Filthy Disc

My DVD player is going weird. I borrowed a Friends 4th Season set from a friend who is careless with his stuff. One of the discs had some greasy prints on it. I guess that is why my player said NO DISC to that. I then cleaned the DVD with that special spray that I have for somebody else´s discs, and it works properly now. Yet, it just seems strange that a DVD player would refuse to play something with a few prints on it. Is this normal? The player is a new Panasonic and it cost something over $200, if this is relevant.

Quite normal. If the prints are in the right spot, the DVD player doesn't know what to do with the disc, and it'll treat it like you had it in upside down.

One of the great boons that was touted of the CD revolution twenty-odd years ago was that the user no longer had to worry about fingerprints on the vinyl. Ha! Now, DVDs, because they contain a lot more information to be scanned, are even more sensitive to fingerprints, dust, scratches, lint, and the like.

By the way, I usually clean my CDs and DVDs (if they need it) with isopropyl alcohol and a soft cloth. It's just as effective, non-abrasive, and a heck of a lot cheaper than the commercial cleaning sprays and bottles of who-knows-what that you shell out hard coin for.

John

Alex,

Two things:

1) I'm not passing any judgment on you. I know that you are merely stating a fact when you describe the availability of pirated movies in Macedonia. That is a situation that needs to be rectified, of course, because of the poor quality that you mention and also because of the fact that pirated materials deny credit/authorship to their creators.

2) The words "For Your Consideration" appear on many pirated copies of movies due to a variety of reasons. There are screener recipients who unwisely give their DVDs/VHS tapes to other people who end up making illegal copies. However, there are also people who work in factories that produce those DVDs/VHS tapes who steal prints/copies during the replication process. It's not just Academy members doing bad things (they face expulsion from the Academy if they're involved in piracy) but people up and down the entire line of film distribution.

Eddie

Jack Valenti, President of the Motion Pictures Association of America, has said that in the past he has given away the screeners he's watched that the Academy sent him, often giving them to his children. Other Academy members undoubtedly do likewise. Where these screeners eventually wind up is the question.

John

Eddie, do not, I repeat, do not put the alcohol in your eyes. Insofar as I've been able to determine, there is no relevant scientific correlation between putting alcohol in your eyes and cleaning a disc.

As to using plain water, it's effective for dust, true, but not too effective for cleaning off fingerprints and smudges. Fingerprints are oil-based, and water can actually smear them further. However, using a very mild solution of water and hand soap, rinsing thoroughly afterwards, can work wonders on a dirty disc.

John

Eddie,

Macedonia has very well organized conections to EU ( MK is a potential member of EU, the polititians here are going to make official application these days) , but let’s not speak about politics :(
There is a law here, which is prohibiting selling and renting DVD’s without authorization of the Studios
(major Holiwood studios has representatives here) , but it is still possible to find some samples of pirated discs. In the video rentals supported by official Stidios ,everything is legal!

But would you explain to me how is it possible that I had the opportunity to watch following films:
- The Gangs of NY
- About Schmidt
- The Pianist
- Catch me if you can
- Monster’s Ball

and numerous others titles, before its official opening in US and EU.
And it is quite unbelievable when in the middle of the film important notice is going : “ For Academy screen purposes only” - ???
So how you explain that?

It is not easy for me to understand, that somebody inside the Academy is allowing DVD’s to be pirated , because there is no other explanation to this. I hardly believe that somebody from Macedonia,has pirated DVD in US. I believe that similar situation is happening in some European countries ( some inside ,some outside of EU- maybe not in Sweden ( HI Henning))

Speaking of pirated discs, as I said in the beginning I had the opportunity to watch the films. But I didn’t! The reason I waited for official coming to dvd is very poor quality of the pirated discs. No bonus features, very low quality of the sound etc…

well, that's gonna be a big problem when macedonia tries to establish strong economics ties with western europe and north america. yikes!

Yes, the best way is to clean the dust,lint and so on.. with alcohol, and I am putting it easily with the ear-stick. ( somebody could LOL on this note,but it works perfectly for me).
The important thing is that you have to make that “operation” :o) , very carefuly, and to spread it on the whole layer equaly, if possible.
So far I haven’t had any problems with original DVD’s rented from a local video club. The problems with dust,lint , scratches occurred when I tried to watch pirated discs( yes in Macedonia, you can rent pirated dvd’s and still pay no consequences- but that is different topic) – which could happen very often. And I have solved that problem as I explained above.
Regards,
A.

Agua, man, agua. Alcohol? It's still a teensy-bit corrosive--just try putting some in your eyes. :D

Readily avaliable material and little prosecution doesn't mean it's government sanctioned.

It is foolish to assume that any government, even in the third world, supports or encourages pirocy. I come from Ukraine, once a paradise for piroting industry. It is often as simple as lack of financing to enforce the law.

Another question about my player. I tried to watch Midnight Experess, purchased in the United States, but it displayed NO PLAY and THIS DISC MAY NOT BE PLAYED IN YOUR AREA. Does that have to do with diffrent systems, like PAL? Is there a way to switch them?