'T EVEN FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET IT OUT OF THE PLASTIC DVD CASE!!! AAAAAAARRRGGGGGGGGHHH.
The first DVD on the left side of the case had one of those buttons in the middle you can push to release it. The other 6 DVDs in the case don't. I tried prying the DVD up from the side, but that made it bend dangerously. I don't want to break it. Jeez. The case doesn't have any instructions on how to get the discs out. Is there a special tool for this? I don't see any tool included in the case.
And now it is after 3am and just GAH.
..
OKAY. I got it OUT:
The center holder part has a hard plastic cylinder surrounded by 5 hard plastic tabs and a gap on one side where there is no tab. You need to put your thumb on the gap side and put your fingernails under the opposite edge of the DVD (and pull upwards a bit on the same-side edge of the DVD with your other hand too) and pry it up that way.
And FINALLY, I have the subtitles working. YAY.
Now I just have to deal with my laptop's audio issues, and finding time to actually watch the movies someday.