ahbeng

About 80 percent of my dvd collection are bought used and was wondering how does damaged (scratched) dvds present itself in the picture and sound quality dept.? All of the used dvds I buy have some scratches (some more severe than others). Other than an occasional "hiccup" (sticking), I am glad to say that my cheap player has breezed through them all. Then one day a store clerk claimed cratches does affect the picture and sound quality. Like clicks and pops, distortion in the soundtrack. Can this be true? I thought damaged dvds and cds will just not play or just stick...not cause distortion in either sound or picture.

I have also not detected any "sudden" distortion in sound...but then again my 5.1 speaker system is sorta mid fi. Advice anyone?

AGuyNamedMike

The only time I've seen or heard a problem from a scratch on a DVD has been pixelation of the image and stuttering or complete drop out of the audio. I think your clerk is reaching. In any event, if you're happy with the reproduction, that's what matters. If you have any 'problem' discs, you could try my method:

1. clean disc with windex or some similar streak free product. be careful to not get cleaner on the label side. use a clean soft cotton cloth (t-shirt, diaper) to wipe, and as always, wipe only from the hub to the edge and back, never circular motions

2. apply a tiny dab of plain white toothpaste to the obvious scratches and gouges. polish these areas with the same radial motion as in step one.

3. rinse paste off with water, repeat step 1.

4. apply a tiny bit of non-abrasive car wax (like Z-Best) and buff it out, again using the very same hub to edge and back radial motion.

See if that eliminates the hiccups.

renaldow

Yeah, the clerk was definitely reaching. It's not like a used VHS that is going to have distortions or soundtrack issues after being played too many times, and that kind of sounds like what he was trying to describe. The worse you'll have is an unplayable disc. Either it won't play at all, or it will get to the part of the disc that is too damaged to read and stop/freeze. Discs can actually take quite a bit of damage. While nobody likes to see scratches, small shallow ones generally don't cause any problems.

Walter Neff

General rule of thumb here: If a store clerk tells you something about audio and video equipment/computers/electronics -- especially a clerk at Circuit City/Best Buy/any other store with high employee turnover -- the opposite is probably true.

Frank S

DVD are digital so if the scratches are causing playback problems it will be either pixilazation or drop outs. There is no such thing as pops, or other types of degraded audio or video. You either have the audio/video or you don't. Those who are unschooled in current HT technology are still thinking Analog that does have levels of degredation but it does not apply to the Digital domain!

ahbeng

thanks guys for your help.