Will not play rental dvd, but does play one purchased recently

Each DVD player is assigned a code for the region in which it's sold. For example USA/Canada are Region 1 players. DVD players will refuse to play discs not coded for its specific region. In effect, this means that a DVD purchased in one country is normally unreadable on a DVD player bought in another region.

If your rental DVDs work in the player then there is nothing wrong with your DVD player. If you have purchased DVDs that do not work the problem is with the DVDs you have, not with the DVD player.

quite possible that the copyright was over ridden and the laser isn't reading the correct format. most dvd's are written in AVI or MPEG or MOV format. a copyright off the main disk has a protection line in it when the dvd is re-recorded that locks out the disk's contents. a regular recorded dvd plays.

This unit has had problems playing dual layered dvds and since most newer are Dl try a older rental Movie and see if that works

The chances of getting 2 bad rentals in a row are very slim, but not impossible. If your player plays all other DVDs fine, then my money's on the Redbox DVDs being bad, or even fake (people have been known to keep the actual movies, and return fakes to the machine).

Some of the rental dvd's are smudged or scratched, I use luke warm water and gently wipe with a paper towel till dry.

does your vhs/dvd can copy to copy from dvd to vhs, if yes this might be the problem.

possibly check the setup of the player. some dvd's will not work in most players. check the manual. if under warranty take back to store. or better yet buy another one like it and take the one that is bad back to the store with the new receipt.