# Best player for damaged or scratched media?



## whines

I've been finding some really good deals on secondhand DVD's in local used bookstores, but some of these discs have clearly not led gentle lives. Lots of them were dumped by rental chains getting rid of old merchandise. The prices are great, down to 1-3$, so I'll put up with the scratches if I can!

Can anyone suggest a DVD player that does a really good job on iffy discs? I'm currently using an older Phillips player that's region-unlocked and therefore precious to me, but I wouldn't mind setting up a second player for when a disc really needs it.


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## salvasol

If I recall correctly: Most CD player wont play scratched CD's :yes::yes: ... you can try buying a disc repair kit (I think that's how is called) ... go to any Best Buy or Circuit City and ask for the repair kit ...:huh::huh:


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## brent_s

One of the magazines used to publish error correction ability for CD players, but I've never seen anyone do that for DVD players.

I've seen several suggestions that the Oppos, at least the 97x models, are pretty good at overcoming disc damage. One stretched the hyperbole to saying it would play anything that hadn't been through a shredder. Anecdotally, I feel like I've had less trouble with rentals since upgrading to my Oppo 970, but that's compared to a 2nd/3rd? gen Toshiba that was 8 years old at the time of replacement.

-Brent


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## whines

salvasol said:


> If I recall correctly: Most CD player wont play scratched CD's :yes::yes: ... you can try buying a disc repair kit (I think that's how is called) ... go to any Best Buy or Circuit City and ask for the repair kit ...:huh::huh:


Excellent observation. Scratched discs are harder to play back properly. Some players do a better job than others dealing with this, which is what I was asking about.

I am aware of disc repair kits. The local used DVD shops considerately use them as well. Very kind of them! Naturally, these do not fix all problems, which brings us back to DVD players more tolerant of damaged discs.


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## whines

brent_s said:


> One of the magazines used to publish error correction ability for CD players, but I've never seen anyone do that for DVD players.
> 
> I've seen several suggestions that the Oppos, at least the 97x models, are pretty good at overcoming disc damage. One stretched the hyperbole to saying it would play anything that hadn't been through a shredder. Anecdotally, I feel like I've had less trouble with rentals since upgrading to my Oppo 970, but that's compared to a 2nd/3rd? gen Toshiba that was 8 years old at the time of replacement.
> 
> -Brent



I've seen at least one site that had a detailed methodology for testing error correction on players, including a 'torture disc' that had progressive amounts of damage artificially applied to it. Naturally I can't find that site now that I'm actively looking for that information! Hopefully it's still out there somewhere.

The Oppo players are tempting, particularly since I use a projector with only component inputs (no HDMI), and I recall at least one model putting out a good signal over component...


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## Funkmonkey

You can remove the Oppo 981-HD from this list, I am returning mine because it has been struggling with lightly scratched rental DVDs. I have cleaned them and it still gets stuck. The same disk plays without a hitch in my Sony PS2, and on my iMac.


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## sherm1940

I have a membership to Netflix and have had for at least 5 years and I have used at least a half dozen dvd players. I currently own a Sony NS-50P, OPPO 981, Phillips 642, and a couple of Panasonics, have also tried out Pioneer, used to own a JVC, Toshiba, so I have experience with many brands. I have not bought a new dvd player in about 2-3 years. Sony used to and may still advertise that their technology is especially good at playing back hard to play and damaged dvds that other players cannot. I can tell you in my experience THIS IS TRUE. My Sony's (although not my most expensive players) easily play back some dvds from Netflix and also self made DVD'S that have skipped or frozen on every other machine I have tried but NOT had problems on the Sony's. It is extremely, extremely rare that the Sony cannot playback a disc unless it is visibly very damaged or actually cracked. 

It has been at least 2 years since I bought a new player so by this time maybe there are other players out there that are now as good as the SONY in this respect but I have no way of knowing.

IN MY EXPERIENCE THE SONY PLAYERS I HAVE USED ARE EASILY THE BEST PLAYERS TO PLAY BACK DAMAGED OR HARD TO READ DVD'S OF ANY AND ALL THE OTHER PLAYERS I HAVE TRIED. I HAVE NOT TRIED AND DO NOT OWN ANY BLU RAY PLAYERS AT THIS TIME. THE SONY'S I HAVE ALSO LEAVE VERY LITTLE TO BE DESIRED AS FAR AS PICTURE QUALITY GOES THEY ARE EXCELLENT.

NO, I DO NOT WORK FOR SONY!


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## chadnliz

Not only is the older Lexicon RT10 a awesome standard def DVD player, aswell as a simply fantastic CD, SACD and DVDA player it is amazing what you can read on it as far as scratched disc's the kids throw on it or that come from Netflix. You also have a ton of video adjustments for color, gama, contrast, black filter and progressive motion. It really is a awesome unit IMO still better than Oppo at 480P DVD. The go for around $500 used but listed for $3500 onlu a few years ago. You cant go wrong with these babies!


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