# DVD player freezing

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-player-freezing/487666>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 27, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-player-freezing/487666 "2009-02-27T15:59:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![nofloyd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nofloyd/32/2870_2.png) [@nofloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nofloyd)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-player-freezing/487666/1 "2009-02-27T15:59:12Z")

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I have a DVD player where the screen freezes badly after a while. The screen pauses, starts, pauses starts, and eventually locks up. Newer DVDs play noticeably worse than older ones I have. I’ve got Simon Pegg’s Spaced and cannot play the last few episodes without getting stuck quickly.

Tried a cleaning product, didn’t expect it would work, and it didn’t. What else can I try? I’ve seen suggestions from the cleaning issue to layering? to wacky reset procedures.

* * *

What’s up with the blu-ray players? I noticed some that will also play old DVD format. Are they worth the money? Is the blu-ray format really taking off? I don’t buy many discs and just want to be able to play what I’ve already got reliably.

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**Author:** ![Erasmus\_Darwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@Erasmus\_Darwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erasmus_Darwin)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-player-freezing/487666/2 "2009-02-27T17:17:36Z")

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> [@nofloyd](#):
>
> What’s up with the blu-ray players? I noticed some that will also play old DVD format.

They should all play the old DVD format. If it’s missing from the description of a given Blu-Ray player, it’s almost certainly an oversight rather than a short-coming of the player.

> [@](#):
>
> Are they worth the money?

If you’ve got an HD TV and want to take advantage of the HD picture, then yes. If you’re on a standard TV and not planning on upgrading anytime soon, then you’re probably better off sticking with a regular, cheap $30-50 DVD player (assuming no one has a way to fix your existing player). You’d be paying over 4 times that for a Blu-Ray player (as prices are upwards of $200), and it’s the high definition picture that’s the real selling point of Blu-Ray – the other bells and whistles of the format are kinda neat but not enough to justify the price.

Oh, and if you go with a Blu-Ray player, make sure you get an HDMI cable (assuming your TV had an HDMI input) and don’t pay more than $15 for one. Best Buy, for example, will try and grossly overcharge you for $100 HDMI cables. If you can’t find reasonable cables locally, it’s worth ordering them online.

> [@](#):
>
> Is the blu-ray format really taking off?

Yes. The competing HD-DVD standard has failed as far as movie distribution goes. At this point, I think it’s safe to say that Blu-Ray is the next standard.

> [@](#):
>
> I don’t buy many discs and just want to be able to play what I’ve already got reliably.

In that case, a regular DVD player (or an upconverting DVD player if you’ve got a high definition TV) might still be a better choice. You only get the benefits of Blu-Ray when watching movies on Blu-Ray discs. In addition, the Blu-Ray discs are a little more expensive. So it’s a trickier call. Also, I don’t think TV shows (such as Spaced) are going to benefit nearly as much from Blu-Ray unless they’re high def to begin with.