Layer rot on DVDs?

[lilblu]

What is layer rot and disc rot in reference to DVDs? I recently heard these terms used but have no idea what they mean. Are either of them something that can be seen on a DVD?

[Kayembee]

What is layer rot and disc rot in reference to DVDs? I recently heard these terms used but have no idea what they mean. Are either of them something that can be seen on a DVD?

No. "Laser rot" was a flaw in the old, pre-DVD Laserdisc format, big 12" discs. They needed
a 2-sided disc to hold an entire movie, which they made by gluing 2 recorded sides
together to make one disc. Sometimes the glue would leak out of the edges, get on the
recorded surfaces, and make the discs unplayable.

DVDs are one disc, and use no glue.

[Captain Satellite]

What is layer rot and disc rot in reference to DVDs? I recently heard these terms used but have no idea what they mean. Are either of them something that can be seen on a DVD?

No. "Laser rot" was a flaw in the old, pre-DVD Laserdisc format, big 12" discs. They needed
a 2-sided disc to hold an entire movie, which they made by gluing 2 recorded sides
together to make one disc. Sometimes the glue would leak out of the edges, get on the
recorded surfaces, and make the discs unplayable.

DVDs are one disc, and use no glue.

The rot was glue related, however, what occurred was that the glue would not adhere properly and caused the inside (glued part) of the discs to oxidize. I have numerous rotted discs and the surface themselves are spotless. It would also occur on a 60 minute disc like a short concert or side 4 of a three side set. Remember when you used to insert the wrong side of a disc and see the turtle on his back?

I haven't heard or seen a rotted DVD.

[hech54]

What is layer rot and disc rot in reference to DVDs? I recently heard these terms used but have no idea what they mean. Are either of them something that can be seen on a DVD?

I've never seen a "rotted" disc. I just chalked it up to
yet another Old Wives Tale like eating carrots helps your
eyesight or peeing in the alley gives you a cold sore.

[Noahtuck]

To be even a little more specific, it was because of the seal not being good enough and the micro thin metal layer inside being exposed to air & oxidizing or rotting.
I've also read it can be from air being left inside during the manufacturing process.

As far as an old wives tale, i have several LD's from back when they first came out that over the years you can see the degredation in playback to the point of almost not being able to see what is even playing on the screen.

I also own 2 dvd's which suffer from the same thing.
Totally spotless & scratchless condition, yet when first purchased many many years ago played flawlessly, now one will not even play more than a few seconds at a time.
Extremely rare for dvd's, but it does exist.

[lordsmurf]

Rot is a myth for DVD.

There are issues, however, that can harm DVDs, many of which are the fault of production (ALWAYS BAD!) or the operator ("TURNED" BAD).

Sometimes a combination of issues, related to the disc and hardware.

[Noahtuck]

Well... i have two dvd's in perfect condition.

1: Played perfectly for the first year or so, did not play it for a year or two at least, when i tried to play it, it jumps skips & locks up after pixelating like crazy on every player i tried it on, won't rip on pc or play.

2: Older dvd than the first, played great for years, sat for a long time, still plays, but now as it goes, it either starts clear and gets snowier & snowier as it goes or the reverse, it's been awhile since i played it so i'd have to check to be sure. Looks EXACTLY like LD's i have that went bad, the little sparklies in it but not as shiney thats why i use the term snowier, at it's worst you can't hardly tell whats going on.

Both are legitimate retail bought pressed disc's, were both kept in the same room with my other 100's of dvd's, to this day they are in perfect condition, no scratches, scuffs, ect. played perfectly for at least a couple of years after buying them.
The only 2 dvd's i have ever had do this.

The first one is "Planet of the Apes" i was so pissed i ended up buying the whole box set because when i bought the first single i don't think the others were out on dvd yet.

The second one is of music videos & the whole disc is not even used up, maybe 3/4ths full.
Something happened over a long period of time because it's not like they were bad when i bought them.
It was something that happened over a period of time..

[hanugro]

I got Gladiator special edition which won't play again after a year. The surface seems OK and no scratch at all! (I am very2 careful in handling all disc).

[VegasBud]

As mentioned previously in this thread, "rot" refers to oxidation of the aluminum reflective layer in some optical media...which diminishes the reflectivity of the layer...which adversely affects the ability to access what's stored on the disc.

When referring to dvds, it was a problem with some very early replicated dvds when the process for manufacturing them was still being developed, but I haven't heard of any problems for years...at least as a mainstream manufacturing defect.

DVDR doesn't use aluminum for the reflective layer, so standard "rot" doesn't exist for that media.