Any way to detect a badly burned DVD? Trying to weed out bad burns from my massive collection

I'm sure that there are a number of pieces of software out there that will do the job, but what I use is a "hardware" solution. I have a DVD duplicator like this one. It has a test function. It will also verify disks so if you are making copies of a disk, it will compare the origianl to the copy. Yeah, I know, it's merely another piece of equipment, but it doesn't tie up any of my machines when I use it.

Look for Nero DiskSpeed to scan the disk and report parity errors. The number of uncorrectable parity errors is the key item to look for. However, not all DVD drives will support the low-level functions required by the software. You will have to try it and see. You also need to pay attention to the read-speed you are testing at. A disk that tests poorly at the drives max read speed may test much better at speeds approaching a DVD player.

The danger with this type of testing is that PC DVD drives are generally vastly superior in their abilities to read marginal media vs. the drives found in consumer DVD players. So just because you can read the disk on the PC doesn't mean it will play in a DVD player without issues. The good part is the reverse -- if the disk starts skipping in your DVD player, your PC burner will most likely be able to read it in which case you can use ImgBurn to do a quick rip and re-burn/verify.

Like many medical tests, the true value of disk testing is realized by testing over time. If you have a test scan recorded soon after the disk was burned, you have a reference point for future testing to see if there is true deterioration and the extent of it. Of course that is too much trouble for all but the most anal dedicated.

Truthfully I've found the opposite to be true 99% of the time, that is when trying to backup a "iffy" DVD my PCs will crap out somewhere during the initial discovery or else during the actual rip but the same disc will play no problem in one of my standalone DVD players. My Pioneer players seem the best for playing iffy discs but at times one of my Sonys or even Samsungs may play a disc that would lock up one of the other players. The only time I've found what you said to be true is with some of my Windata DL burnt discs. About 20% of the time they have bad lockup issues when playing them back on a standalone player(mostly my Sonys have the issues but occasionally my Pios which if that is the case I just burn another copy which generally plays just fine). The funny thing is the same discs that have issues playing in my standalones seem to copy back to the PC just fine at which point I can burn a copy of that image and again generally the copy of the copy will play just fine in my strandalones. I never have problems with Verbatim DLs but at $35-$50/50 they are significantly pricier than what I get the Windatas for on sale, $30/100. The Windatas always seem to play fine on the first layer but the problems arise on the second layer(or I'm guessing since the problems generally start at ~ the half way point of whatever I'm copying).
Whenever using one of the Windatas I've got into the habit of playing them back right after the burn, visually search at the fastest speed which generally takes <5 minutes. If the disc plays I'm good if it locks up a bit(with my most prone player) I call it good, if it locks up badly or even a bit on my best player I burn another copy from my PC. I'm hoping the discs won't degrade even worse over time, if this happens I'll be kind of bummed and will be kicking myself for not following my advise to only use Verbatim DL media I never put anything irreplaceable on the Windatas, just DVD backups so if they start crapping out I will just be out the time and nominal cost of the blanks.

SUBJECT: Recovering CDs / DVDs with Errors...
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1. Quote:

   Originally Posted by Kelson 
   
   ....The danger with this type of testing is that PC DVD drives are generally vastly superior in their abilities to read marginal media vs. the drives found in consumer DVD players...
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2. Quote:

   Originally Posted by jjeff 
   
   Truthfully I've found the opposite to be true 99% of the time...

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So here you now have *TWO* DVDR Gurus with differing opinions.

As a NON-DVDR Guru, with decades of technical experience, I'd suggest "1X Real-Time" as the *ABSOLUTE* way to test your discs. Keep in mind that *ALL* CD / DVD Readers / Players have "Error Correcting Algorithms" because they *EXPECT* errors to appear on *EVERY* CD / DVD. Whether or not they can correct it is dependent on the Reader / Player.

Sooo, *IF* you have a CD /DVD which WILL NOT playback correctly, you need to find a DEVICE which *WILL* playback it correctly and then use THAT device to feed to the OUTPUT to a Recorder to create a new *ERROR FREE* copy.

Easy, Peasy!

IMO the most useful test in CDSpeed is the 'Transfer Rate Test' (TRT).