Will CD or DVD player play back quality deterate through time?

Question

I was told the laser beam will gradually losing its signal pick up ability.

is it true? how long is the life of a regular CD and DVD player?

Shouldn't we buy any old machines from eBay?

Answer 1

It is true that over time the laser or sensor may pick up dirt and debris and cease to function optimally. They can be cleaned though with a special cleaner disk however to restore that function however.

DVDs and CDs can get scratched over time also and can cause drop outs in the audio and/or video. The disc can also be cleaned and polished with special machines or kits to restore them to near new condition.

The motor or belt drive in the player will probably fail before the laser and sensor do. The disc drawer gear and motor assembly could also be one of the first things to fail. Other components like capacitors will fail over time also, but that will be more like 25 years or longer.

Bottom line: As long as the DVD/CD is clean and scratch free and the laser/sensor is clean there should be no difference in quality.

Answer 2

An old CD/DVD player may deteriorate sufficiently until the player will no longer play at all, or will skip with more and more CDs. You may hear more jitter, and that certainly counts as deterioration of sound quality.  Still, in my experience, the first thing to fail on a CD player has been the drive motor or the tray.  And those failures result in total inability to access the data on the CD.

Answer 3

the quality won't decrease steadily over time.  it's either going to work, or it's not going to work.  moving parts on any device will eventually wear out.  as long as you keep everything clean, and don't abuse it, the quality should be the same throughout its lifespan.