WARNING - Be Careful How You Store Your Collection (1 Viewer)

[Jari K]

I keep my DVD/BDs in their original case (they do take space, oh boy, but I have some custom made shelves to ease the problem - and I've been selling some of the stuff), but I have hundreds of DVD-Rs in various albums/binders. It's basically the only way to store them if you want to find something later on. Obviously I haven't tested these DVD-Rs in a long time.

Not really sure what the problem is with these "defected" BD discs, but perhaps people could contact the "official" Blu-ray source like http://www.blu-raydisc.com/en/index.aspx and ask guidance? Perhaps they could take some of these defected discs for the examination?

This is the problem that many collectors like us share: We buy movies but it could take literally months or even years before we watch certain movies (that we bought). Or like Dick, many times we re-watch those movies. I guess all this is the whole point of having physical copies - you watch those discs when you feel like it - at the same day, next week, next month or next year. Discs SHOULD work.

 

[Radioman970]

I hate to ask how much that shelving cost Dale. So don't tell me. I'll just pretend it's affordable and I'll be getting that someday. :p

 

[dana martin]

Dale,
is that a custom job or DIY, I have a similar issue where I have converted bookshelves, unfortunately, at the moment I need two more as every thing I have is double front and back,

 

[Scott Burke]

I had a similar experience with normal CD's. I had put most of my collection in a couple of 256 storage binders. A few years ago, I went through to put them all in mp3. I had to throw out soooooo many discs because they would not play anymore, and I noticed the amount of scratches on them from the backing of the sleeve in the binder. I will never use those cases again.

 

[Dick]

I am not seeing an visible abberations from having kept these in cases. They all look brand new on the playing surface. There has been no scratching, but there may have been some chemical reaction that is invisible to the eye. I do not know whether having them re-surfaced would help. Somehow, I think this goes deeper, into the actual "grooves."

Since I first posted, I have played two additional discs from the same album case, and they played fine. I will continue to update as I progress. Things is, I do not (literally) have the shelf space to put the good ones back into keep cases and to shelves, so I am not sure what alternative I might have. Perhaps placing them in paper sleeves and storing them in boxes...?

 

[jimmyjet]

definitely do not use paper sleeves. they are fully known to scratch.

 

[Jari K]

definitely do not use paper sleeves. they are fully known to scratch.

I have also used those with DVD-Rs and can't remember any serious issues.

 

[Lee Smith]

I store all of my DVDs in Meritline binders and have have not had any problems (so far). I do not have room for the DVD cases.

I am not using binders for my blu-ray discs.

 

[Dale MA]

Hi guys, thanks for the compliments. I didn't mean to hijack Dick's thread (I feel it's an important issue), so I've created a separate topic about my home theatre project with lots of pictures. Feel free to ask any questions in that topic .

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topic/328184-holomax-warning-image-heavy/

It was nice to read your appreciation of my room, as it was a real labor of love. Thanks again chaps.

 

[jimmyjet]

i have had paper damage cds.

i have had binders damage cds.

tyvek does not. plus the tyvek sleeves that i purchase are just a tiny bit oversized - enough that the disc comes out easily.

paper sleeves are very close fitting - just taking them in and out causes unwanted contact.

 

[Jari K]

paper sleeves are very close fitting - just taking them in and out causes unwanted contact.

Anything can happen with "unwanted contact", but we also need to be a bit realistic here. When there's something called "life" (lack of space to store the discs, kids, people accidentally dropping the disc, discs loose on the package when you move, mailman dropping the package, some other family member handling the discs, etc etc), there might be some unwanted contact with the DVD/BD discs. BD discs especially should have very good protection so it's not that people should use white gloves when handling physical disks.

Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't want to downplay these issues, but IMO people should contact to some official source about this.

 

[Paul D G]

I thought Blus were resistant to scratches? I keep mine in the original cases.

Is it possible a firmware update 'broke' the discs? Maybe have a friend or neighbor try the disc and see if it plays in their player.

 

[TravisR]

I thought Blus were resistant to scratches?

They are. There's no way that normal use of a paper sleeve or a binder or one of those book-style packages is going to scratch a Blu-ray disc. That being said, after reading this thread, I wouldn't chance using a binder due to the plastic in the sleeves.

 

[JeremySt]

I was approaching 2000 discs (Blu, DVD, TV) and 1000 or so CDs, and decided something had to be done. I was running out of shelf space. I decided to rip all my discs to hard drive. I now use a dedicated HTPC to play back all my content, and the movies are all in the crawlspace stored in rubbermaid containers.

My entire media collection and HTPC now fits in a 1'x1' cube in my shelves under the plasma.
Not the cheapest option, but definitly the most economic for space. I figure if you can afford to buy thousands of titles, you can afford a HTPC setup.

Plus being able to browse my collection on my ipad and immediatly play something is awesome.

 

[cineMANIAC]

As appealing as entirely ridding oneself of packaging sounds, I don't know if I'll ever be able to commit a mass purge like that, frankly. Part of the appeal of collecting, for me at least, is being able to look at and admire the various packaging styles, read booklets, etc. Consolidation options are available, obviously, for those of you who prefer not to have plastic cases cluttering up your living space, but getting rid of a physical collection I spent years building will probably never happen with me, lack of space be damned

 

[Charles Smith]

Well said. Same here.

 

[Jari K]

Jeremy, how much time did it take to rip all that stuff? I would say it's a massive job.

 

[Dick]

As appealing as entirely ridding oneself of packaging sounds, I don't know if I'll ever be able to commit a mass purge like that, frankly. Part of the appeal of collecting, for me at least, is being able to look at and admire the various packaging styles, read booklets, etc.

I used to feel that way about my laser discs, with their 12" x 12" cover art and liner inserts. But after I purged myself of (most of) these in order to collect the superior DVD format and now Blu-ray, cover art has become less meaningful to me. This is largely due to the major studios giving us horrible Photoshop designs that any of us could have done better (the independents do a better job, and I do agree the booklets are worth keeping). I really feel no compulsion to hang onto the original keep cases because, as I've said, space is really at a premium where I live (if you saw this place, you'd understand). So, If I continue to run into Blu-rays and DVD's that are being corrupt by the Case Logic albums, I will need another space-saving alternative, to say nothing of hundreds -- maybe thousands -- of dollars to replace what I am losing.

 

[JeremySt]

Jeremy, how much time did it take to rip all that stuff? I would say it's a massive job.

I have job that has a couple days a week where I can work from home. As I did my work in the office I would just throw a disc in the PC, let it rip, then throw in another. I probably went through 10-20 discs per day. I'm guessing it took me a few months. I still buy discs and now I immediately rip them, so I never really finished. A hobby is a job you start with the intention of never finishing. I didn't "purge " my discs. I still have them. They're just not decorating my house anymore.In regard to the love of oogling covers and packaging, I was worried about the same thing, but I got over it. Browsing covers on my screen is just as satisfying, if not more so. Xbmc lets me use whatever cover art I want. Most DVDs and blurays use horrid cover art anyway. That said, Some of my laserdiscs and box sets are still on display.

 

[Paul D G]

I'm debating doing this as my collection grows beyond what I can reasonably display.

When I ripped my couple thousand CDs to my HTPC I would sit there in the evening watching tv and having dinner with a laptop next to me remotely connected to the HTPC and a stack of CDs next to me. I only had to get up to change discs.