I just finished watching the first disc of Season 4 and encountered a strange image problem during two of the six episodes.

In the episode "Metamorphosis" there is a purple bar that runs along the bottom of the screen during the part when the wife is tied up in the chair. What's odd is that it only occurs on the close-ups of the wife and not in any other shot in that scene. This means that it could possibly be a camera problem since it is contained to the same camera set-up.

The purple bar at the bottom of the screen returns in the episode "Yellow Fever". It occurs at the end of the episode when Sam is fighting the ghost. However this time, the purple bar is present in a few different camera set-ups.

Even though it wasn't there for long in either episode, it was very distracting when it did show up. Does anybody else have this same problem? Hopefully I just got a bad copy.

I just finished watching the first disc of Season 4 and encountered a strange image problem during two of the six episodes.

In the episode "Metamorphosis" there is a purple bar that runs along the bottom of the screen during the part when the wife is tied up in the chair. What's odd is that it only occurs on the close-ups of the wife and not in any other shot in that scene. This means that it could possibly be a camera problem since it is contained to the same camera set-up.

The purple bar at the bottom of the screen returns in the episode "Yellow Fever". It occurs at the end of the episode when Sam is fighting the ghost. However this time, the purple bar is present in a few different camera set-ups.

Even though it wasn't there for long in either episode, it was very distracting when it did show up. Does anybody else have this same problem? Hopefully I just got a bad copy.



It's not you....my copy has the same issue. Very annoying...thank god it was brief.

It's not you....my copy has the same issue. Very annoying...thank god it was brief.
Thanks for confirming. Hopefully it won't show up in any more episodes.

Same issue here and I already reported it to Warner (I got my review copy 2 weeks ago).

Cool, let us know what they say if they get back to you. Also, does that line show up in any more episodes, or just the two I already mentioned?

Well, I reported it long ago and heard nothing back....so....

And I only noticed it on 2 episodes. To be fair, I'm on episode 15 or so right now so I have yet to finish the season. I will by Sunday,

Well, I reported it long ago and heard nothing back....so....
Ah, too bad. I'll send them an email too and see if I hear anything back.

We noticed it to... :eek:

It's only those two episodes. I watched every single one so far. Sine it appears to affect the actual show (and certain scenes) it was likely there when the show as broadcast. I doubt there is anyone for Warner to fix it.

Anyone have the DVD to compare?

I have high-def transport streams of the original CW broadcasts recorded to HDD on my HTPC. If anyone wants to see if the problem was in the original source material that was broadcasted by the CW during the 2008-2009 TV season, I could post screengrabs (1920x1080, JPG format). I would just need to know what shots are the ones of interest.

Hope to hear more about this picture issue, but I scored a copy off Ebay for $34, so I'm looking forward to it regardless - one of the best shows currently on TV.

Hope to hear more about this picture issue, but I scored a copy off Ebay for $34, so I'm looking forward to it regardless - one of the best shows currently on TV.

It's not that bad. In both episodes they line is there for maybe a minute. Annoying? Yes. Enough to whine about a recall? No.

It's not that bad. In both episodes they line is there for maybe a minute. Annoying? Yes. Enough to whine about a recall? No.

Warner is actually pretty responsive about correcting these sorts of mistakes and offering replacements. Most recently, it fixed and replaced for free the glitch in the Matrix Revolution disc, a glitch that lasted less than a second and was unnoticeable to many. If Warner was willing to fix that problem, it may very well fix the Supernatural problems that go on far longer and are much more noticeable.

It's not whining to call attention to this problem and asking Warner to fix it. A single email probably isn't going to get a response but if enough people write, it may reach critical mass and get some levers moving. Inertia, not indifference, is usually the thing that needs to be overcome at the studios. The people who work there are professionals and they dislike mastering errors and mistakes as much as fans. I'd urge everyone to send a polite email to Warner describing the problem, including details like which disc, episode and time stamp, and ask for a fix and replacement. Maybe it won't get fixed but saying nothing almost guarantees nothing will get done. It certainly can't hurt to ask.

Here's a link to Warner's customer service page:

http://www.warnerbros.com/main/help/customer_service.html

You can call Warner at 800-553-6937.

I'll give it a shot. Like I said, I passed it on to my rep but I don't know how much good that would do.

And since were on it, who would I ask for a replacement DVD? I have a faulty Disc 6 of Season 1 on DVD (won't play on 5 machines).

And since were on it, who would I ask for a replacement DVD? I have a faulty Disc 6 of Season 1 on DVD (won't play on 5 machines).

Interesting, my disc 6 of Season 1 also has recently started failing. Wouldn't play through the last episode when it previously had worked fine. I was able to make a copy of the dvd that played as expected. Weird.

Interesting, my disc 6 of Season 1 also has recently started failing. Wouldn't play through the last episode when it previously had worked fine. I was able to make a copy of the dvd that played as expected. Weird.

Same here. Freezes around the 30 min mark of the last episode. I can't rewind either. Had to finish the episode via alternative ways.

So I just checked out episodes Metamorphosis and Yellow Fever and saw the purple line. In Metamorphosis, title 1, chapter 22, it starts from time point 2:33:58 until 2:36:06. For Yellow Fever, title 1, chapter 35, from 4:03:43 to 4:04:15. Interestingly, when I first checked it on my CRT, the line wasn't visible because of the set's overscan. I only saw it when I viewed the disc on my PC. Perhaps the encoding was done on CRTs so that's how the line slipped past quality control. In any case, I'm going to shoot off an email with the above info.

As for DVD discs that are starting to go bad, I'd email Warner customer service to ask for a replacement. Presumably, the season 1 DVD set was bought a while ago and can't be returned to the store for a refund.

Oh and in addition to the email link above, you can also call Warner at 800-553-6937.

Same here. Freezes around the 30 min mark of the last episode. I can't rewind either. Had to finish the episode via alternative ways.

My alternative way was that the episode played fine on my computer, just wouldn't play on my HD or BD players.... which is why I just made a copy of the disc since the computer was reading it fine. My problem seems to be in the exact place yours is or darn close.

My alternative way was that the episode played fine on my computer, just wouldn't play on my HD or BD players.... which is why I just made a copy of the disc since the computer was reading it fine. My problem seems to be in the exact place yours is or darn close.

IIRC its when
Dean and Sam's dad turns black-eyed

I got a response from Warner. At first, the Warner rep asked me to return my box set so it could be replaced. That sounded kind of odd since it looks like the purple lines are on every box set so I asked if her request meant that some box sets were not affected. She replied that this was the first time she had received a report of the purple linse and she would do some investigating and get back to me. So hopefully soon, Warner will figure out this is an issue affecting every Supernatural box set.