Dvd/vcds Play On Dvd Player But Are Too Warped For Laptop!

[Trevor]

I am referring here to purchased Thai pre-recorded material made on lower-quality disks than we are used to in the west. Whereas my low-end DVD player plays them perfectly, on my equally-new laptop the warping is evident towards the edges, especially as they heat up in the disk tray. This means they may start to play initially but at a certain point into the recording the reading head is just too far away to extract data. This assumes the data is read from the centre outwards.

I just wondered why dedicated DVD players seem to have no problem with warped disks, and whether I could route the DVD's signal into my computer to re-record the material onto a better-quality disk?

[lingyai]

I have same sorta of problems. I had an old laptop that would read disc, even scratched ones fine and a new laptop that has problems reading the discs.

not sure why.

[Guest Reimar]

The problem could be the format. The older DVD's mainly formatted in + format but the new one, special the copies are in the - format. And the quality of the - format is lower tha the + format. The newer DVD drives in computers like Laptops are reading more "fine" than the older one and special the DV-Burner read's very fine. That's why the todays drives more 'sensitive"!

[waldwolf]

While there may be several mechanical reasons for the problem you describe, the most likely cause is due to laser beam "Tilt" distortion, caused by the warped disk(s).

Some "better quality" DVD players are able to compensate for minor disk warping by mechanically pivoting the disk spindle shaft. Newer designs often incorporate electronic circuits to "bend" the laser beam to correct for minor disk warp.

As you suspected, this warped problem is usually encountered where "lower-quality" disks are used.

Like unbalanced tires (tyres) on your automobile, warped disks put a strain on your players mechanical parts causing vibration and abnormal wear. Constant use of warped disks may result in early failure of the drive.

waldwolf

[alexth]

I found the solution in my case by buying an external DVD

[cdnvic]

One solution may be to copy the material to a higher quality disk as soon as it's purchased. Sort of silly that you have to take it that far but at least you'd be able to watch what you paid for.

[Trevor]

One solution may be to copy the material to a higher quality disk as soon as it's purchased. Sort of silly that you have to take it that far but at least you'd be able to watch what you paid for.

Yes, but how can I extract the data from a DVD player onto a computer which can't read the original? Is there a data-out port? Or would a DVD-RW recorder work by copying to internal memory?

[cdnvic]

One solution may be to copy the material to a higher quality disk as soon as it's purchased. Sort of silly that you have to take it that far but at least you'd be able to watch what you paid for.

Yes, but how can I extract the data from a DVD player onto a computer which can't read the original? Is there a data-out port? Or would a DVD-RW recorder work by copying to internal memory?

If you can't read it just after purchase, return it. Otherwise copy it to the hard drive, then reburn it on a better disk.

[Trevor]

One solution may be to copy the material to a higher quality disk as soon as it's purchased. Sort of silly that you have to take it that far but at least you'd be able to watch what you paid for.

Yes, but how can I extract the data from a DVD player onto a computer which can't read the original? Is there a data-out port? Or would a DVD-RW recorder work by copying to internal memory?

If you can't read it just after purchase, return it. Otherwise copy it to the hard drive, then reburn it on a better disk.

The retailer will just demonstate the disk can be played on his DVD player, as I can on mine. The point is I need to get the data onto a good quality disk in order to play it in full on my laptop. Even when new, only the initial segments of the DVD can be read by my laptop. So how can I extract the FULL data from a DVD player in order to store it safely or burn a copy? Thanks.