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DVD Players

Symptom: I see glitches in the video during playback.

Minor: Don't worry if your DVD player seems to pause for a second about halfway through playing a movie. If it always happens at the same point in the film, you're most likely dealing with a normal feature of DVD mastering called a layer switch. Many DVDs store data on two layers: The first spirals outward from the center of the disc, and the second spirals inward from the edge. The pause occurs as the DVD player adjusts its laser to focus on the second layer and reverses the direction the laser is moving. This pause can be more or less pronounced depending on the player you use, but it is normal and no cause for concern.

Moderate: If your video appears vertically stretched or squashed, you've tripped over a DVD feature called anamorphic encoding. Many DVDs use this feature to enhance picture quality on TVs that support a wide-screen mode. It looks great when it's working, but if your TV and DVD player aren't set up correctly, you get stretched or pinched visuals. To return things to proper working order, you should first check your manual to determine what modes your TV supports. If your set supports an anamorphic or wide-screen mode, set your DVD player to work in 16:9 wide-screen mode. If not, choose one of the 4:3 picture modes. A DVD Web site called The Digital Bits has a great tutorial on anamorphic DVDs.

Dire: The worst glitch most DVD players encounter is a disc that freezes or skips. If you experience this type of garbled video--and it can look pretty ugly the first time you see it--your DVD is smudged or scratched. Clean it with a dust-free cloth to remove smudges. Unfortunately, some scratches can be too deep or wide for a player to read. You can try a specialized cleaner like SkipDoctor, but there's no guarantee it will fix every disc, and you may be stuck replacing the disc.

Michael Desmond is a freelance writer based in Colchester, Vermont. Woody Leonhard's latest book, Office 2003 Timesaving Techniques for Dummies, just hit store shelves.