DVD labels

[Ogilvy]

This problem with sticky labels....does it also apply to .avi(XViD) content or are we only speaking of „full-dvd“ content?
Also, is the problem limited to stand-alone players?

[minidv2dvd]

stick on adhesive labels should not be used on any type of disc for any purpose.

[LCSHG]

A Quote
'stick on adhesive labels should not be used on any type of disc for any purpose.

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Why

[minidv2dvd]

added weight wears out drive motors. increased imbalance wears out laser focus motors. adhesive is bad for the plastic.

[jagabo]

I think the labels warp the discs. The coefficient of thermal expansion is different for paper and plastic. And the label and glue may expand or contract with age, humidity, etc.

I used to think it was a balance issue but I once removed half the label from a disc that wouldn't play. The thing rattled like hell but the video played.

Of course, the problem doesn't have to be the same with every player, label, and disc. So there may be a combination of issues. And yes, it's a problem for data discs as well as movie DVDs.

[INFRATOM]

I think I was the only one who did it successfully because I made a jig to precisely center it. But some were freezing on my son's portable player and every now and then on mine so I gave up the idea, marker is the easiest and light subscribe probably next and print on after that. Media and dvd players are not that expensive to ruin things go ahead and try a few but buy thin labels if you can and glossy with small holes so it would be easier to center. You can remove the labels by putting them in water over night and label comes off and residue if any clean with alcohol. Before anyone jumping at me I said for fun and sake of trying, I bought a bunch of dvds from fry's $14 for a hundred pack and they were all Taiyo Yuden labeled as CG and they were printables too. I played SAW 5 recently and the dvd player goes crazy it make it spin up and down and at super speed with such a noise that I took it out, I didn't want it to ruin my Oppo so even a manufactured dvd could ruin a player.

[Cole]

In the dim distant past when I experimented with stick-on labels (VCD days) one of the labels peeled itself off the CD, within the DVD Player, during playback.

I never used them again.

[LCSHG]

Labels

I had put on a number of self -s tick labels
I was having problems and this was blamed on the labels, Balance, weight, etc.
I was advised that the labels were at fault, TAKE UM OFF
OK so I went to remove them This was not easy and very sticky, the Verbatim disks were the worse because of a film that was on them.. I gave the whole removal thing up.

This was all, a long time ago.
In the mean time I was having problems with the DVD drives themselves. Evan though the advice was to replace them I felt they could be saved and spent a lot of time on them

I finally pulled the drives on alll 12 of my personal units and some 35 fiends units and replaced them. At the same time I developed [found ] a proper way to use and reuse RW disks.

I still have more than 300 disks with labels. They are 3-4 years old, are not out of balance, create excessive wear, warp the disks, come loose, etc. They work perfectly

I gave up using Labels some 3 years ago, BECAUSE the time spent wasn’t worth it

[jagabo]

I probably made about 30 discs with labels several years ago when I first started making DVDs. They all played fine in my DVD player at the time and in the computer. Then one day I got a new DVD player. Almost all the discs with labels didn't play properly in the new player. After removing the labels they all played fine once again.

Now, several DVD writers and DVD players later I occasionally stumble across a disc with a label still on it. They usually don't play. Removing the label has always fixed them.

[Ogilvy]

Goodbye labels & thanks for the useful information

[hayleyjd]

Goodbye labels & thanks for the useful information

Hi there
I have just joined the forum
because I have been reading about the lableing on CDs and DVDs
I found it all very interesting.
I have the neato software for doing this.
after reading on all this today
I thought that I would go and see what I could find.
so I found this.
would you still recamond that I dont do it with my DVDs
thay do look so nice though.

any thoughts would be great thanks.

Cheers
hayleyjd

Highest quality standards:

Labels are heat and age tested for permanent adhesion
Will not damage disks
Safe for printing equipment

[lordsmurf]

If you insist on having pretty pictures on your discs, then use inkjet media.

[pepegot1]

I have used sticky labels for years with issue.

[turk690]

Maybe you mean without issue...?

[jagabo]

It's only a matter of time...

[piano632]

Some of the public libraries around me put clear labels on all their CD's with metal theft strips underneath. They don't seem to harm the discs, but they do strain the player sometimes.

I don't know what possessed me to buy some of these labels, but I did. I was thinking about protecting the vulnerable label side of CD-R's, but is it worth it. The ones I got aren't totally clear, more of a frosty clear and it's hard to put them on without getting trapped air bubbles. It's practically impossible to take them off without destroying the disc.

But if you ever need some frosty clear labels, here's where to get them:
http://www.vernonlibrarysupplies.com/cgi-bin/vernlib.cgi/6690CD.html

[Jimbo43]

Over the course of the last year I've burned many DVDs (DVD+R, my Panansonic recorder doesn't seem to do as reliable a job with DVD-R's, I believe) of personal/public-domain material for my personal use. After I burned each one, I'd put them on a cheap DVD player and check the start of each segment (Panasonic automatically breaks them into 5 - 8 minute segments) to make sure there weren't any screw-ups (had a few audio dropouts I had to redo) and then I'd put on a Memorex uncoated paper label (written on using a Canon ink-jet printer) using a Neato mechanical label applicator. The few that I subsequently tried playing right away seemed fine.

However, in going back to ones I'd recorded months ago I started having problems reading them, especially more than half-way through the presentation. My cheap DVD player would just stall on a frame and then jump a few frames ahead and stall there, etc., etc. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper.

I started reading these posts and the ones that referred to humidity changing the paper seemed to make a lot of sense. I took a DVD+R that I had burnt and labeled that would not play now and looked at it very carefully. The label had been applied in the summer when the humidity had been higher. Now that it's winter, the humidity is down considerably. Sure enough, I could actually see that the whole disc was slightly conically warped with the center of the disc being pulled down (i.e. away from the label and toward the active side) from the periphery.

I then tried a very simple trick: I stuck my left index finger (I'm right-handed) into the center of the disc (coming from the active side of the disc) and with my right hand pressed my fingers around the periphery of the disc and pushed down and in, distorting the disc considerably. I rotated the disc a little about my left index finger and repeated the pressing down-and-in procedure. I did this several more times and then tried playing the disc. It played perfectly all the way through!

I tried this with several more discs with the same results.

I don't know if this is a permanent fix (i.e. as a result of this exercise the label has crept a little radially along the surface of the disc so it's relaxed its warping tension) or if I need to do it again each time before I play a disc. Only time will tell on that. I wouldn't expect that the problem will occur in the opposite direction in the summer (e.g. warp in the other direction) as paper fibers can be pretty good at "pulling" as they dry out but pretty poor at "pushing" when they (re-)absorb moisture. I would also think that any paper label coated on just its surface would just take longer to adjust to humidity changes but that such adjustments would still occur eventually.

I think that labels add so much more to the "professionalism" of the discs that I'm willing to work with this stupid ritual just to make them work. Perhaps those who've not had problems with labels have been working in a relatively stable-humidity environment or have applied them in a relatively dry environment and didn't have problems even when the environment became more humid (the paper fibers can't "push" well concept).

[fritzi93]

I think the labels warp the discs. The coefficient of thermal expansion is different for paper and plastic. And the label and glue may expand or contract with age, humidity, etc.

I'm convinced the above sums it up. Gave up sticky labels several years ago. And like Jimbo43 says, the cupping effect of a change in moisture content can be dramatic, visible to the naked eye in a low humidity environment.

There was a really long thread about sticky labels a couple of years ago, if you're interested in looking for it. But save yourself some trouble and take everyone's advice not to use them. :P

[lordsmurf]

I think that labels add so much more to the "professionalism" of the discs.

Most people are so lacking in graphic arts and imaging skills that they make amateurish-looking crap. I would rather have neat handwriting that clearly IDs the disc. It's hard to f--- that one up. (Although some people have lazy writing that looks worse than my first attempts at age 4 or so -- I still have a few samples!)

And like Jimbo43 says, the cupping effect of a change in moisture content can be dramatic, visible to the naked eye in a low humidity environment.

The label/paper problem was always there, from the day you put the label on. The absorption of moisture by paper just made it worse, until you finally noticed. Standard disc testing reveals label issues immediately after application. http://www.digitalfaq.com/guides/media/dvd-tests.htm