Hey guys, I make a lot of DVD videos mainly of motorsport but there is a question i have always wondered about and since buying a new pack of DVD's today it has made me wonder. Basically every time i pop a blank DVD into my DVD burner i have a look under it to check for marks/scratches. I would say 80-90% of the time even with a new blank disc there is often at least 1 very small bit of dust or a very small light scratch etc. and i would imagine some small marks/dust gets on the underside when i put it into the tray as well before burning begins. It seems that no manafacturer supplies packs of DVD's where there are not small bits of dust and imprefections on many discs in a pack. My question is i wonder is the laser capable of penetrating dust and other small scratches during the burning process? For example if i put the a DVD disc on to burn and it goes 100% with no errors can i take it that 100% of the data has definately copied to the disc with no issues? or could it try to burn a small piece of data and if there was a bit of dust or a scratch it could skip and not manage to burn the data and this maybe would not be reported by the dvd burning software? I just want to know that if i burn a DVD and it burns 100% and then finalises then i can take for definate that 100% of my data is on there and i wont in the future sit there and realise a bit of the video skips or is corrupt because of a grain of dirt etc. This may seem like a stupid question but i have always wondered! cheers
As the data is burned, it is checked, and if there is an error eg because the disk is damaged you get a "failed burn" message. In addition, most burning apps that I know of have a "verify data" option you can select. Nero certainly does. After the disk is burned, the data is read back and compared with the original, and if an discrepancy is found you are notified. Optical disks such as CDs and DVDs are tolerant of a few minor scratches and dust, otherwise they would not be practical. That does not mean your data is there for ever more. Some DVD disks are only claimed to last 10 years before deterioration might set in, and scratches and other damage can always happen after the burn.
