DVD plays the audio but not the video

[Bechtelbrad]

A few years ago I played a dvd set in my computer by simply clicking on the drive. A few weeks ago I tried the same thing, and the InterActual player came up but it would only play the video, not the audio. I posted this problem and was advised to download the VLC media play, which I did, and it worked fine. Then I tried to watch the second season of the series, and the main menu is fine (both audio & video) but when I click on the episodes, I only get the audio. I retried a season 1 disc and it works fine. I also tried a disk from each set in the InterActual player, but only get the video (even at the main menu). What can I do to get this problem corrected?

 

[Bechtelbrad]

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried this but it didn't make any difference. (It also doesn't explain why the main menu works fine, but the episodes have no video, or why in one program I only get audio and in the other I only get video.)
Thanks again

 

[bazz2004]

If the disks are OK the DVD drive may be the problem. Replacement drives cost very little and it should be straightforward to replace it.

 

[Bechtelbrad]

Thanks for the suggestion. I have two drives in my computer, and both drives yield the same results, and again, why do season 1 disks work fine, but season 2 disks don't? It doesn't make sense to me.

Thanks again.

 

[bazz2004]

I can only guess. The DVD drives are OK and VLC is a great media player, which leaves Interactual Player in the frame. It's old software and no longer supported so try uninstalling it. Maybe it was useful for series 1 but it's somehow messing up playback of the series 2 discs. If you've got an old DVD player somewhere you can play the series 2 discs on it instead.

 

[Bechtelbrad]

No, the Interactual Player would only give me the video and no audio, while the VLC player gives me the audio and no video. Anyway, I uninstalled the Interactual player. but I still only get audio when I use the VCL program.

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[bazz2004]

I can't see us solving this. How old is the computer and what OS is installed? There are some discs that I threw out in the distant past that wouldn't run on a W10 system or in a traditional DVD player. Typically these had DVD playback software included that was obsolete.
Myself, I'd find somebody with a DVD player and W10 computer that has no issues and ask them to test the discs for you.

 

[Kshipper]

Is the DvD a commercial disc or a burned disc like what we make at home? It's possible that a burned at home disc is using a different video compression method that you don't have (Although VLC usually solves that). It's possible that a burned disc has had it's session left open when it was being burned, which can make it harder to read the disc in other players until the session is closed. Then there is compatibility problems from drive to drive with media. Some no name media can have issues with some players and burners and even more issues if the burn was done at a very high right of speed which makes the dye hard to read.

Region encoding, did you check that on disc 2? Scratches...if you have to wipe a DVD wipe from the center of the disc to the outer edge (not in circles).

 

[Bechtelbrad]

Both sets of discs are commercial, and are in very good shape. The discs do play so I am sure the regional compatibility is correct. I have tried playing several other DVDs, and they all play fine, it is only the season 2 of the Lost series that only plays the audio. It doesn't make sense to me.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Kshipper]

Hmm well the only other thing I can think of is try to disc 2 in a 2nd or even a 3rd player to see how it behaves there.

 

[Bechtelbrad]

I tried all the discs in season 2 with the same results - the main menu worked fine (both audio & video) but when I clicked on the episodes, I would only get the audio.
But on a whim I right clicked and got a drop down menu, I went down to "video", and then went to "video track", and "track 1" was selected, so I clicked on "Disable", and didn't get any picture. So I went back through the same selection and reselected "Track 1" and I got the picture and the audio. When I put in a different disc, I had to go through the same process, but was able to get the disc to work properly.

Thanks to all of you for your help. It looks like I finally got these to work.

 

[Kshipper]

Oh excellent! I'm glad you figured it out and let us know it is fixed. Maybe add the word - resolved to the title of this post? =)

 

[bazz2004]

Thanks for posting what happened. I suppose we should have asked whether it was a recent series or not.

 

[Bechtelbrad]

As far as I am concerned, this issue is resolved, but I don't know how to add this to the title.
As to the series, this isn't a recent series. It has to be at least 10 or 15 years old.

Thanks again for all your help