HD DVD dilemma (1 Viewer)

[daver812]

I have several HD DVDs that don't seem to play for very long. Is there some reason the discs would be going bad? I have 2 different HD DVD players and the same discs. do not play properly. :-(

 

[Josh Steinberg]

The short (unfortunate) answer is that consumer grade optical media - discs - were not designed to be an archival medium. Some will fail over time.

HD-DVDs (most movie discs, for that matter) are made by gluing multiple layers of material together to create the disc. That glue sometimes fails over time. If the same disc is failing in the same place on multiple players, the most likely explanation is that the disc has gone bad.

 

[daver812]

The short (unfortunate) answer is that consumer grade optical media - discs - were not designed to be an archival medium. Some will fail over time.

HD-DVDs (most movie discs, for that matter) are made by gluing multiple layers of material together to create the disc. That glue sometimes fails over time. If the same disc is failing in the same place on multiple players, the most likely explanation is that the disc has gone bad.

Ugh. So much for making a library of movies to keep around for years. :-(
Thanks for the reply.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Many discs won’t fail but there’s no guarantee which ones will and won’t last. It’s a dilemma.

I try to buy movies that include digital copy codes when possible, so that if the disc ever breaks at least I still have access to the streaming version.

I also make backup copies with a Plex server but that’s a level of fuss that most people aren’t gonna wanna deal with

 

[daver812]

Many discs won’t fail but there’s no guarantee which ones will and won’t last. It’s a dilemma.

I try to buy movies that include digital copy codes when possible, so that if the disc ever breaks at least I still have access to the streaming version.

I also make backup copies with a Plex server but that’s a level of fuss that most people aren’t gonna wanna deal with I have had this problem mainly with HD DVDs in my collection.

 

[JohnRice]

FWIW, recently my Panasonic 820 player started failing to play any UHD discs, with random problems. Just in case, I ran a cleaning disc, and the problem was solved. No harm in trying that.

 

[JoshZ]

Were any (or all) of them Warner Bros. titles? Specifically, Warner Bros. combo discs with HD DVD one one side and regular DVD on the other? Unfortunately, those are known to have a very high failure rate due to manufacturing problems at the pressing plant they used for that format.

 

[daver812]

One was a Warner bros. disc. The other Universal. Both single sided. Heaven forbit both my HD DVD players have become defective. :-(

 

[JoshZ]

One was a Warner bros. disc. The other Universal. Both single sided. Heaven forbit both my HD DVD players have become defective. :-(

Well, sadly, that's not out of the question either. The Toshiba HD DVD players were always glitchy (and every other brand was based on Toshiba electronics inside). The HD-XA2 was the best of them, but even that wasn't immune to playback problems.

Do the discs fail at the same spot no matter which player you use, or at different spots in different players?

To be clear, disc failure problems were not limited only to Combo discs, but those certainly had the highest rate of failure.

 

[YANG]

well, if your player is still strong, you could consider your disc like expensive book/novel that is still prone to be damaged by silver fish or other degrading forces of nature. for replacements, either go for DVD release or invest in blu-ray system or UHD.