DVD ROT...or....NOT?

[defense]

I'm just curious if ANYONE has had any experience with a physically "perfectly" fine commercial DVD all of a sudden become COMPLETELY unreadable and/or unplayable?

I've now had this occur TWICE and the first time I thought it was just an oddity, but now i'm not so sure. The first time I noticed this was a few months ago with the movie "CASINO." When I went to back it up, the disk was just not readable. Not in my DVD ROM, my BURNER OR MY STANDALONE players. What makes this REALLY PECULIAR is that I had NEVER, and I repeat, NEVER even opened that particular disk up. I had it for several months prior to even opening it to make a backup. The disk was BRAND NEW. It looked perfect....not a single piece of dust on it...let alone any scratches. It was a dual layer movie, but I just ended up dumping it. I was pretty pissed off..but that wasn't going to fix the disk.

I tried scratch repair solution...but to no avail. I figured it wouldn't work, but I tried it. Anyway, everything was cool up until today. I once again noticed the same thing a little while ago with the movie "SPARTICUS." It's one of the few old school movies well worth backing up. Anyway, I went to back it up and the damn thing was unreadable..just like Casino. Now I had watched this movie a couple of times in the past, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. The disk looks PERFECT just like Casino did. Not a single damn scratch or scuff or anything on the disk. It looks brand new. But the damn thing just isn't readable. It seems almost like the disks data is lost.

I've read some on DVD ROT and I'm not sure exactly what to make of it and if there are any noticeable physical appearances of the disk which would indicate it is a victim of DVD ROT. The only similarities between the two disks I can think of are they are both dual layer, and BOTH over 3 hours long. Not sure if either or both of those things make any difference. But this is not a good thing for owners of commercial DVDs because you can't possibly take care of a disk better then I do..and all of a sudden random disks data is vanished. And like I said..Casino hadn't even been opened.

.......anybody have any suggestions or experiences with anything similar to this?

[jeex]

i remember hearing a while back about some dvd's that werent properly bonded together.. seems that the adhesive used wasnt up to snuff and eventually "wore out" and caused the discs to play badly or not play at all. i think i recall this happening in australia..

a person (scientist possibly) had access to a powerful microscope and was able to anaylze the disc and notice it.

were the movies made by the same company?

you might try contacting the manufacturer and telling them about it. especially since your disc has no scratches.

[defense]

what's up Jeex....hummm...interesting...the only problem is that if my issue is "adhesive" related...then the reason the disks wouldn't play would probably be due to an imbalance issue. I can't see any problems with the adhesive of the disks, of course, I don't have a microscope here either. When I put the disk in my DVD ROM OR STANDALONE...I can hear the laser keep trying and trying and trying to read the disk...but no dice.

I just checked online who the production company was for the Casino because I threw the DVD out already....and interestingly enough...it was a Universal Studios release .....Universal IS ALSO the production company of "SPARTICUS".....that's definitely interesting considering this has only happened twice.....both movies from Universal.

Has anybody else noticed this with any of their disks.....if so, were they UNIVERSAL STUDIOS produced?

[ricky1756]

could there be a problem with certian dyes breaking down over time?

[BobK]

could there be a problem with certian dyes breaking down over time?

There could be- if you're using non-commercial DVDs. But since commercial DVDs are pressed and not burned I don't think there's any dye involved.

[lordsmurf]

"Laser rot" was an issue only proven to be found on laserdiscs, a pressed media that is different entirely from that of CD or DVD.

There is not any proof of such an occurrence happening in the scpectrum of CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, DVD+R, DVD+RW ... basically all the modern pressed and dye-burned mediums.

It's all speculative, and heavily based on the laserdisc "laser rot" instances, which were rather mild in the overall scheme of things, and only apply to laserdiscs.

Most "laser rot" problems are due to the CD or DVD having ALWAYS been bad, just you may not have noticed it.

The only issues with dye-burned media are air bubbles, but those exist before the disc is burned. You should check your media before burning.

There are many other facts, most of which existed from the second the media was created, not a thing that happens later down the road.

I've bought several discs, also from Universal, that were bad from the start, having never played, or playing horribly. Understandable considering they probably pressed thousands/millions of these on an assembly line.

[ROBERT BLACK]

I'm just curious if ANYONE has had any experience with a physically "perfectly" fine commercial DVD all of a sudden become COMPLETELY unreadable and/or unplayable?

Absolutely. It doesn't only affect cheap DVD-R. Early commercial DVDs from a company called IMAGE would become unplayable over time. Either the dye or adhesive I would assume would be to blame. Same thing with early DVDs from Anchor bay. They're DVD of the film Heathers had this problem. It's more common than companies lead the public to believe.

[defense]

@ LordSmurf, from what i've read DVD ROT actually does exist on pressed commercial DVD's. I am not extremely familiar with the processes involved in their entirety, and i'm sure you are more familiar then I am, however, I've read from several sites that DVD ROT is a problem with pressed DVD's. Some sites actually listed specific titles which were more of a problem then others. I don't remember what movies/DVD's they were, but there were about 20 that were known to be more prevalent to DVD ROT.

Here is one of the better links i've read from which explain that DVD ROT was first termed from Laser disks, but has now been associated with "BOTH" pressed and burned media.
http://www.manifest-tech.com/media_dvd/dvd_compatibility.htm

Many sites also suggest what Jeex did, which is, should you get a DVD which becomes susceptible to DVD ROT, contact the company who released the DVD and try to get a replacement. As far as Sparticus goes..there were never any issues with that movie other then it playing perfectly. I've watched it 2 times that I can remember, and it played flawlessly throughout. Universal is a huge company. For the prices they charge for DVD's, having them just become unplayable through "OSMOSIS" is absolutely unacceptible. Now i've gotta test all my original disks to see if any others are unreadable. I'll do some here and some there until they are all tested. What a pain in the ass.

On another note, I know you mentioned that burned DVDR's don't have this issue, but they do or at least, can have problems over time as well.

Numerous people have experienced this, and I personally analyze all my disks thoroughly. Even the slightest scratch or dye issue and the disk gets dumped. I have dumped many, many a disks which probably would of burned perfectly. Anyway, with that being said, i've had a few DVDR's which have suddenly become unrippable for one reason or another. This is definitely something to be concerned with, but i'm not being paranoid over it. If all my disks become unplayable, I won't even sweat it. I'd be pissed, but i'm definitely a little weary from what i've seen. And it isn't just me. I have read somewhere between 15-20 posts where people have been stymied to find out their disks all of a sudden became unplayable as well.