Anyone else having DVD rot problems with prerecorded media?

[Morse2]

Hi everyone;

I hope this is an isolated problem, but I've had a spot of bother and am becoming rather concerned about the investment I've made in prerecorded DVD's. Out of around 700 discs (I have been buying them from the very start, back in '97), my 6th disk failure has just occurred. Not all are on '97 or '98 circa media either - some were purchased just a year ago! Please note that these are ALL legitimate prerecorded media bought new from reputable stores.

These are NOT the result of scratches, warps, or exposure to chemical solvents (i.e. "bad storage/handling"). All disks were stored in their original boxes in book shelves that did NOT emit solvent/paint fumes. Temperature wise, the storage area never gets colder than 21C (70F) and never gets warmer than 27C (80F) through the year. BTW, identically stored CD's (1200+) are still working just fine with no failures at all.

These failures are also not an issue with the player either - I've tried them on several players here, as well as several at different friend's houses and always the same result. The disks don't work.

From a physical inspection of the DVD's it would appear that they all are 'gold toned' double layer disks. Curiously, some of the "Outer Limits Season 2" set have one side of a disk that's double layer and a flip side that is single layer. The double layer side will not play, but the single layer side will. It may also be my imagination, but it seems that the failed disks are all slightly darker in colour than similar, properly functioning disks. Perhaps most tellingly of all, one of the disks has a "light ring" where the gold tone is distinctly lighter that is in the middle of the disk (it is coaxial with the centre hole of the disk). Could it have oxidized from both the inside ring and the outside edge, but not quite have completed the process in the centre?

My own guess is that this is the infamous "laser rot" (oxidation of the reflective media and/or delamination of the multiple layers). A search here did not reveal a similar thread though (mostly just concerns about the longevity of 'burned' media), so I started this one.

So, is anyone else having similar experiences with legitimate commercially recorded media?

All the best,
Morse

[handyguy]

Rot is usually caused by using cheap disks where the edges weren't sealed properly. I dont think there is anything you can do about that but to back them up.