1. A magnetic media drive for analyzing magnetic media surfaces for thermal erasures and other characteristics comprising: a drive channel module configured to measure gain control values for a magnetic media surface, the magnetic media surface having multiple positions where each position includes a servo wedge on which servo samples including a preamble signal is recorded on servo tracks of the magnetic media surface, the gain control values represent the amount of gain applied by the drive channel module to the preamble signal to acquire a desired amplitude; an acquisition module in communication with the drive channel module, the acquisition module configured to receive a request for measurement of gain control values for a magnetic media surface according to one or more measurement parameters indicating the scope of the measurement and acquiring the gain control values according to the measurement parameters; a configuration module configured to arrange the acquired gain control values in accordance with their proximity to each other and to organize the gain control values to generate one or more images that represent changes in the characteristics of the magnetic media surface; an analysis module configured to analyze the one or more images to detect patterns in the one or more images that represent a change in the characteristic of the magnetic media surface and to analyze the patterns to determine measurement values that coincide with the change in the characteristic of the magnetic media surface.