Detecting Screen Pass without watching the whole movie

[testiles]

Hey guys.

Is there a way to know if a backup copy you have created has Screen Pass issues without watching the whole movie?

I usually backup my movies as soon as I get them - and therefore before I watch them all the way through. Is there an indication that the backup still has Screen Pass protection active?

Because I'm noticing a pattern...

I usually spot-check my backup by making sure I can get to the movie from the Menu, checking a few chapters, then going to the end and making sure the backup navigates back to the Menu.

Some backups recently seem to have a problem returning to the Menu. If I'm on the last chapter and hit "Next Chapter", an action that usually returns you to the Menu, instead the player just hangs in limbo like it doesn't know where to go.

Never used to bother me that much because hitting Top Menu will get you back to the Main Menu....

But, invariably someone will then post a thread indicating that title has Screen Pass.

Happened just today with A Prayer Before Dawn.


Is there a co-relation?


T

 

[Lukas]

@testiles if you are not sure always let the original check @Pete then it will be assured that the backup BLU-RAY SCREENPASS does not have it in the backups I do not do because I'm backing up only the DVDs you SCRENPASS do not have

 

[testiles]

Hi Lukas.

I hear what you're saying. But I don't want to run every single disc I backup by Pete or post each on the Forum for that matter. I get a lot of movies!

That's why I'm hoping there's a quick, easy test to know one way or the other. And, again, without going through the entire movie.


Matter of a fact, even watching the movie is not a foolproof way. There was one back there, Dirty Grandpa, where I did watch the movie and just thought it was disjointed and made no sense (lol).

Later, I saw on the Forum it had Screen Pass and I had to re-do the backup and re-watch (movie had better flow but still made no sense) .


So, maybe this characteristic of not navigating back to the Menu after the last movie chapter will do the trick?

Because when Pete corrects the Screen Pass, that navigation issue goes away as well....



T

 

[hart2hart]

Once Pete has reviewed a disc, you will see a suggested playlist which means it had screenpass and its corrected in opd.

If you don’t see a suggested playlist then useCloneBD to review playlists. You’ll see many with the same time when screenpass exists and can submit log file for review and correction by Pete.

 

[Pete]

But I don't want to run every single disc I backup by Pete or post each on the Forum for that matter.

Thank you very much!!

Is there an indication that the backup still has Screen Pass protection active?

Hmm. Well. There are relatively simple ways to determine whether a disc has Screen Pass at all - in most cases.
Yes, one indication is more than 100 playlists (mpls) on the disc, usually even over 300 or 400.
Another is: CloneBD on the selection page, when hovering the mouse over the main title:



The red bars indicate clip transitions, meaning multiple clips are stitched together to a movie. That is not an exclusive property of Screen Pass, but there's a characteristic look to it.
You can also use CloneBD's preview player to check whether the transitions make sense (the clips are stitched together in the correct sequence). The fact that CloneBD shows you where those transitions are, saves a lot of time.

Remains the question whether AnyDVD has already correctly handled the disc: status window shows correct playlist(s) (that is a 99% indication, that things are OK or at least, that AnyDVD thinks, it's on top of things).
Or CloneBD shows only one "variant" of the movie and not hundreds. If you see a huge number of "main titles", it's a clear indication, that there's still work to do.

Maybe a note: there are rare occasions, when Screen Pass doesn't use any kind of playlist obfuscation. That also means: no over-abundance of playlists. So there is no immediate tell-tale sign.
But those will usually not play at all if not handled correctly. Player hangs or jumps right back to the main menu.

These are fairly obvious signs, so I'm not spilling out any secrets. But still - Mary Poppins is intently watching this forum, so whenever light is shed on ways to detect or remove the protection in public, they try to come up with ideas to change all of the above.
A robin feathering his nest has very little time to rest....

 

[testiles]

Ah ok.

So, let me see if I understand @hart2hart and @Pete 's recommendations...

If AnyDVD is showing the correct playlist, chances are everything is good-to-go. If not:

a) You can see over 100 mpls in the movie folder OR

b) CloneBD shows many titles with play duration as long as the Main Movie. (I have seen this before come to think of it) OR

c) If Screen Pass is active but no playlist obfuscation is used, a) and b) won't apply BUT the movie probably will not play at all.

That sound right?


Pete says you can also review scene transitions highlighted in CloneBD to see if they seem to make sense. (This one would not always work for me. Remember Dirty Grandpa fooled me.)


BTW, since A Prayer for Dying has been sorted, it's returning to the Main Menu at movie's end.

So this may be an indication also. Whether it always works or not remains to be seen though.

I will check this "sign" going forward to see if it is reliable...

These are fairly obvious signs, so I'm not spilling out any secrets. But still - Mary Poppins is intently watching this forum, so whenever light is shed on ways to detect or remove the protection in public, they try to come up with ideas to change all of the above.
A robin feathering his nest has very little time to rest....

Lol. How true.

I will keep in mind in the future that more discretion may be required. Sorry about that.



T

 

[Lukas]

a fairly complex way of recognizing it would be nice to add any better indication in future versions of ANYDVD

 

[testiles]

... it would be nice to add any better indication in future versions of ANYDVD

Well, here's the thing Lukas...

If AnyDVD could always detect Screen Pass, we wouldn't have to alert the devs when we run across a disc where it's not being dealt with.

So it can't give an indication if it doesn't always know.


And if AnyDVD develops to the point it does always know, I would think it would just fix it, and we wouldn't need notification.


T

 

[George++]

Well, here's the thing Lukas...

If AnyDVD could always detect Screen Pass, we wouldn't have to alert the devs when we run across a disc where it's not being dealt with.

So it can't give an indication if it doesn't always know.


And if AnyDVD develops to the point it does always know, I would think it would just fix it, and we wouldn't need notification.


T

Heh, your "explanation" is almost as straight-forward as this:



I needed the laugh, thanks.

 

[testiles]

@FurryGuy

You're welcome.

Glad to oblige. :=)


Guess I've said all I have to say on this.

Thanks for the input guys!


T