Hey all! Here's the problem...skips, blips, corruptions on a DVD can be the result of lots of things: physical disc imperfections or damage, bad mastering...etc. It is also the case that there is wide variation in the ability of DVD players--different models and brands--to get past these blips. Some models are more sensitive in their calibration than others...some are "smarter" in their ability to get past imperfections and corruptions. It's also the case that the same disc played on two different machines may get different results.
There is software that perports to do kind of checking you're talking about (see for eg http://mp3.about.com/od/cdanddvdsoftware/tp/Free-Disk-Scanning-Software.htm). The jury is out on the effectiveness of most of these packages. There is also very expensive hardware that claims do it (eg http://www.discchek.com/discchekcube.html) gary handman > Again, I am appealing to the collective wisdom of the list. We have just > been asked by faculty if there is software to check on the "playability" > of dvds. > > The situation is that a film history adjunct played one of our copies of > Rear Window at the weekend, and evidently our copy stopped playing in the > middle of the film. The adjunct had brought his own copy and so the class > was saved. But he is asking how this situation can be prevented in the > future. He was suggesting that our AV staff preview every film he is to > show! > > > Of course, we cannot do this for every dvd used by our faculty. However, > the head of the Communications Dept. asked if there is a software that > does pre-checking in a timely fashion. He actually asked, "And short of > playing every film, is there a way we can quickly determine if a disk or > any files are damaged? I seem to recall some software for PC computers > that quickly checked the files for errors or scratches." > > > > Is anyone familiar with this software or any other way of quickly checking > if dvds are playable? > > > ML > Mary Lou Neighbour > AV Librarian/Assistant Professor > Montgomery County Community College > 340 DeKalb Pike > Blue Bell, PA 19422 > [email protected] 215-619-7355 > > > > > > > ________________________________ > Montgomery County Community College is proud to be designated as an > Achieving the Dream Leader College for its commitment to student access > and success. > VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of > issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic > control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in > libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve > as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of > communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video > producers and distributors. > Gary Handman [email protected] “Blessed are the cracked, for they shall let in the light.” --Groucho Marx VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and distributors.
