Can DVD players become out dated

[Big Black Stilo]

Recently I have noticed that my Samsung DVD player is having trouble with new DVDs, i.e; not playing them, saying bad disc, skipping, freezing etc.

When you put in an older DVD it plays fine. Whats going on? I have had the player since 98 and it is a good player, aprt from faulting on new discs? Could it be the lense might need cleaning or is it newer discs aqre more complex?

 

[custard]

lens could be wearing out,cleaned it lately?
could be some of the newer DRM coding causeing problems.heard of it with cd's so robably the same on dvd's

 

[Big Black Stilo]

excuse my ignorance but what is DRM?

 

[custard]

digital rights management.the stuff they put i to stop you doing a disc to disc copy in the PC

 

[Big Black Stilo]

I dont think its that.

For example it'll play my copy of lock stock and 2 smoking barrels from 1998 but wont even recognise the discs from my life on mars box set i got last week, or the reeves and mortimer ones from a couple of months ago. All of these discs work faultlessly in my sony dvd recorder (which is crap for watching bought DVDs) and my brothers cheapo £20 asda jobbie, my folks crappy matsui thing and my mrs dvd tv thing- so it cant be faulty discs

 

[custard]

not really a fault as such,just how the player interprits the data

 

[Big Black Stilo]

so is it the player is unable to read newer discs? Thats a bit crap as it makes a perfectly good player obsolete

 

[custard]

not saying for sure as ive not really researched it.try a laser cleaner 1st

 

[Big Black Stilo]

From looking at the net the DVD player I have could have a firmware fault, so the player should not be able to play the matrix, but it does (?)

Going to give their customer support a call in the morning and see if anyone has reported the fault as older discs play ok

 

[Helz]

This happened to me lately and in this age of disposable goods, instead of buying a laser cleaner disc and cleaning it, I bought a new one for the princely sum of £17.92 from Asda (a price which is yet to be beaten ) and it's working fine

 

[Big Black Stilo]

If the Sony DVD recorder i have played discs properly without excesive freezing on layer changes and on screen graphics at every little function (required for recording by myself so dont want to keep turning them off and on) I would use that one and just scrap my old one or give it away. But it was a good player and i paid a lot for it 7 years ago and is working a lot better than it is now.

It could possibly be requiring a clean but i think its a software problem

 

[Stu DemonD]

What Sony DVD recorder to you have? Because I have one of those, and is pretty good [not that I use it much now running Xbox Media Centre].

 

[custard]

[not that I use it much now running Xbox Media Centre].

:worship:

 

[Helz]

i paid a lot for it 7 years ago and is working a lot better than it is now.

No wonder it needs some TLC Mine was only four years old and I thought it was getting old I know I paid a lot of money for it but they are so cheap these days it hardly seemed to matter

 

[Big Black Stilo]

Helz:

I like to get my moneys worth out of something- otherwise the stilo would have gone by now!!!!!

I was also keeping hold of it for when I move out!

Stu

The recorder is a Sony RDR-GX300 i think

 

[Stu DemonD]

Its a Sony RDR-GX300 i think

Ah - I have the RDR-GX3 :chin: dunno what the differences are :chin: but never had any issues with it; got a very good review when it was launched.

 

[Big Black Stilo]

with my samsung player-when it works- you get a very slight pause on the layer change.

With the sony it gives a freeze of about a second on the layer change- which is crap in comparrison

 

[Stu DemonD]

With the sony it gives a freeze of about a second on the layer change- which is crap in comparrison

Ah possibly, it is hard to recall the last time I watched a DVD using proper DVD media

 

[Big Black Stilo]

I just put it down to the sony having more complex lens system/assembly or read speed.

Still at the moment its beating the samsung hands down by actually working

 

[Stu DemonD]

I just put it down to the sony having more complex lens system/assembly or read speed.

Possibly, that used to be the slight drawback with DVD-Recorders - not sure if newer models have such issues.