Is choppy playback contagious?

[Pyromite]

I'm sure this question is absurd, but here is what I have experienced -- on two separate players. My burned/shrunk backups of dvd's play fine generally, but then all of a sudden I will run into a dvd that plays choppy (freezes for a second or two at a time in some seeming random manner) . . . I have found that the same dvd will play fine on another machine but continues to play choppy on the first machine. The real odd thing I've discovered is that from that point on any burned/shrunk disk I try to play on the first player plays choppy . . . as though some how the dvd player became "programmed" by the first choppy dvd.

Again, the same dvd's seem to play fine on other players.

This "infection" doesn't last forever, but I haven't discovered what revives it.

Meanhwhile, original discs continue to play perfectly in the first machine.

Any thoughts?

As I said above, this has happened to me on at least two different machine, this odd pattern of "infection".

Thanks.

Tom

[cynthia]

To find out if it is in the burning process or in the playing process you have your problem - do this test;

Download www.dvdinfopro.com (freeware) insert one of your burned disc and selelct the option "Test your media for CRC read errors" - if you only get green dots you know that your burning is ok and it is the player that causes the problem. If you get any red dots - you know something else.

Solutions:
1. Firmware update for your burner
2. Try a better media

[setarip]

"I have found that the same dvd will play fine on another machine but continues to play choppy on the first machine."

Try running a DVD/CD cleaning disc on the problematic player. Maxell makes one that retails for approximately $10US.

Also, it's possible that the problematic player is overheating...

[Pyromite]

First of all, thank you for the quick responses.

I am running DVD Infopro on one of the disks as we speak, and after 28% it has stalled as it tallies up ERRORS -- 520 so far. I assume that suggests a bad disk? Copy? Might I have done something wrong or is it likely just the media?

How many errors are too many? Does one red block make a disk unplayable, or does it take several? Sorry for the newbie questions . . . but your help is greatly appreciated.

Tom

[cynthia]

Have you checked out if there is any new firmware for your burner?

[Pyromite]

Hi,

Yes, I checked and installed new firmware for my burner yesterday. To date, I have not had a chance to burn anything after the new firmware. Prior to that, found the following:

First the disc about which I last wrote ended up showing 69000+ errors, and there were many, many, many red squares. I then ran the program www.dvdinfopro.com on a disk which I'd already successfully watched, and it too turned up many red squares. I ran www.dvdinfopro.com on a disk that I burned at 4X instead of 8X, and there were just a handful of red squares. Have not had a chance to try that DVD to see if it worked, but I'm guessing it will.

I suppose I still have a few questions: first, why would one disk with lots of red squares work fine and another be so choppy? Is there some way to verify whether it is the burn process or the media? Can a disk ve verified before it is burned? Additionally, is there a way to spped up www.dvdinfopro.com . . . when it finds bad sectors, it labors forever . . . the 69000 error disc above took over night to complete the scan.

Finally, and this goes back to my original post: can a bad disc affect the player causing discs play badly afterwards or is it just a coincidence that several discs played fine and then after one bad disc I run into a couple more bad discs?

Again, thanks for your help.

Tom