Jack Briggs

"DVD/CD rot" go mainstream. Interesting story from CNN.

Rarely does a mainstream news story about our favorite software format contain information of any use to an HTF member. But this one is a little more informative than usual. Also, to those of you who are a little heavy-handed when removing a cherished disc from its keepcase, please note the cautionary paragraph about flexing the things.

DVDs and CDs not so indestructable after all.

DanMarquardt

I was hoping that they would have investigated the time that CD-R and DVD-R/W's can last. but I'm glad that it was mentioned at least.

but how many DVD/CD's has anyone lost to this kind of rot?

My DVD Collection

Zen Butler

Thomas Newton

One of the things I dislike about many recent DVD and CD cases is how hard they make it to extract the disc, in a way that doesn't involve unwanted flexing.

Randy Korstick

Except its a Catch-22. When they make them looser then you get floaters which leads to scratched disks and disks that won't play and then the studio catches hell for "putting out bad disks".

...When you eliminate the impossible whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth

Top 20 Films

Paul_Scott

this is one reason i've come around from despising snappers to more than tolerating them.
i have never once had to exert any effort to pry them from their case.
yes, i would still prefer an amary with the ying/yang hub release- but the fact remains i have never had any non-asthetic problems with a snapper



i've had 2 that i know of go bad.
there could very well be more, but there are many titles in my collection that may go several years without being pulled out and watched.
i could esily have a dozen or more that are fully corupted at this point and not know it.

there is no way that anyone can make a statement about something lasting 100 years, unless it is already 100 yrs old.
i take any statements like this with a huge grain of salt-
especially after being told repeatedly in the early 90's that the "LD rot problem" i had been hearing whispers about was confined to discs manufactured in the early 80's and that changes in the replication processes had eliminated that as a concern.
i was being told that by salsmen as well as other supposedly informed collectors.

Steve Y

I have not once had a serious problem extracting a DVD from a snapper or "standard" case. Not once. And I've removed a lot of DVDs from virgin cases of all styles. I have honestly come to the opinion, after having observed friends opening cases and heard countless stories here, that some people have "the touch" and some people don't. I doubt it's even an acquired skill; I honestly feel for those who are frustrated by the act of removing discs.

The main trick, though not the only one, is to concentrate on the center hub and then work the disc gently from side to side rather than prying/forcing out the disc directly from the edges. I often hear people removing discs with a loud SNAP that sends shivers down my spine. It's one of the reasons I don't like loaning discs out to people I don't know well.

The hardest disc I've ever had to remove was from Buffy (TVS) season four or five; oddly enough, these are also the only cases where I've ever experienced a DVD floater that turned out to be scratched and defective as a result of its "time afloat"!

s

WillardK

Hubs differ, and some are excessively difficult to extract a disc from (or require the special skill of someone as gifted and dexterious as Steve Y ).

I've never liked dvd cases (amrays, snappers, whatever) and 'decant' mine into sleeves. Even the smaller sized cases at my local video rental can tend to have a 'floater.'

Jewel boxes are curiously more advanced in security, portability and economy of space.

I've noticed pin-prick holes in the metal layer of one or two new unused cd-r's, but have not yet noticed any damage to pre-recorded cd's or dvd's.

"I've got my history of weapons program activity intentions aimed at YOU!"

Anthony Hom

I don't agree with that last comment about records. They may start to sound scratchy and even a record with a fracture or deep scratch can still play. If you crack a CD or even a deep scratch, kiss it goodbye.