[David Waine]

I have had a Pioneer BDP150 Bluray player for the past three years. It has not been heavily used, but has developed a habit of sticking at apparently random points on some discs. The picture freezes, then sometimes restarts, and sometimes it doesn't. It is definitely not the momentary pause you get when switching between layers. Bizarrely, it only appears to be 'Hunger Games' movies that are affected. I had previously bought the first two, and the second was the one that showed the problem. Believing it to be a faulty disc, I bought the box set of all four movies, but it has started doing the same thing with them as well. It occurred during the closing minutes of 'Mockinjay Part 1.

One thought did occur. The packaging is very neat and compact, but obviously designed by someone who gave no thought as to how the owner was ever going to remove the disc to play it. It is practically impossible to do so without getting fingermarks on it (unless one uses surgical gloves, of course). Could this be the cause of the sticking?

[chrisjr]

You must have very dirty fingers.

Easy enough to check though. Simply gently wipe over the disk with a lightly dampened tissue. Don't scrub as that can cause more harm.

[David Waine]

Thanks for the advice, Chris. I broke the habits of a lifetime and treated my hands to their annual wash a couple of months early to test your suggestion out. That seems to have sorted the problem, at least on a quick inspection. Now I am left with clean hands looking completely out of place when compared with the rest of me. I'll have to be careful. The neighbours might start talking to me.