# Pause my DVD player: "Still (B)" or "Still (P)"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 2, 2013, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pause-my-dvd-player-still-b-or-still-p/672890 "2013-11-02T00:08:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2013, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pause-my-dvd-player-still-b-or-still-p/672890/1 "2013-11-02T00:08:42Z")
Sometimes, the on-screen display shows one, sometimes the other. What’s the difference? It’s a Panasonic, if that matters. Google was spectacularly unhelpful, but maybe I didn’t try hard enough. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2013, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pause-my-dvd-player-still-b-or-still-p/672890/2 "2013-11-02T01:11:01Z")
Do the pictures look different in the two Still modes? ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2013, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pause-my-dvd-player-still-b-or-still-p/672890/3 "2013-11-02T01:44:31Z")
AVI /MPG frames can be divided among 3 types : ``` I-Frame: Intra frame, also called keyframe. They have no reference frame and can be decoded on their own. They can be thought of a jpeg image. P-Frame: Predicted frame. They are deduced from the previous frame (I or P) and cannot be built if the decoder has not decoded the previous frames. B-Frame: They are decoded from the previous and next I-P frames. ``` WAG: Its saying if the pause is showing a P frame or a B frame. Maybe you want to know if the quality is good. A predicted (extrapolated) frame sounds to be lower quality than an B frame, which is interpolated. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2013, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pause-my-dvd-player-still-b-or-still-p/672890/4 "2013-11-02T12:31:23Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > WAG: Its saying if the pause is showing a P frame or a B frame. Maybe you want to know if the quality is good. A predicted (extrapolated) frame sounds to be lower quality than an B frame, which is interpolated. I would agree with your conclusion–it makes sense the player would be displaying frame type. Just to nitpick though, the B-frame is lowest quality frame. P-frames use references from previous frames, while B-frames use references from both previous and future frames. B-frames are the smallest in size and contain the least amount of data. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2013, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pause-my-dvd-player-still-b-or-still-p/672890/5 "2013-11-02T12:59:24Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > AVI /MPG frames can be divided among 3 types : > > ``` > I-Frame: Intra frame, also called keyframe. They have no reference frame and can be decoded on their own. They can be thought of a jpeg image. > P-Frame: Predicted frame. They are deduced from the previous frame (I or P) and cannot be built if the decoder has not decoded the previous frames. > B-Frame: They are decoded from the previous and next I-P frames. > > ``` > > WAG: Its saying if the pause is showing a P frame or a B frame. Maybe you want to know if the quality is good. A predicted (extrapolated) frame sounds to be lower quality than an B frame, which is interpolated. Thanks for this interesting info, I knew about the frame concepts for those data streams, I just never thought of it as affecting a DVD before. :smack: I’ll have to keep my eyes open during very still scenes and try to see if I can catch it ever saying “Still (I).”