Disc Polishing

[stevieray]

Good luck! Keep us posted.

 

[seekermeister]

I shall. I just ordered the Novus kit, because I found it a few dollars cheaper on eBay. I noticed that the ad that I found there specifically mentioned using it on CDs, DVDs and video games, so hopefully the first time is the charm.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

ZDAG*LLC*::*US*Market*::*A...

This is pricey but if you can get some friends together to go in on this then it could be a life saver !

 

[seekermeister]

That looks like a nice thing to have, but as you say it is a bit too pricey, and I don't have anyone to share the cost with. Hopefully, since I have encoded almost all of my collection, I won't have many scratched DVDs in the future.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

For car audio I never........never ever use the original disc. I will always make a compilation or make a complete copy and use that. For DVD's I have two 400 disc changers and they handle the disc's fairly well, but you could always make a copy of them and then use the copy. I have also tried the Disc Doctor and it's junk.... but I have found that many scratched discs that can't be played can be copied and the copy plays.....go figure !

 

[seekermeister]

The one thing that I'm wondering about with Disc Doctor (or whatever the name is) is whether it might work well with the Novus polish, instead of using water, like that comes with it. It might be an overkill, but it would keep all of the strokes on the radial pattern. If Novus doesn't work well by itself, I may try using this combination.

 

[seekermeister]

For car audio I never........never ever use the original disc. I will always make a compilation or make a complete copy and use that. For DVD's I have two 400 disc changers and they handle the disc's fairly well, but you could always make a copy of them and then use the copy. I have also tried the Disc Doctor and it's junk.... but I have found that many scratched discs that can't be played can be copied and the copy plays.....go figure !

I had no idea of what a 400 disc changer was, until I Googled it. I admit that they look quite nifty, but still somewhat pricey for what they accomplish, when it is possible to store thousands of movies on 1 1TB hard drive, which costs very little these days.

You probably do get a better quality of resolution which your changers than I do, because I encode to create pretty small files, but it satisfies me.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

I'm a old school and new school blend. Today forward, servers will be the tools of choice. But for someone with a collection of 400 Laserdisc's and approximately 600 DVD's the changer makes a ton of sense back in the day. Hell I'm still spinning vinyl and reel to reel as it's still the finest resolution available next only to live performances and possibly blu-ray audio if it ever gets off the ground? Oh and considering the complexity and that these are only CD/DVD units and not the new Blu-ray ones they were cheap at $300.00 in the day. Amazing to think less than a $100 spinner can hold all of this and more now. I remember when terabytes were only found in air controlled server rooms with halon gas charged cannisters, we've come along way !

 

[seekermeister]

After reading the prices that you mentioned, I rechecked what I had found on ebay, and I suppose that the price difference is because they are Blu Ray, but the cheapest new unit that I found was $789.99. Below that price, everything else was used.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

It appears that Blu-ray just as with our sata opticals are a steep premium over DVD and even the dual layer DVD. There must be a ton of patented circuits going on inside them. My stand alone single blu-ray is a Pioneer Elite unit and it was a steal at $400.00.

 

[seekermeister]

Obviously, I'm no expert on Blu Ray, because I only have one disc. While I do see a definite improvement over regular DVDs, it is not enough that I'm willing to pay out the nose for. Of course, the fact that I haven't been able to get a descent encode on it doesn't improve matters.

 

[electrotune1200]

Obviously, I'm no expert on Blu Ray, because I only have one disc. While I do see a definite improvement over regular DVDs, it is not enough that I'm willing to pay out the nose for. Of course, the fact that I haven't been able to get a descent encode on it doesn't improve matters.

You really won't see the differences on Blu-Ray untill you're screen size starts to hit 40". HDMI cables are a must.

It also depends on the movie as well. Some are just meh transfers, while some are just absolutely beautiful.

 

[seekermeister]

If that be the case, then I will never really need BD movies, because I will never have a TV that large. Even if I could afford it, I don't have the space for it.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Actually for a near field hi-res viewing like we all do with our computers a Blu-ray player added to a great GPU and monitor will enhance the movie watching experience. But the normal sofa watching distances the difference is tougher to see. Lots of factors so it's tough to throw around broad sweeping generalities but the audio, feature options and picture quality make it a strong consideration still. My next media server will have a premium Blu-ray for sure.

 

[seekermeister]

Thanks, I had been considering moving my BD player to my other rig, which is in the bedroom, so a similar viewing distance like a sofa. Now I'll leave it where it is.

 

[A Guy]

To me I think the analogy is like the difference between regular TV, and HDTV. Some people don't see it, but to me it is dramatic. I don't own a BD player, but have seen many. On a good TV, the movies are striking. But then, most I see are 40" and above. A Guy

 

[seekermeister]

You could try a three stage acrylic /plastic polish set, like this one: Novus Acrylic Polish & Scratch Remover Kit w/ 2 oz each of #1, 2 & 3

I haven't used them on cds/dvds, but they work pretty good on other acrylic products. Could be worth a shot. You can do it by hand with a buffer cloth for each grit, or if you've got a random orbit sander, get a pack of buffer pads.

I just want to say that you picked a winner. My Novus order arrived today, and I picked out one of the problem DVDs, and just put a dab of the fine scratch remover on the scratched portion of the disc. I polished it for ~ a minute with firm radial strokes, but I'm not sure that it really mattered whether the strokes were radial or not, because I could see no difference between the polished area and the original, except that the scratches were gone.

I threw the disc into the drive, and broke out HandBrake, and watched it pretty closer, and HandBrake finished encoding the two episodes that it was not able to before, and it held a fairly steady avg. FPS while doing it.

Just a a double check I played the last episode, which I think was the worst previously, and I saw no blocking, distortion or any other kind of problem with the play.

This will make me slightly less paranoid about scratching a disc in the future than I have been, because I feel sure that I can now fix it.

I wish that I could rep you, but since this is the Chillout Room, I can't, but I can thank you.

 

[seekermeister]

Well, I may have joined this party a bit late, but I have had actual results using a high grade automobile polish (specifically, Meguiar's).

I applied it with a microfiber cloth in a radial fashion from the hub to the outside edge. I used very light pressure when applying the polish and also when buffing after it dried. The process was repeated 5 or 6 times.

I had borrowed an imported box set (Blake's 7) from a friend and apparently one of the disks wasn't completely on the hub and got scratched by said hub. Scratched badly enough that the disk wouldn't initialize in a DVD player or computer. After polishing only the damaged area the disk would play perfectly in a computer or standalone player.

Don't know if "microfiber cloth" translates to all cultures, it's the type used for cleaning plastic eyeglass lenses.

Hope this helps.

Kent

electrotune1200,

I have had some success with Rain - X on discs. Apply it and let it dry, then wipe it off with a cotton T-shirt. Repeat again for good measure.

I actually apply it to every new disc I aquire. It add a nice protective barrier. Then when you're done, you can put some on your windshield. Truly amazing stuff.

I have used both of these products, back when I used to fly. They are exceptional products for what they are designed for, and may have worked for my purpose, but I wanted to try the Novus, and now I know that Novus works as well as any product for disc scratches.

 

[stevieray]

I'm glad it worked well for you. Happy viewing!