Page 1 of Does Scratches on the DVD disc effect it?

Hi, ive just borrowed my mates Gladiator DVD disc copy now the I just watched it and noticed during in 1 scene how the disc kept freezing up and pausing for seconds.

The Disc is quite Scratched as well, would this be the cause of it ? considering the entire film ran smooth and flawless accept that one scene...

I`m not an authority on this by any means but DVD discs do cram an awful lot of data (3 Gigabytes) into their relatively small form.
I guess that because of this they are even more sensitive to scratches or even dust! than regular CD`s, due to the quite compressed tracks+multi layers etc etc.

I would say that any scratches or dirt on a DVD can result in the symptoms you mentioned.
Tell your mate to look after his disks a bit more carefully so you can watch his films properly from now on......
;-)

Yeah thats exactly my thoughts as well, DVD disc remind me of Pc
CD-RW media, cos there silver and if they get a few scratches on them there literaly ruined.

Yup - Blockbusters` rental discs suffer badly from frisbee-throwing hirers who return them to the shop for cleaning with a pan scourer !

Scratched discs don`t get along too great with players.

This could also be a layer change that happens with dual-layer disks. It depends on the quality of the drive electronics (amongst other things) as to how seemless this looks - some players do the changeover with little or no pause and others seem to take ages. But generally yes, scratches can cause a multiplicity of problems from complete lock-ups to pixellation - screen suddenly goes all blocky with tiny squares all over the place. They can be repaired though, with a good CD-ROM repair kit & some elbow grease!.

HTH

SN

I have had the problems that you have had but i found that it was mostly not due to scratches on the DVD, but fingerprints, really gets my player in a muddle.

DVD hold 8gigs or more of data, i`ve just checked X-Men region one and it`s 7.7gigs

Well just watched romeo must die which also has 3-4 scratches 1 kinda looks like a scrape type sratch the other lot look thin... and at the beginning of the film the same thing happens the film just stops playing and plays again after a few seconds then repeats then pauses for like 2 minutes then starts playing again, tried cleaning it with lint cloth and the players drive but no good.

After the first 10 minutes of the Romeo must die it runs flawlessly with zero problems.

I had no idea that just one scratch on a DVD could completly ruined the film !

gonna try a 100% clean DVD now:)

I know a bit on this subject. Right firstly if the disc is scratched it doesn`t nessasarily mean the disc is no good. Simply clean the disc from the centre using a dry cloth, do not use liquids, not even ones purchased from shops that claim they clean discs. Secondly make sure the disc is free of finger prints, often these can result in bad laser pick up, which is far worse that a thin scratch. If the scratch is deep and has actually harmed the laser threads, chances are the screen will either lock-up, cause laser transition problems or cause large group pixelisation which results in the large picture break up, you seem to mention. Never leave discs face down, this is clearly what has happened. Always replace DVD`s in their jackets when not in use. Also different players will play discs better than others which may contain scratches, it varies not on price but on the laser. Using a scratched discs can not harm your player, but one with dirt or sticky particals on could. Always check the disc before putting it in your player, especially if you have lent it from a friend or hired it from a rental outlet.

Sandy got it right to the oint.

My 2 cents:
I once was concerned about this on a store until the salesman showed me the DVD he used to demo players to customers. He kept it in his pocket... It had more scratches than my worst CD EVER! Yet it played normally.

Conclusion:
Things that really obstruct the laser beam are worst than superficial scratches. Meanwhile, a poor laser beam won`t play even some perfect DVDs that are fully loaded like the T2 Ultimate DVD Edition.

I suspect that most cheap DVDs that present problems reading some discs are actually OEM from the same origin. When a Pioneer or a Sony won`t read a disc, you can bet the problem is on the disc, not the player. A friend`s Cougar, for example, freezers like a refrigerator. It`s one of thos El Cheapo units that reads everything except books. Well, at least it is cheap enough to don`t make you care too much.

Regards,

José Azevedo

I had a copy of `Young Frankenstein` that looked like cossacks had been dancing on it. In a fit of desperation I carefully POLISHED it with a very fine grade (solvoautosol) cleaner, and bugger me if it didn`t work! I tried it once with a giveaway CD from a magazine that kept skipping due to a massive gouge. After an hour of diligent polishing it played OK. I was careful to wash off all traces of polish before attempting to play it though.
I`d stress that this is last thing you should try in lieu of binning a disc and buying a new copy.