| |||||
Monday, June 19, 2006
By Christina VanGinkel
I borrowed a DVD from my daughter over the weekend to watch on Saturday night. The movie was Gothika, starring Halle Berry, Robert Downey Jr., Penelope Cruz, and several other top-notch actors. The story line was compelling, and the film was well made. I wanted to watch the movie again before returning it, so yesterday, as I was cooking dinner for my husband, myself, and my youngest son, I popped it into my DVD drive on my computer. Part way into the movies, the disk skipped. It was minor, but noticeable. I recalled that the movie had skipped in the same spot the previous evening when we played it in our DVD player in the living room.
I continued to watch the movie, but shortly after, it did it again, and this time it was very noticeable. The volume never stopped or slowed, but the film itself was running in an almost staggered way, for lack of a better description.
I ended up stopping the movie to take out the disk to see if I could visually assess what the problem might be. Sure enough, the disk was obviously dirty, with several fingerprints across the bottom side of the disk, the side that a player would have to read. While a fingerprint or two should not disrupt the playing of a DVD, if the fingerprints or other debris is bad enough, they can and will cause a reaction such as this particular disk was experiencing.
I cleaned the disk with a lint free micro fiber cloth that I had purchased specifically for cleaning our CD and DVD collection. I had it back in my drive in a matter of minutes and was soon watching the show from where I had left off.
DVD and CD media can become dirty from everyday use. While we all know we should handle these types of media on their edges, it is common to just pick them up, grasp them top, and bottom, especially when we remove them from their cases. If this happens, we can easily transfer the natural oils from our fingers onto the surface of the disk. If our hands are dirty, we risk leaving actual debris behind on the surface, which is bad, but if the debris is not cleaned, it can then scratch the surface or erode away at the disk itself, depending on what we left behind. When small children handle a disk, it can be even worse, as disks can be dropped onto a floor, slid into a player instead of being set gently into the holder, as they should be, resulting in an increased risk of scratching.
The CD and DVD have become so run of the mill as part of our lives that we do not always provide them with the care they call for. To keep your CD and DVD media in top form, take the time to handle them with care. Grasp them by their edges, avoiding putting your fingers on the top or bottom surfaces. Until children are old enough to learn to handle them with the care they deserve, do not let them have access to them. Small fingers should not be near video equipment in the first place, so you should be putting the discs into stereos and DVD players anyways. The same goes for taking a disk out of its player. If a disk does become dirty, clean it with a lint free micro fiber cloth sold for just such a purpose. Other cleaning products, made specifically for cleaning CD and DVD media, can be used safely on any disk that might require more serious cleaning than a cloth will do on its own. Follow any instructions that come with such a product, especially if you are cleaning off obvious debris that might cause scratching if you were to try to wipe it off.
CD and DVD media should then be stored in a case made for the storage of such media to keep them clean between uses, as just tossing a disk on top of a player or table means that it will accumulate dust and risk being damaged from dropping or any number of other things. Never leave them in direct sunlight either, as heat can be a CD or DVD's biggest cause of damage.
3:27 AM Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home
Archives:
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
Consumer Electronics
Resources
Electronics
Most Watch Electronics Auctions
iPod at Sduf
Shops:
