Rotel 1040 dvd/cd player will not read dvds anymore it has in the past but has quit reading dvd it will read cd fine....is this a laser issue??

The read laser is either really dirty or bad. Try running a DVD cleaner CD in it.

Have a detailed answer on wiki.answers under how to fix a dvd player. My conclusion is : 1. If the cd or dvd player won't start a disc (might display 'no disc') open the box and get good access to the laser lens (quite easy in many models). Clean the lens with an ear-bud (q-tip) and add some alcohol (I used after shave) on to aid the clean if there are still reading problems. Persevere with cleaning before trying option 2.
2. If it's selectively rejecting certain dvd's (and the problem might have become worse with time) consider ever-so-slightly bending the fine wires that suspend the lens over the laser, in an upward direction. Be very careful and read all the observations above first (on Wiki).

In most cases when the CD does not play it is possible that the optical head is a suspect. Sometimes it might pick up ordinary audio CD but will not play other formats. This indicates that the optical head is weak and so there is no detection or scanning of the CD . If the optical is working the tracks will be read immediately but with no scanning the laser head can be defective.

The main motor will not work in some cases as unless the tracks are read the drive motor will not work with signal from the processor. Also in some cases the central motor base can shift and so the distance to the disc can be more resulting in low detection. You can pull up the spindle to come closer.
Sometimes certain cleaner disks will not be tracked to run for cleaning as it will not be read and so will reject. Hence it is ideal to manually clean the laser head eye using a cleaning swap /cotton bud with gentle pressure on the lens eye.
If there is no result then watch if the CD spins or tries to spin. If so the board seems to work unless a test is taken on the main board but the possibility of a defective optical head can be the suspected fault.
If any of the above seems otherwise we must recheck with possibilities of a malfunction of the main processor board

Unfortunately, the DVD laser diode is probably faulty. a separate laser diode is used for reading CDs so these still work. The laser unit will require replacing.

if it doesnt read any kind of dvd discs at all it only means you have been rip off. It happened to my sony dvd player that I bought from this website. I tested it and it only reads cd or audio cd. Good thing my couzin fixes electronics, He checked on the lens and it turned out that the lens has been replaced with an audio/cd lens like the one we use for our car stereo. Too bad!!!

Had the same symptom. The unit would play CDs but not DVDs. The DVD laser was at fault. Purchased and replaced laser unit KHM-313AHC (ebay- $20) and it now works fine.

Could be a bad drive, as DVD lasers are a little different than just CD lasers. The laser may be bad for one, but the other can work. I had this issue, had to buy a new drive.

Does the player play Audio disks? if so then it could be a software issue. It sounds more like the CD laser has died on your unit. The CD/DVD unit has two lasers, one for the CD side of things and another for the DVD. If still under warranty get replacement.
Hope this helps.
don

Well I fixed the problem myself by taking yhe cover off and cleaning the laser with a cue tip and alchohol very gently of course. I guess it was not reading the disc the first time it closed because some foreign object , works fine now

Have you tried cleaning lense with soft cloth and alcohol? Sometimes cd or dvd cleaners do not work well for some systems.