Coloring on older DVDs

[lilblu]

I just bought a DVD off of eBay and I'm trying to determine whether it's legitimate or fake. The bottom/playing side is an unusual color but it's from 1999 so I don't know if it's normal or not. All of the pressed DVDs I've seen have silverish colors on the playing side. This one has a silverish/goldish color. It looks more like an old CD-R (like from 2002) then anything else. I'm sure it's not a recordable DVD because it plays in my old DVD-rom drive which can't play recordable DVDs. I suppose it's possible it could be a CD-R but I wouldn't know how to tell. Are older DVDs from 1999 a different color than newer ones?

[guns1inger]

Burned DVDs, for the most part, are purple or blue tinted on the writing side. Pressed DVDs will be silver or gold-ish. For a long time Dual Layer pressed were gold on the play side, while single layers tended to be silver.

You can quickly tell if it is a CD by using DVD Info Pro or even Imgburn.

[lordsmurf]

It depends what it is too, who released it.

I've bought some films directly from the studio, and these are burned on DVD-R, Prodisc inkjet media, with a crappy Casio-like one-color label.

These are not fake, just lower runs than a box office movie.

The discs are created per order, and you get them about 6 weeks later.

[lilblu]

This DVD is the 1999 Limited Issue of Disney's Pinocchio. I wanted to compare it to the new platinum release. Maybe I should've asked this question on a Disney forum. Someone there probably has one of these limited issue versions and can tell me what color theirs is. I've just never seen anything other than a silver colored DVD before. To have my first gold-ish colored one come from eBay tends to make me a little suspicious.

[guns1inger]

I have hundreds that are gold/bronze legit pressed discs. I have never seen a burned disc that colour.

You can also look at the disc information in Imgburn or DVD Info Pro. If it is a pressed disc they will tell you it is a DVD-ROM book-type (not conclusive, and DVD+Rs can be set to the DVD-ROM book-type) and they will have no media ID or manufacturer details.

[AlanHK]

There were very few fake DVDs in 1999. If it was, it would have been pressed in a factory, such as on a extra run the studio didn't know about, not burnt. So they could be physically identical with a "real" one.

It was and is still harder to get the packaging right than the disc itself. That's where the bootlegs usually fall short, in the materials of the box, quality of printing, etc.

But anyway, I have some older DVDs I'm quite sure are legit with gold coloured surfaces. So that isn't anything to be suspicious of.

[MOVIEGEEK]

There were very few fake DVDs in 1999

True,the cost of the duplicators and media were very expensive then.PC writers weren't even invented yet.
This tool is very handy:


smartburn3.5.1.exe
If it says "Unknown Manufacturer" then it's probably legit.

[Noahtuck]

To have my first gold-ish colored one come from eBay tends to make me a little suspicious.

As has already been stated, a goldish tinted DVD is nothing to worry about!!
I own several of these tinted DVD's that i have purchased from almost every major retailer, BB, Target, ect ect ect.

But on the other hand, pressed DVD's do not always guarantee a non pirated dvd.

Open it with one of the programs mentioned and you should learn enough.

Also DVD+R's with the booktype set to DVD-ROM will still show as DVD+R in ImgBurn & DVDInfoPro.