I e-mailed Acorn Media, the DVD producer, and received a swift response saying that sometimes DVDs are encoded so they can't be copied on a computer (and presumably that could be causing the noise problem I'm experiencing).
It's strange that, out of all the DVDs I have, though, that no other DVD has done this.
Does anyone have any ideas?
Acorn said to try it in a regular DVD player, but I don't have one.
Hmmm...
I play almost all of my DVDs on my computer (I have a 20" flat panal monitor but only regular TVs (one of these days I really need to do something about that
)). And there is indeed an encoding that prevents certain DVDs from being copied - I own several like that - but I've never experienced anything like what you've described. However, some DVDs, even those without copyguard protection, can have playback problems. Unfortunately there's still no standard DVD encoding process and some drives/players have problems with certain methods - particularly the older methods. The problem you're having might relate to that. But even if it's just a copyguard issue, there might still be good news because there might be some sort of workaround available online for your drive. Try visiting the Web site for your drive's manufacturer or the one for its software and read up on any available upgrades.
Now for the bad news. What you're describing sounds more like the drive isn't recognizing the DVD at all - and presuming it is a region 1 DVD, that shouldn't be caused by encoding/copyguard problems. In the past I've had to upgrade my DVD drive to get it to play certain DVDs, but even when it couldn't necessarily play them, it did recognize them and it didn't make any of the noises you describe. However, a defective DVD (or CD) would sound like that. So, you might want to ask a friend if you or they can try playing the DVD in their player just to see what happens. If that player doesn't recognize it, then you've probably got a bigger problem.