Review of DVD Laser Lens Cleaner

Introduction

People who are reading this, and people who visit DVD Reviewer, are probably here for one reason and one reason alone: they watch DVDs. And most of us on here, well, we watch a lot of DVDs.

Therefore it seems fitting for a company to release a means of cleaning our well-worn DVD players, in order for us to continue our obsession with the digital medium. So here I am, reviewing Blaze`s version - DVD Laser Lens Cleaner.

The concept is simple: upon placing the DVD in the drive of your player, it will start up as normal, but instead of offering a film or other means of entertainment, its sole purpose is to clean. However, in this day and age, where things are never simple, the DVD Laser Lens Cleaner is more advanced then that.

When the DVD has loaded, the viewer/DVD owner is presented with a menu where three options are present - `Video Test`, `Audio Test`, and `DVD Cleaner`. Here is a breakdown of the options:

Video Test - when selected, a series of visuals will appear on the screen, changing every couple of seconds. The purpose? For you to see if your player can handle all different colour shades and types.

Audio Test - when selected, an animation will play, featuring a character named Maxx, as he runs away from differing forms of peril. Whilst he does this, different sound mixes echo out of your speakers, allowing you to hear the range of your setup and the like.

DVD Cleaner - when selected, you will be able to initiate the main reason for you having the DVD Laser Lens Cleaner...to clean your DVD player! Another animation pops up on screen (again with Maxx), and for roughly 20 seconds the disc will clean your player.

Video

Standard 1.33:1. It seems a bit strange that I am talking about the visuals on a special utility disc such as this, but every little bit helps I guess, and the picture is just fine throughout. Colours are defined, there are no artefacts present, and everything is clear and crisp enough to watch the animations in comfort. If you actually want to, of course...

The quality of the animation is fairly good, considering it was probably knocked together in a very short period of time. Nothing breathtaking, but quite good to look at, and shows some dedication from the Blaze team in trying to make a mundane task such as cleaning into something more approachable and accessible.

Audio

Dolby Digital 2.0. Note how I don`t put the soundtrack language here - as there is no dialogue whatsoever, so for all I know Maxx could be a Navajo codetalker. Audio wise though, and no complaints: the various sounds are actually very well replicated considering they only come through the front channels.

The audio test is quite good actually, as not only the content is fairly amusing to watch, but the sound is involving and serves as a good test disc for your system...although of course those with 5.1 or better won`t be able to exploit the full realms of their setup.

Features

This type of disc doesn`t call for any, and therefore doesn`t get any.

The menu is very simple, but annoyingly difficult to navigate since the cursor is indistinguishable from the buttons.

Conclusion

People will by this for one reason and one reason alone - to clean their DVD player, so all the features tacked onto this disc are nice but not needed. No doubt they have bumped up the RRP significantly, leaving normal-minded folk to buy cheaper, more linear versions.

But, I am going to take everything into account when delivering this review, so in doing so, I have to comment that this is a quite good DVD cleaner. Taking minimal time and effort to do, it serves its purpose, and I also enjoyed wasting 2 minutes watching Maxx run around in the audio setup, and then watch a series of colours flash by in the video setup.

A note for consumers: although the specs for this say it is compatible with "PlayStation2, DVD and PC", it also works on Xbox, as I found out when I tested it.

It is recommended to use this more than once for cleaning your DVD player, so this actually comes with a `buy` tag, instead of `borrow/steal then return` tag. But, since the RRP is quite high considering what it does, I would say that buying a cheap, DVD cleaner-only, version would be the best.

Perhaps if the video and audio setup was better (allowing for 5.1, like the Dolby test discs do) and there was something else on the DVD other than a mere cleaner, then this Blaze disc would be a wise purchase.

The score below for content is based on the quality of the DVD cleaner and add-ons, and not a comparison to value for money. The visuals and audio sections however are - they are scored in the same league as every other DVD - and the extras are given no marks, but because of the nature of the disc, the overall score does not take this section into account.