What causes a dvd to "freeze" up (1 Viewer)

[Brad Newton]

I was watching Gladiator (rented copy) & in a couple of scenes, the picture went into a kind of "blockish" look, then cleared up & then a few minutes late just froze, like someone had pushed the pause button. What causes this? Is it scratches on the dvd itself or the player? My player is a JVC SA70BK that I have had for approximately (1) month.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Whenever I've seen this, its caused by a very faint fingerprint or smudge on the playing surface. Sometimes you have to hold it up to a bright light to detect it.

A DVD is much more sensitive to smudges/dust than a CD.

A quick spray of window cleaner, a lint-free cloth and a minute or two of drying time is usually all that is needed to fix the problem.

And it's cronic with rental disks.

Hope this helps.

 

[Bill_Weinreich]

And it's cronic with rental disks.

No doubt!! I know someone who works at BB and can get titles several days before the release, and they are still filty when I get them. People tend not to take care of things that dont belong to them.

Bill

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

I've never had this problem with discs I've bought, but rental discs are notorious for it. Some discs I've had won't play past that spot, period, even with multiple cleanings. But, compared to the number of discs I've rented vs. the number that have had problems, it's a pretty rare occurance. So, if a disc just refuses to play past a scratch or smudge, know that it has been abused past the point of redemption.

Bruce

 

[dave snyder]

experienced the same problem with rental DVDs from Blockbuster in which the discs appear to be quite hacked up. So much so that one might suspect that at times they may have been used by previous renters as a coaster for a can of Bud Light, a small frisbee for the kids or perhaps even a teething ring for the baby. In short, the discs are not in very good order upon rental.

However, a change from my lower-end Sony DVD player to the new Panasonic has provided a marked improvement in playability of said rental DVDs.

I do take time, as one poster mentioned, to clean the rental DVDs prior to play. This seems to help in the Panasonic, but did NOT help at all with the Sony. Many of the disc would pixelize, then freeze as you mentioned. I've returned many DVDs to BB without having the luxury of watching the movie in its entirety. Again, since the change from the Sony to Panasonic player, the occurence is rare.

dave

 

[StanT]

I had this problem with several discs, new or used, on my old player (cheap GE model), even when it was fairly new. Since I upgraded (Panny RP56), I haven't had a single problem, even with the same DVD's that the old player freaked out over. I'm not sure what the difference is, but it seems to me, it may be partially the discs and partially the player.