CED VideoDisc and Player Discussion

[tom250e]

Hello! I called myself searching for some info on what to look for when inspecting a disc but didn't seem to get much.

First, regarding the inner circle area beginning at about 3/4" from the center hole and extending outward for an inch or so - is damage in this area important? I have acquired several new discs and a couple of them have a round ding in this area. If the needle plays here these discs are junk.

Second, since a new stylus is expensive, is there any kind of pictoral guide as to what disc defects are probably ok vs. those that would probably be damaging to the stylus?

Thanks,
Tom (a relative newbie to CEDs)
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Tom250e

[cedmagic]

Marks you see on the raised center section of the disc are unimportant, as there is a special DAXI code recorded at the end of the grooved band that tells the player to lift the stylus and go into unload (reject) mode. Unlike most audio LP turntables, the linear tracking pickup arm of a CED player can't advance to the raised center section even if you try to push it there by hand.

Regarding damage to places where the stylus does go, look for any cracks in the disc surface which could catch the stylus and rip the tip off. Usually when a disc cracks it does so all the way through or has a large bite-size piece broken off. But occasionally there is just a small nick broken off the edge. Discs with a small nick might be playable, but it does pose a risk to the stylus.

The most common damage is groove compression due to discs being stored in a flat stack or otherwise being subjected to overly weight on a flat caddy. This can be spotted by observing what appears to be scruffing on the grooved band, and also by abrasion where the raised center section falls off to the grooved band. Although scruffed discs can be usually be played with a lot of skipping and lousy video, they do have a detrimental effect on the life of the stylus tip.

Some discs might have what appears to be a concentric grind mark on the surface where no playback is possible. These discs seem to get this damage on J/K players when the disc fails to drop all the way down on the turntable and the metal edge of the pickup arm grinds a ring around the wobbly spinning disc. This localized concentric damage can also happen when a particular scene on a disc has been played over-and-over again many times.

-- Tom Howe

[tom250e]

Thanks Tom for some much needed and highly valued info!
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Tom250e