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I am probably the most paranoid freak ever, when it comes to data integrity, corruption, error correction, CD scratches, cable interference, and so on. I stand there for 5 minutes making sure my discs are dust free before I put them in the drive, I make sure no data cable anywhere is touching another one, etc. If a hard drive ever errors in any way, I immediately assume that it is ruined forever and that no data should touch it ever again. I need help, is there someone out there with a more realistic viewpoint on this subject?
For instance, when I encounter what seems like a strange visual or aural anomaly in a game, my first obsessive instinct is to blame a scratch on the disc that must have somehow made the drive read that particular visual or audio file incorrectly. If it was on the computer, I would also worry that it was some problematic sector of a hard drive (do hard drives even HAVE error correction?). With music and movies, I worry that the disc is now not 100% faithful to the original integrity.
I just bought Deus Ex for the PS2 and it has a varietly of slight scratches all around the disc (regular and speckle scratches), and I am freaking out that there will now be some obscure read error in the game that I'll eventually find, and I am already considering purchasing the game again. Even dye inconsistencies on the underside of the disc are enough to set me off.
So how effective is error correction on data CDs and DVDs, exactly? Is it possible that while one scratch can be corrected with the greatest of ease, another in a different spot could wreak havoc on the entire structure of the software? Or does it have to be scratched in the same place multiple times to even be an issue? Some scratches are wider than others, some are "speckles". How thick can a scratch be? Will a solid scratch vs a faint scratch of the same width have any difference? And what exactly is the end result in something like a game, is an obscure anomaly even possible, or will I always be informed right away that there is a problem with the disc? Can I expect it to go ERROR, or will I find a missing sound file or a pink warped game texture down the road
Please help soothe a tortured mind, this is ridiculous. I know there are standards for a reason and they expect minor damage, but they don't really educate the public about the implications and it's eating away at me...
Edit: Woops, maybe this should go in the optical forum. I always miss those sub-forums.
For instance, when I encounter what seems like a strange visual or aural anomaly in a game, my first obsessive instinct is to blame a scratch on the disc that must have somehow made the drive read that particular visual or audio file incorrectly. If it was on the computer, I would also worry that it was some problematic sector of a hard drive (do hard drives even HAVE error correction?). With music and movies, I worry that the disc is now not 100% faithful to the original integrity.
I just bought Deus Ex for the PS2 and it has a varietly of slight scratches all around the disc (regular and speckle scratches), and I am freaking out that there will now be some obscure read error in the game that I'll eventually find, and I am already considering purchasing the game again. Even dye inconsistencies on the underside of the disc are enough to set me off.
So how effective is error correction on data CDs and DVDs, exactly? Is it possible that while one scratch can be corrected with the greatest of ease, another in a different spot could wreak havoc on the entire structure of the software? Or does it have to be scratched in the same place multiple times to even be an issue? Some scratches are wider than others, some are "speckles". How thick can a scratch be? Will a solid scratch vs a faint scratch of the same width have any difference? And what exactly is the end result in something like a game, is an obscure anomaly even possible, or will I always be informed right away that there is a problem with the disc? Can I expect it to go ERROR, or will I find a missing sound file or a pink warped game texture down the road
Please help soothe a tortured mind, this is ridiculous. I know there are standards for a reason and they expect minor damage, but they don't really educate the public about the implications and it's eating away at me...
Edit: Woops, maybe this should go in the optical forum. I always miss those sub-forums.