DVD Disc rot (1 Viewer)

[Phil Comey]

Has anybody else out in HTF land ever come across this problem?
Just recently I purchased the R1 Versions of "Far From Heaven"(Uni), "The Beatles Anthology"(EMI) and "Kentucky Fried Movie" (An Bay). Much to my dismay, they had what could be best described in old laserdisc terms as "Laser Rot". The discs for all intents and purposes look normal at first until you tilt them slightly and notice a dark coppery coloured stain under the protective layer. None of the above titles worked in my players (Pioneer, Sony & a Panasonic). The "Far" and "Beatles" titles I noticed were pressed by Technicolor in Mexico, "Kentucky" I can't work out from where. My supplier has replaced the titles for us no problems, but they couldn't offer up any explanation for the fault.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

"coffee stains" are normal bypruct of manufacture, don't worry about it

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

"coffee stains" are normal bypruct of manufacture, don't worry about it

Bad advice!

Laser rot certainly occurs in DVDs; the initial pressings of the MGM region 2 editions of THE TERMINATOR: SE and SILENCE OF THE LAMBS: SE experiences the phenomenon.

Are there any more examples?


Gordy

 

[James Reader]

Laser rot certainly occurs in DVDs; the initial pressings of the MGM region 2 editions of THE TERMINATOR: SE and SILENCE OF THE LAMBS: SE experiences the phenomenon.

Well, the R2 problems aren't really ROT - rot is when the area between the layers is exposed to air and, literally rots away as the metals react to the oxygen in the atmosphere. The R2 discs you mention seems to react with the air on the exposed playing surface resulting in a sticky residue appearing on the disc's surface (something in the plastic oxidizing perhaps?)

Pretty much everything manufactured by the European Technicolor factory is potentially open to the same problem. For example, I was always dubious of the reports but my UK "Lady and the Tramp II" (which was kept in my multi-changer the same as all my other discs, so it was at the same temperature and humidity) developed a thick sticky residue all over the playing surface. The disc wouldn't play at all. You could actually feel it and rub it away with your fingertips! I spent over an hour wiping the surface with warm, soapy water which fixed the problem (and I'm keeping my eye out in case it comes back).

My Terminator disc is fine.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

"Coffee stains" have no link to layer seperation however, therefore I stand by what I said. The phenomenon is causes by uneven cooling of the molten plastic, nothing to worry about.

 

[James Reader]

Jeff is correct - the terminator problems you were describing Gordon have nothing to do with what is known as DVD Rot, which is cause in rare instances when the two layers are not bound correctly. I always thought The "Coffee stains" described by many as DVD rot are simply the bonding element used to join the two layers of a duel layer disc.

Whatever the problems are with the European Technicolor discs, it's not DVD rot.

 

[Chuck Stephens]

I have a copy of Tomorrow never dies that seems to have "rotted". It won't play in either of my players or my dvd-rom. When I look at it has one or two of those stains you guys are mentioning. Is this the same thing you're talking about?

 

[Gordon McMurphy]

My mistake. I'm not hip to a lot of the termanalogy, I admit! And there's a lot of termanalogy!


Gordy

 

[James Reader]

Gordon, how was your Terminator disc? Can you describe what it looked and felt like?

 

[CameronS]

My Kentucky Fried Movie DVD died because of 'DVD Rot'. It had major coffee stains, and once it wouldn't play any longer, I was literally able to separate the disc from the inner ring. I still have it (I didn't pull it apart entirely); I should post pics sometime.

 

[Phil Comey]

Cameron, what you described re: KFM is exactly what happened to my copy. For everyone else, "Beatles" & "Far" were out of Technicolor's Mexico plant. These titles were totally dead. But I reckon that, like Moses parting the Red Sea, the disc layers would've gone their separate ways. Thanks everyone.

 

[Joshua_Y]

I have over 800 discs and have not experienced this at all...

 

[James Reader]

True DVD Rot does happen. It's nothing new. It happens with CDs (especially early CDs) but it is very rare.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Exactly. Forums like this do make DVD-Rot seem to happen a lot more than it actually does, as the average person on the HTF probably buys 3-5x the number of DVDs as your average person

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

So far I have had 6 discs rot on me that I know of, all of which were reported before, so I know the phenomenon does exist. True rot does not look like the staining frequently seen on discs. So far staining doesn't seem to be a contributing factor, though I haven't gone back to check every disc I own for problems.

 

[Chuck Stephens]

Is there any site that lists all of the discs that have been known to rot? I looked on google and couldn't find much.

 

[RobD]

I heard some early R2 Warner disks suffer from the rot.

On a side not how many disks have you guys had to return due to defects? Only 2 out of 300+ for me:
Rambo 2 (R2)
Escaflowne Movie Box Set - Disk 1 / The Movie (R1)

Replacement solved the probs with the above disks but I have a very strange issue with Fifth Elelement Superbit (R1). The disk plays fine but nearing the end of the movie (Cant remember time) the screen goes blocky and it eventually freezes. Winding foward 10 seconds after it starts to go blocky solves the problem, I got a replacement (Sealed) and the same happens. The same happens when I play it on a PC too, is this a bad batch or are there known issues with this disk??

 

[Todd Robertson]

it is very rare.

....now. since it grows worse with time, well, lets just say the future is dim. it's not the defect that will destroy dvds...but denial by industry leaders. a task force should have been formed 2 years ago.

 

[Damin J Toell]

Kentucky Fried Movie has a known manufacturing defect. It's not some symptom of a widespread problem, but an issue that affected a run of some Anchor Bay/Crest National discs (e.g., Heathers, Opera). Contact Anchor Bay for a free replacement like the rest of us had to.

DJ