Wavelet packet based detection of surface faults on compact discs

In this paper the detection of faults on the surface of a compact disc is addressed. Surface faults like scratches and fingerprints disturb the on-line measurement of the pick-up position relative to the track. This is critical since the pick-up is focused on and tracked at the information track based on these measurements. A precise detection of the surface fault is a prerequisite to a correct handling of the faults in order to protect the pick-up of the compact disc player from audible track losses. The actual fault handling which is addressed in other publications can be carried out by the use of dedicated filters adapted to remove the faults from the measurements. In this paper detection using wavelet packet filters is demonstrated. The filters are designed using the joint best basis method. Detection using these filters shows a distinct improvement compared to detection using ordinary threshold methods.