DVD Rot - how common is it? (1 Viewer)

[Jerry Gracia]

negative going around about it even if it is true.

No.
You guessed wrong.

 

[Scott H]

I have responded to a lot of crap about "DVD rot" on another forum, but as this group has displayed less tendency towards mania I'll repeat some points I've previouly made here...
"DVD rot" is definitely misnamed. Nothing is rotting. But I disagree with Michael St. Clair regarding the semantics as this has become the accepted name for a particular problem. It is not applicable to all defects, so it is proper to delineate.
"DVD rot" is a manufacturing defect, a delamintation of the polycarbonate substrates. It is a result of the UV resin or lacquer bond failing. It is extremely rare, and historically limited to a few titles and pressings. If you read an article about it in a trade publication, this is the name attributed to this specific problem. Just as "dimples" are another defect, or "cloudiness" is another defect (but one that supposedly does not effect playback - I keep planning to post information on this as a new subject).
"DVD rot" is a defect in the media. If you have a disc exhibiting playback errors, critically examine the media under proper lighting. If I can detect a "dimple" with my naked eye, you can see "DVD rot". See below for sample of appearance.

When I use the word rot, I am refering to the picture freezing up and pixelating - the pictures turns to colored squares.

It would be doing a disservice to attribute that to "DVD rot". That is a problem, which may be a defective DVD. But a defective DVD does not equal "DVD rot".
Persoanlly, I am more concerned with everyone attributing playback issues to "DVD rot". There are countless manic posts everywhere about this being a widespread problem, check your DVDs! This is an incredibly rare phenomena. If it weren't, the members of this forum would have begun addressing it long ago.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

This is getting ridiculous. :rolleyes
OK, how about if we call it 'DVD breakdown'. This denotes that the DVD once worked, and that over time it ceases to work (or work correctly). And how about we stop pretending it doesn't exist? Nah, that will never happen, no matter how compelling the evidence.
Will THAT make everybody happy?
As far as the delamination goes, is it caused by a chemical reaction or physical stress (including unintended, unavoidable stress caused by the makeup of the discs themselves, plus heat expansion, etc)?

 

[Greg_M]

When I started this thread I really only wanted to know if many older discs had a problem with playback. Apparently they do not. I'm sorry to see arguements over what the cause of this is, or what to call it. I wanted to know if there were any other titles I own which should be checked without watching the entire film.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Some people name these WAMO titles:
Contact
War Games
LA Confidential
The Matrix
From the Earth to the Moon (Disc 1)
What Dreams May Come
The Devil's Advocate
My Fair Lady
Casablanca
The Maltese Falcon
Allegedly not "rot", but some of us definitely had them break down:
Frankenstein Created Woman
Heathers
Opera
The Witches
Keep in mind that there is no telling how few or many discs from a given pressing (and releases can have many pressings) are actually affected.

 

[Scott H]

As far as the delamination goes, is it caused by a chemical reaction or physical stress (including unintended, unavoidable stress caused by the makeup of the discs themselves, plus heat expansion, etc)?

I do not know exactly what the causal factors are during manufacture. I do know that localized delamination caused by air trapped between polycarbonate layers is known as a "blister". However, such defective discs are usually detected and do not make it to the consumer.

I have learned that "DVD rot" represents a flaw in manufacturing where the bond between the polycarbonate layers, using UV resin or lacquer, is defective and failure is probable. The disc is flawed from creation, and whether or not physical or environmental factors exacerbate the problem is essentially a moot point.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Another offender that invisibly causes the "my disc used to play, now it doesn't" is tiny hub cracks that can come from use of certain keepcases---the Gladiator style double keepcase comes to mind, and a sizable number of people had trouble with some of their Gladiator discs, and they found on close inspection that they had developed a small crack in the hub. Result: 'no disc' or similar playback problems.
Also, an offending disc can often appear clean but in fact play fine after a good cleaning. These are sensitive players and media.
I don't mean to call everyone who has experienced 'rot' a liar, but there are a number of other suspects that should be eliminated before jumping to the conclusion that there is 'rot' involved.
On the Anchor Bay/Crest National discs, the lacquer was acknowledged to be bad, and apparently deteriorated over time (though my Heathers DVD was bad right out of the box, as was Opera for most people). I don't think this is the delamination that's generally referred to as 'rot', though to the end user this is a distinction without a difference.
I must have missed Warner admitting that there was a problem with some of their WAMO-produced discs. When did that happen? The last I'd heard they were just "looking at it."
I will say that I have too damn many DVDs to keep going back and checking the status of some of them. At least the list of problem discs is fairly manageable (though I've also managed to acquire most of them :frowning: ).

 

[Scott H]

On the Anchor Bay/Crest National discs, the lacquer was acknowledged to be bad, and apparently deteriorated over time... I don't think this is the delamination that's generally referred to as 'rot', though to the end user this is a distinction without a difference.

Mark, I'm not sure that there is a distinction between this and "DVD rot". What you describe here is a manufacturing defect regarding the bonding of the substrates. Why do you not believe that these instances of delamination are not "DVD rot"?

 

[KevinJ]

the only disc in my collection that has this problem[that i know of]is the yes house of yes dvd

 

[CamiloCamacho]

Now i have three of my discs with DVD Rot (Not playing after the Layer change):

Blade

Bad Boys Special Edition

Die Hard: Five Star Collection

I recently made a visit to my collection, and found the "Die Hard" case. This change my habits about collecting, and now i bought a lot more VideoCD's than DVD's(sorry, i´m a collector).

I'm looking forward to purchase a Computer DVD Burner, this way i can make a backup copy on a single layer disc (DVD-R) in case the original became unplayable.

 

[Scott H]

Now i have three of my discs with DVD Rot (Not playing after the Layer change)

Not playing after the layer change is not indicative of "DVD rot". The odds that any of those problems are related to "DVD rot" are minute. Did you examine the media? Does it appear like the link I provided above? If not, why would you call it "DVD rot"?
My first copy of Blade was defective. It would pixilate and freeze. Turned out that it had a "dimple". Online retailer exchanged it.

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

To answer the original question, I personally haven't experienced any problems on any disc I've bought, rented or borrowed.

These "problems" surely occur. I have no doubt about that. But, they are on a minor scale. I wouldn't let the possibility of DVD Rot keep you from purchasing any film, whether it's a possible trouble disc or not.

Bruce

 

[CamiloCamacho]

My Blade disc plays well when i bought it. I play it twice in the first month and no problem at all. Six months later i try to show it and after the layer change (blade on the vertical tomb, loosing blood), it no longer run.

As for my habits change, a lot of people say in the DVHS thread that they will not buy anything that wears as fast as a VHS. I never buy a VHS because of this.

wouldn't let the possibility of DVD Rot keep you from purchasing any film

You are right, but now i purchase those films in VideoCD, if the DVD is Dual layer or in DVD, if it's single layer.