NOTE: this post was composed before your newer post. I think what I wrote still mostly applies.
relic wrote: Fri Nov 22, 2024 5:19 amIs it possible that my player, GOM , is the cause of the problem or that my system just can't keep up?
Both of these are possibilities, particularly if you are playing ghost's 4k version. There does not seem to be anything wrong with the file and it is NOT encoded with the occasionally problematic-for-some H265 codec, but it IS 4k. I played it back on my 1080p laptop, but on my older laptop it might not have worked very well at all.
I checked all three versions I listed in my previous post.
I started by following the subtitles using SubtitleEdit. This meant I ripped the subtitles from each file separately so that I was using the "correct" subtitles for each. I am certainly not an experienced lip-reader but I do enjoy watching actresses TALK. This has nothing to do with what they are actually saying. I paid attention to the text appearing on screen rather than the meaning. I also checked the subtitle using the Waveform view in SubtitleEdit. I can see that they were generally appearing 100 to 300 milliseconds earlier than the beginning of speaking and extending that much or more after the end. This is typical for subtitles, surrounding the speech to give enough time to read the text but not making it noticeably out of sync. I also verified that the audio was in sync with the lip movements. This would not matter to you but it can indicate a problem with the file encoding. No problems found.
After that I focused mostly on GHOST'S most recent version as I figured that is probably the version you meant. From SubtitleEdit I had learned where exactly I should watch for the rather sparse dialog. I watched those scenes with VLC, mostly near the beginning and end. The text was in sync with the talking. There were plenty of shots with the speaker appearing on screen so I could watch her mouth moving. There were also a number of shots with the speaker OFF-screen and the camera on the other actress listening and not moving her wouth. The subtitles were NOT hyphenated or given any other indication that the speaker for that single line was off-screen. A deaf viewer would have to figure that out in context. I am sure you are very used to this in watching movies that do not have well-prepared SDH subtitles.
Continuing with ghost's version I downloaded GOM player for Windows. At first my Windows REJECTED THE DOWNLOAD from the gomlab site, claiming malware. I know this is not always true, but I tried a different download source from download.cnet.com. The download was not blocked. Interestingly, it changed my video playback defaults from VLC to (Windows) Media Player, which I have installed but do not use. (Don't worry, I easily fix these things all the time.) I played back select parts of the video in total silence, watching multiple scenes for subtitle sync. I did not see problems. I DID notice some occasional pausing or stuttering in the video playback that I had NOT noticed when I played it with VLC. I attributed this to the fact that the player was working to play a 4k file on my 1080p computer and that it was not quite as successful.
THEN... Gom player indicated that I did NOT have the most recent version. I allowed it to Update, with a direct player-initiated connection to the Gom website. I did NOT get any "virus" indications, but I DID make sure to reject all the optional bloatware they wanted me to install along with it. I played the video again with the Updated version. THIS time there were many spots where the video would briefly freeze or pause before moving on. Sometimes this made the subtitles slightly mistimed because they were playing around a video glitch. I then went back and checked the video again in VLC and did not see these problems. I reinstalled the "older" version of Gom and did not have all these problems. This tells me that THE LATEST UPDATE OF GOM IS FLAWED.
I do not know if you also use Windows or if you are also using the latest update.
The "old" version I downloaded from Cnet is 2.3.55.5319
The newest update prompted by the player is 2.3.103.5373
It is possible your computer has something to do with it because my 1080p laptop certainly has issues sometimes with 4k (2160p) files, especially with HDR. If I played ghost's file using my 4k BluRay player hooked to a hard drive then those issues should disappear. (But I have not done that yet.)
I suggest 3 things:
(1) Try the same 2160p file in VLC and see if there is a difference.
(2) Try DreamScape's 1080p rip (or the remux if you have it) in Gom and see if there is a difference.
(3) If Gom is updated, either roll back the update (if you know how to do that) or re-install a slightly "older" Gom version (such as from download.cnet.com) to see if THAT makes a difference. Of course your player will prompt you to update and you would have to say "No" at least while you are experimenting. You may need to wait for a later Update to fix the problems introduced in this one. I have had to do that with Windows itself recently and it is annoying.
I wish you luck.