distortion problem in playback of DVDs

22 Jan 2006 5:58 PM

d

I often have problems with discs freezing up and/or
showing a lot of distortion, like lines of squares across
the screen. The same disc will play okay on some
machines, but screw up on others. Cleaning the
heads with a brush stlye disc cleaner seems to help
for a little while sometimes. Sometimes running water
over the disc then wiping it dry will help. Is it a static
electricity problem? Or is there dirt on the laser that
the brush won't get off? Or a combination of such
things? Is it possible to open a DVD player and clean
the laser, like we can do on a VCR? Or is the best
thing to replace a DVD player when it won't play discs
consistently any more?

Thanks for any help!
David

22 Jan 2006 6:05 PM

unclejr

d@. wrote:

> Cleaning the
> heads with a brush stlye disc cleaner seems to help
> for a little while sometimes.

OUCH! NEVER do this.

> Or is the best
> thing to replace a DVD player when it won't play discs
> consistently any more?

After you scratched the hell out of the lens, this would be your only
option.

-Junior

8 Feb 2006 7:02 PM

d

When I first got a DVD recorder I never had any problems
with discs looking bad, or playing back badly. Recently
I've been having a good bit of problem with playback, and
have noticed that even the latest discs have what appear
to be spider web size lines in them. Are they scratches?
They don't really look as much like scratches as they do
maybe cracks, to me. And the older DVDs that I recorded
still don't have anything like that, even after years of use.
Are these newer discs of much lesser quality? What should
I look for in order to avoid such garbage in the future? My
machine uses DVD-R.

Thanks for any help!

9 Feb 2006 12:49 AM

Laurence Payne

On Wed, 08 Feb 2006 14:02:42 -0500, d@. wrote:

>My
>machine uses DVD-R.

First off, then, throw it away and spend a surprisingly low amount of
money on one of today's multi-format drives.

9 Feb 2006 5:25 PM

d

On Thu, 09 Feb 2006 00:49:42 +0000, Laurence Payne <lpayne1NOSPAM@dsl.pipexSPAMTRAP.com> wrote:

>On Wed, 08 Feb 2006 14:02:42 -0500, d@. wrote:
>
>>My
>>machine uses DVD-R.
>
>First off, then, throw it away and spend a surprisingly low amount of
>money on one of today's multi-format drives.

What would be the use in that, *if* the problem is caused by the
discs? *If* the problem is with the discs, why not just get better
discs? Would the poor quality discs work okay in a new recorder?
Would they also work okay in other machines during playback?

10 Feb 2006 9:21 AM

Charlie+

On Wed, 08 Feb 2006 14:02:42 -0500, d@. wrote as underneath my
scribble :

You are mad if you waste time with DVD blanks that have anything
visible wrong in the active layer, when even invisible faults can
easily arrest playback, the error correction isnt that robust. Return
them to the mfg immediately.
I also always inspect the disk after burning as a weak/thin patch(es)
in the active layer sometimes only show up after burning. I have
recently come across some DataWrite 16x disks in multipacks where
there are faults in this catagory. I get the impression that quality
control from the mfg plants is not quite as good as it was. Complain!
-It may help us all!
Charlie+

Show quoteHide quote

>When I first got a DVD recorder I never had any problems
>with discs looking bad, or playing back badly. Recently
>I've been having a good bit of problem with playback, and
>have noticed that even the latest discs have what appear
>to be spider web size lines in them. Are they scratches?
>They don't really look as much like scratches as they do
>maybe cracks, to me. And the older DVDs that I recorded
>still don't have anything like that, even after years of use.
>Are these newer discs of much lesser quality? What should
>I look for in order to avoid such garbage in the future? My
>machine uses DVD-R.
>
>Thanks for any help!

22 Jan 2006 7:33 PM

Mike Walsh

The best way to clean a CD or DVD drive is to open it up an clean the lens with glass cleaner and a cotton swab. I use Glass Plus because I have read that some drives use plastic lenses and you should not use ammonia on plastic. I have resurrected many old CD drives this way. I have not had as much success with DVD drives because they usually are not very dirty and the problem is elsewhere.

d@. wrote:
Show quoteHide quote

>
> I often have problems with discs freezing up and/or
> showing a lot of distortion, like lines of squares across
> the screen. The same disc will play okay on some
> machines, but screw up on others. Cleaning the
> heads with a brush stlye disc cleaner seems to help
> for a little while sometimes. Sometimes running water
> over the disc then wiping it dry will help. Is it a static
> electricity problem? Or is there dirt on the laser that
> the brush won't get off? Or a combination of such
> things? Is it possible to open a DVD player and clean
> the laser, like we can do on a VCR? Or is the best
> thing to replace a DVD player when it won't play discs
> consistently any more?
>
> Thanks for any help!
> David

--
Mike Walsh
West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.A.

22 Jan 2006 10:31 PM

TC

> > I often have problems with discs freezing up and/or
> > showing a lot of distortion, like lines of squares across
> > the screen. The same disc will play okay on some
> > machines, but screw up on others.

I have found that the quality of the DVD blanks is most important after
smudging or scratching has been eliminated. All blank DVD's are NOT
created equally. Check this site for info about disks and reading
problems:
www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm

23 Jan 2006 4:31 PM

Gogarty

27 Jan 2006 9:40 PM

Rick Merrill

Gogarty wrote:

Show quoteHide quote

> In article <tcalof-72441F.16311522012***@news.lga.highwinds-media.com>,
> tca***@mts.net says...
>
>>
>>
>>>>I often have problems with discs freezing up and/or
>>>>showing a lot of distortion, like lines of squares across
>>>>the screen. The same disc will play okay on some
>>>>machines, but screw up on others.
>>
>>I have found that the quality of the DVD blanks is most important after
>>smudging or scratching has been eliminated. All blank DVD's are NOT
>>created equally. Check this site for info about disks and reading
>>problems:
>>http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm
>
>
> Many thanks. There is huge variabilty in DVD and even CD media. I bought
> a pack of 25 Memorex DVD-R/W and only two would play in the set top
> player while all would play in the computer DVD drive. On the other hand
> I have had no problems at all with Sel Cheapo Staples DVD-R/W on set top
> or comuter.
>

You realize that all the drives lasers have slightly different power
spectrums and they do not always match up with the power absorption
spectrum of the dye in the disks. Unfortunately the actual curves are
all trade secrets! So your only recourse is to record for yourself (and
the rest of us???) which make drives work how well with which make disks.

27 Jan 2006 8:04 PM

jazu

Burn at possible the lower speed. High speed is good when you play disk on
computer. When you play at home DVD player that's when problems begins.

Show quoteHide quote

<d@.> wrote in message news:kah7t1pvqatg2v1motjlpjp4rca5p055ku@4ax.com...
> I often have problems with discs freezing up and/or
> showing a lot of distortion, like lines of squares across
> the screen. The same disc will play okay on some
> machines, but screw up on others. Cleaning the
> heads with a brush stlye disc cleaner seems to help
> for a little while sometimes. Sometimes running water
> over the disc then wiping it dry will help. Is it a static
> electricity problem? Or is there dirt on the laser that
> the brush won't get off? Or a combination of such
> things? Is it possible to open a DVD player and clean
> the laser, like we can do on a VCR? Or is the best
> thing to replace a DVD player when it won't play discs
> consistently any more?
>
> Thanks for any help!
> David