I just received a DVD from Lovefilm through the post and annoyingly it has a small-ish crack running out from the centre. Not that unusual. Irritating, but it happens. However, I just put it in my DVD player and it appears to work, even skipping through a bit of the content wouldn't make it skip or stop. So, my question is: Is it possible that a DVD could have a visible crack but still play fine? And is there any software that can scan the disk for errors before watching it so I don't find out there is in fact an error with 20mins left?
Yes, if the crack is near the centre, and not actually on the data part of the disc. Also, strangely enough, a dvd that might play just fine in a dvd player, might have problems being ripped in a dvd rw in a computer. I've had problems ripping scratched dvd's before and yet they play fine on the standalone dvd player. At the end of the day, lovefilm are pretty reasonable I'd imagine, if it doesn't play back send it back and request another copy. I've done that before back when I was in the uk.
I had a game delivered by post and my dog decided to have a bite and put an hole right through the case handbook and disk, he made an hole about half a centimetre from the outside of the disk, I thought **** this is going to be £40 lost, but luckily the game still worked with no problems. And yet I have some from lovefilms that have only had a slight scratch in roughly the same place but will not run. Yes, lovefilms are really good they don't ask question your just return and they'll replace straight away.
Before putting a disk with a crack in the drive you need to ask your self "Can I be bothered taking this apart if the disk shatters in the drive?".
i would never put a disk that has a crack in it into any drive i have, i have all to often seen what can happen when one does just that, and it explodes, you risk damaging the drive if it does happen. these things spin at a variable rate anywhere from a couple of hundred rpm to thousands rpm
Ta for the advice. Oddly, at first it played on my DVD player, but then I ran it on my PC and ran some tests (all of which it failed), then I put it back in the DVD player and it wouldn't play Still, that solved that quandary. Lovefilm are very good. I've sent a busted disk back before. If you register that is is damaged online they will send you a replacement before they even receive the disk back, alongside your next disk (even if this exceeds the number of disks you are meant to have at home). I just really wanted to watch the DVD right then I'll take on board being wary of putting cracked disks in drives though. Also, fwiw, as far as I can gather, there is no quick easy way of checking for absolute certain if a DVD will play on a DVD player without skipping all the way through, without just watching the thing.
I always thought a dvd player (sony) couldn't damage a dvd because there's no physical contact but on one scene that I would rewind and re-watch a lot it's now damaged and skips. Tried cleaning it but it's fooked.
the dvd's cd's normally get damaged when removing from cases or in transit, slimline dvd drives can cause damage as well if the disk isn't removed carefully(because the use clips to hold the disk) when taking disks out of cases people flex the disks causing stress fractures near the center
That's obvious if there's major damage. They have once with me, I had a damaged Sniper Ghost Warrior, told them online then they sent me a replacement before I returned the damaged, as I was going to send all the disks back at once. It's not intentional, but yes specially when the case has one of those really tight locks, I've seen people crack them as they're being removed.
