A TechLore "Ask the Experts" Question...

Question:

My portable dvd player (Sony DVP-FX701) freezes a frame for several minutes and the dvd spins until I shut down the power. This doesn't happen all of the time and discs that it has happened with are successfully played thru the frame at other times. This is a new player and has been used about a dozen times. The freeze frame occurred during 4 of the playings. In each instance the player played successfully for about 1 1/2 hrs before frame freeze and disc spinning. Thanks for any help.

-submitted by bob20

Answer:

Many commercial films are written to what's known as dual-layer DVD discs, which are like two DVDs sandwiched together. Movie studios try to pack as much cool stuff as they can onto a DVD, so by the time you add movie trailers, documentaries, and other special features, the amount of space necessary far exceeds the 4.7GB capacity of a regular DVD disc. Using a dual-layer disc expands the capacity to 9.4GB, which is enough to hold the movie and many extras, depending on how long the film is.

What you seem to be experiencing is a problem related to the DVD player changing layers (when it must adjust the focus of the laser to read the second layer of the disc), which is usually indicated by a brief pause during playback. In the early days of DVD, many players had difficulty during the layer change, which could cause the DVD player to lock up during playback.

In other cases, a badly formatted or damaged disc could be the culprit, so you should check the condition of the DVDs that are giving you problems. Since you mentioned that sometimes they work, your problem could stem from a scratch or a fingerprint. But, if the condition of the DVD is flawless, you may have to consider getting your DVD player repaired, replaced, or exchanged (since you mentioned it was new).

Since it is a portable DVD player, you may want to try running the DVD player when it is plugged into an AC receptacle. This will at least rule out any relationship to the battery, though a remote possibility. But, portable devices do strange things when its battery is low.

Use the discussion page to let us know what happens.

Matt Whitlock Editor - TechLore.com