I picked up a few PV-DVD's today from Blockbuster and they are a little scratched, doesnt look major but I would like to know if the picture will breakup/freeze ect. during playback. I know a foolproof way would be to just watch them, but I am wondering if softare like the ScanDisc tool that is in Nero CD-DVD Drivespeed would give an acurate result? anyone else have a suggestion?

Don't know about ScanDisc... and you're right about having to watch it all to be sure.

Usually I'll jump to several chapters (trying not to pay attention if it's a movie I've never seen)... hit the menus... a few of the extras. Just a very quick, rudimentary check.

I don't know of any reliable way to check this. Of all the films I have in my collection I've had three lemons:

1) Butterfly Effect
2) Diary of Anne Frank
3) Amistad

All three films were factory sealed and devoid of surface or pin-point marks.

#1 froze on a chapter change wiping out 5 minutes of film.
#2 froze in the middle of a chapter/scene, wiping out 15 minutes of film
#3 wouldn't load on my JVC player. It loaded on my Philips, but constantly stuttered, making it unwatchable. It loaded on my PC, but stuttered as well.

Some DVD players can handle crappy discs better than others, as exhibited by #3, but there's no way to be sure unless you watch the films all the way through.

I'm certain there are plenty of films in my collection which are faulty and when I encounter them there'll be nothing I can do considering all refund/exchange options would have expired.

I had a scratched up PVD DVD from Blockbuster that pixelated in a few places. I made a backup copy of it and believe it or not it played just fine.

im sure some dvd players have better error correction than others

I've had discs that look flawless go bonkers on me, and I've had visibly damaged discs play through without any problems.

You never know....