Take care with your Karaoke discs!
Regular audio discs are fairly forgiving about scratches, dust, smudges and rough handling. All CD players have varying amounts of over-sampling and error correction circuitry that allows the listener to perceive the music as clean and glitch-free even though surface scratches exist.

CD Roms (read-only-memory) discs are manufactured with stricter tolerances and this disc is more associated with computer use and mass storage. The majority of these discs are put into a protective caddie to limit the direct contact with the disc. Scratches and dust may render the discs useless when small bits of data are damaged, causing the program or computer to crash.

Karaoke discs (CDG) are manufactured under the normal specifications of CD's. There is an added sub-code area for storing the text that appears on-screen when played through a Karaoke player. This sub-code area is much more susceptible to damage from scratches because the player cannot correct the data loss the way that it corrects the audio data through error correction. As a result, scratches can cause bits of graphic data to vanish from the screen or appear scrambled and out of place. To get the longest life out of each disc, you must treat all Karaoke discs with the utmost care.

Tips on how to care for your discs
Handle the disc by it edge or centre hole. Keep the disc clean by avoiding touching the data surface. Data is embedded directly beneath the label, protected by a thin lacquer layer and is more vulnerable to damage than the bottom. A scratch that penetrates the label will certainly destroy the data, whereas a scratch on the bottom can often be overlooked or corrected by the laser pickup. Do not write on the label surface. Marking pens may penetrate the top layer. Do not stick paper or tape on the label surface or expose discs to high temperature or humidity for an extended period of time. Allow the discs to reach room temperature before playing if they have been subjected to extreme cold. Preventative cleaning is unnecessary and potentially harmful so only clean when required. Clean your discs with a soft moistened cloth. Pat dry. Wipe your discs from the centre out - like spokes on a wheel. Never wipe across discs like you would LP records.Don't use solvents, commercial cleaners or sprays designed for LP's. Plain lukewarm water is all you need. Always store your discs after use so they are protected.

Worse case scenario
Laser Direct has a commercial disc resurfacing and polishing machine that may be able to renew your discs. Often we can resurface a badly scratched Karaoke, playstation or DVD disc back to new. Although this process is time consuming due to the level of care a disc has to be given - it only costs $10 and $2.50 post and packaging. Allow 3-4 days turnaround. We can resurface most optical discs including laser discs which incur a slightly higher charge.