Why would a DVD suddenly NOT work? (1 Viewer)

[Tom Martin]

I have the Vertigo Collector's Edition DVD released by Universal some years back. I've watched it before and never had any trouble. The disc is in pristine condition. Not a scratch or smudge on it. Suddenly, i pop it in this morning into my Denon 910 and get a disc error message. I tried it again, same thing. I tried it on a JVC and an RCA player and my pc. All had the same results. What could have happened to suddenly make the disc unplayable?

 

[Michael Harris]

It could be caused by faulty manufacturing. Some early Warner titles had this problem and could be traced to one facility. My copy of "From Earth to the Moon" is unplayable and there are other threads that have listed other titles that have suffered the same fate. Some have lumped this under the name of "DVD Rot" but really these bad titles should have never left the plant.

 

[Thomas T]

I have a large DVD collection and so far only three films have gone bad after multiple playings. Since they refused to play in other players also, I too would chalk it up to inferior pressing. It's a frightening thought.

Curiously one of the three that went bad was Psycho another Hitchcock film from Universal home video. Coincidence?

 

[GlennH]

Some recent DVD rot discussion here:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=205211

 

[Tom Martin]

well, seems like universal won't help unless i have the receipt, which i threw out like 2 years ago! and to make matters worse, the current edition of Vertigo does not seem to be anamorphic!

 

[Robert Ringwald]

It's a HUGE bother. I agree.

My copy of Halloween 5 does this. I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, and a few of the Buffy discs from seasons 3/5.

It's going to be annoying if they keep up. Sometimes I can keep them working...

 

[Matt Butler]

My copy of A Night to Remember Criterion did this.

(I still need to replace this BTW)

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Tom, I had that problem with Universal and 'The Jackel'.
Go back to square one and email them again, but tell them that you are going to send them your rotted out DVD so they can check it out themselves.

They should get back with instructions. If they don't, let me know. I'll see if I still have my papers on it.

I brought a 6" x 9" envelope for it. Dump 5 stamps on it and you'll be ok, but don't hold your breath. It took them 10 weeks before I got mine back.

Glenn

 

[Michael Qualen]

I too had problems with early Universal discs: The Jackal, Dragonheart and Primary Colors...I wrote to Universal from their website and got an address where I should send my discs for a check...I got new ones back with no problems...and I didn´t have any receipt either cause I bought the discs when they first came out

I live in Denmark btw and got my discs back in about a month and a half...not bad at all...they will even give you a cardboard-thingy telling you how to take care of your discs in the future I found that pretty funny

 

[Gabe D]

There has never been a Region 1 anamorphic DVD of 'Vertigo'. The Collector's Edition you have/had is 4:3 letterboxed.

 

[Leroy]

I've had my Boogie Nights (original release), The Negotiator, The Postman and Goldeneye all go from working perfectly to not working at all.

I tried to contact their respective comapnies via e-mail but never got any help, so now I have some nice coasters.

 

[Eric Huffstutler]

There has been a lot of talk about DVD Rot which honestly, I have never seen with my collection... even early release ones. I have always thought the problem was either one from disc manufacturing errors or other things. I know that if a person smokes or lives in a house that has gas heat there is a film that builds up on things including discs and/or optics in the machine. Also hubs sometimes get cracked while pulling them out of the cases sometimes. there are many possible reasons.

I have one title I can think of that isn't "budget" that has always given me trouble and need to see about replacing this OOP issue... Britannic put out by Pioneer.

Eric

 

[Sean Aaron]

In my past experience with a 2nd Gen Sony this was actually the first signs of a hardware problem coupled with discs that may have had mastering issues. I had a handful of discs that wouldn't play any more. Took the player in to get the laser re-calibrated, and magically they were trouble-free again.

With DVD player prices at the disposable level it's probably not worth it getting the lens adjusted, but easier to bin the thing and get a new one; I would tend to doubt the notion of DVD-rot having never seen any sign of this.

 

[Kenneth English]

I feel your pain. I've had, oh, 5 or 6 DVDs self-destruct like this since I started collecting. Nothing to do but rebuy if it's been any significant length of time and you don't have a receipt. If I was the type to believe in conspiracies, I'd swear it's all planned!!!!

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Sorry, Sean. Before I was sure that I had a problem with my copy of 'The Jackel' I tried it out on six different players, and my PC. Nothing on any of them.

Glenn

 

[Mark_TS]

my last 3 purchases had problems.

FARGO-SE comes to a halt as Marge finds the killers car at the Lake.
TRAINSPOTTING-SE- as Renton muses on how Doctors Offices are great for supplies-freeze (Scratch at factory)
HIGHLANDER 2 when McLeod enters the deserted Church near the end, freeze.

I wonder if QC is going downhill for a reason-the same thing happened to Laserdiscs when DVD started-as a way, I presume to get people to move to the new format-are we being primed for HD DVD
a year from now?

 

[Peter Kline]

Yes. My "Boogie Nights" no longer plays either on my DVD or Computer. It lasted about 4 months when I bought it and then stopped playing. These problems definitely have to do with DVD-rot I'd say. Discs that have issues as Mart_TS states above are a different problem. We're talking about discs that play properly for a period of time and then stop playing altogether. Planned obsolescence? :frowning:

 

[Glenn Overholt]

That would really be the pits. I smell a massive class-action lawsuit!

Seriously, it's just sloppy. I wonder if the studios trace them back to a certain batch. Maybe they should issue recall notices!

Glenn

 

[Everett S.]

I had the same problem with Vertigo, had no receipt took
it to BestBuy and they gave me a store credit since they had
no copy.

THANKS "BEST BUY"!

 

[mikey ra]

I checked my Vertigo disc two days ago (orange cover) for the first time in about two years. It does not play!!!! I tried it on three different players. WTF? It played perfectly after I first purchased it.

I checked my Psycho disc and it still plays fine. Both the the discs were bronze in color as described above. Has anyone had any luck in getting replacement discs from Universal for older discs that apperantly have the DVD rot?