Why does my DVD lag (freezing) when playing?

[lazyturbo]

When I play some DVDs, including the Matrix, the movie starts to pause for like a second, every minute or so. And the lights on the DVD player go bright and dark....like its having a hard time. It doesnt usually happen at the beginning of the DVD, but more to the end, when I'm about an hour or so into the DVD.

I ask other people, and they say that they sometimes have the same problem when playing movies on other DVD players. Why does this happen and how can this be fixed?

[malisamson]

is it a retail copy or a selfmade dvd?

[RottenFoxBreath]

get a better dvd player,some no brand,cheap ass,play everything player.
and if there burned movies,then use better discs,some quality ones wouldnt go amiss.
if there originals,then make sure there not dirty,or the laser isnt dirty.
it may be that its on its way out,some older dvd players tended to get hot,so it could be dying.

[ROF]

If the lights are dimming and such that sounds like a power supply issue. Your player may also have trouble reading across the layer break if this happens later on in the disc. Quite a few cyberhome players have this issue and also a couple Sony's. There are probably others too but those are the ones I've noted that have layer break issues with both burnt and pressed media. The lights dimming and fading however sounds like a power fluctuation. I don't want to frighten you but as a warning a power fluctuating device can eventually spark and cause a fire.

[mech1]

If the lights are dimming and such that sounds like a power supply issue. Your player may also have trouble reading across the layer break if this happens later on in the disc. Quite a few cyberhome players have this issue and also a couple Sony's. There are probably others too but those are the ones I've noted that have layer break issues with both burnt and pressed media. The lights dimming and fading however sounds like a power fluctuation. I don't want to frighten you but as a warning a power fluctuating device can eventually spark and cause a fire.

agreed. I experience the occasional pause in playback but it's more to do with the layering of the dvd and not a power issue. sounds like lazyturbo is experiencing a power glitch as you mentioned.