I am sorry this is a very randomn question

Basically I have a panasonic dvd recorder which is not working as well as it used to and when I try to record/convert anything to blank dvd discs for some reason any that have a metallic or shiny surface to the disc (I mean the top side) it won't finalise the disc no matter what i do

The only disc I have found to work fine with my recorder has been "mr dvd" ones that have a matte type surface and here is a scan of one of the discs
http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/8580/mrdvddisc.jpg

I have seen on ebay you can get these discs in packs of 10 or more however I have messaged the sellers and they are not the same as the one I am referring to as they have metallic tops
The matte version I have got were from 99p shops in packs of 5..and I have seen them in pound shops also..but where I live I can no longer get them!

i am basically asking if anybody may know where I could get either these exact discs or ones that would have a matte surface like these discs..but possibly not the ones you can print on as these don't seem to work either for me?

sony dvd's have a matte white surface.

i use them most of the time. never had an issue


-----
try this though - you can clean the disk spindle on panny recorders. there is a thread with some photos on DS, but I can't find it. if it gets dirty, the disks slip very slightly, enough to affect recordings

here is another link, which explains this

http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/3...needs-cleaning

thanks gemma!..I have tried sony ones but they were also way too shiny and slippery?..unless your sony ones are different? do you have a link?

As your recorder is faulty, I would suggest you either get it repaired or replace it - any recordings you make are likely to be marginal, even when you can find the odd disc that will work.

I'm struggling to work out how on earth the upper surface of a disk can have any effect whatsoever on the recording. I suspect it is more something to do with the dye on the recording surface of the disk and that those disks that work just happen to have a matte upper surface. I would be extremely surprised indeed if the shininess or otherwise of the upper surface is the true cause of the disks failing or working.

A much more likely explanation is that the laser in the recorder is not working as well as it used to. It is very common for lasers in CD/DVD/Blu-Ray players and recorders to wear out. Over time the output of the laser degrades and while the player/recorder can compensate for some of that there does come a time when only total replacement of the laser will solve the problem.

I think you are right, although I guess it could happen if the upper part of the clamp is worn, maybe it cannot quite grip as well on shinier surfaces, but even if that was the case the Panasonic is still faulty then and it will only get worse and eventually probably wont be able to grip any discs.

But in reality like you, I suspect it is the dye used on the discs, or even a faulty laser.

Actually, there's clear evidence that the top surface of a DVD-R can have an effect on its playing qualities. I had several cases of recordings that played normally, but went belly-up as soon as printed labels were affixed; labels with a lot of cyan in the design seemed particularly affected. Removing the offending label with gentle heat restored the normal performance. I have four different disc players, and they all showed the same effect. I never discovered an explanation, but put it down to an odd fluorescence effect. Reverting to printable discs (assuming a compatible printer) cures the problem.
Mike

Most disk mechanisms I've taken apart have a clamp that grips the inner circle of plastic in the disk which is not usually printed on. It's just bare plastic.

As you say a worn clamp could fail to grip properly but as I said I doubt the finish on the top surface of the disk would make a lot of difference.

I assume you mean stick-on printed labels. It's generally *not* recommended to use those as any unevenness in application can unbalance the disc and cause wobbling on playback. (Remember that DVDs and CDs can rotate at very high speeds, so even minor imbalances can be a problem).

If you want printed discs, stick (no pun intended!) to discs that have a printable surface- and in fact, re-reading what you said, I note that you did just this and it solved the problem... so enough said!

As for the OP, unless it's a problem with the disc gripping (as someone else suggested), there shouldn't be any reason that the top (non-read) surface should affect things.

It's possible that the Mr DVD media just happen to be more compatible with a tempramental drive than other discs (i.e. nothing to do with the label per se). Bear in mind that I'm 99.9% certain that "Mr DVD" discs are made by someone else, as few blank DVDs are actually made by the company that sells them (not even most of the "big names").

*If* they're originally made by Ritek, that would explain why they had good compatibility (Ritek's dye having a good reputation in compatibility terms). Of course, if the "Mr DVD" distributors decide to switch to a different underlying disc (e.g. one made by CMC) as often happens, the brand is meaningless.

Only if the label is heavy or lopsided unbalancing the disc, otherwise the top side has no effect at all on the laser/reader.

My 3 year old Sony HDD/DVD recorder is showing signs of disc judder due to dirty spindle grips so that I don't always get a successful burn using my usual Verbatims but I've started using these maxells

http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/memory-.../invt/0289093/

which come shrink wrapped (dvd+r also available).
I've seen them in WHSmiths as well but there are different maxells, these particular ones have a matt ring coating on the upper side around the central hole. The rest of the disc is plain gold with a faint maxell dvd-r logo etched on the left side.
So far I've had around 30 problem free burns with them.

Completely inaccurate in the case of recordable media, some of which you can see daylight through, which opens the possibility of reflected scatter. Whatever the mechanism involved, I tested the effect by using duplicate recordings, one with an unprinted stick-on label, and one printed. All labels were affixed using the Neato centring device. The plain label had no effect, the printed one caused the usual drop-out and freezing after about twenty minutes playing. I'm not alone in reporting this: there was considerable activity on the forums a few years ago on the subject. Not relevant now with printable stock available.
In the OP's case, of course, there's an obvious malfunction.
Mike.
PS discs involved include Infiniti, Verbatim and Imation.

A disk being virtually transparent was about the only mechanism I could think of for a label having an effect. I could imagine that a patch of label colour could affect the reflective properties of the disk and perhaps in turn affect reading the data correctly.

Yea no, you have a sample size of almost nothing, if the discs were that fragile then writing on them with a sharpie would cause write errors, more likely your labels unbalance the disc and you were unfortunate. Dvd spins at ~1500rpm, you are asking for trouble whenever you apply something to the disk. Googling there are various theories on the paper/humidity/shrinkage/warping/not having the same elastic properties as plastic etc, but almost no mentions of laser scatter as that seems extremely unlikely. You could test this out spray painting transparent discs with various colours, I doubt you will though.

Just to let everyone know I cleaned the inside rubber thing and now it works perfectly again lol..but honestly it was only letting me finalise discs with the matte surface and I could hear any discs with siny surfaces slipping in some way
although I do feel a bit stupid now when I just needed to clean it

I wish I could do that with my Sony RDR-HXD890.
I've come across many posts in various forums saying it's easy with Panasonics but it's meant to be almost impossible to open up and gain access to the rings in Sonys or Pioneers.

A trick I've read and use sometimes is spreading a thin layer of saliva around the center hole. I use a fine artist's brush to pick some up from the back of my hand and paint a ring on the upper and lower side of the disc. If you put too much it'll just spin off everywhere and may land on the lens.
This can eliminate severe judder to zero if you use just the right amount and each successive use of this trick picks up a little more dirt from the rings until it's not needed for another few months.

I'd rather open it up and clean it though but can't find any instructions.