Sticky labels can screwup the playback of your DVDR's

[ricky1756]

i had the same problem with labels, but i thought it was bad media. i tried to re-rip them with dvddecryter. it would start out working fine, but would quit reading after a while. if i let it sit for a few minutes then it would read fine again. this tells me that the labels are causing the dvd to overheat.

[Guest]

I removed the label and it plays fine.

I'm off to re-burn about 25 family home movie DVDs....

Why not remove the labels?

I tried that on one....what a mess! Even soaked it in hot water for a half hour. Still never got all the glue off. At $1 a piece ($25 total), I'll just copy the discs to new blanks. No big deal, and this is archival stuff I don't want to take chances with.

BTW, I ordered a hub label kit and 600 labels from surething.com for $25.

For those in the position of having to remove labels,why not try some aerosol sealant used for the printable discs. This would probably seal the residual glue. Has any one tried this?

[ricky1756]

i used alcohol to get the labels off, alcohol doesnt react with plastic, thats why they sell it in plastic bottles, and it took the label and glue off after a couple minutes soaking. make sure you don't use rubbing alcohol which contains emollients that can leave a residue

[elfdez]

I use Zippo lighter fluid, works perfect, no damage to disc, just put plenty on disc and start removing the edges first and putting more on the unglued part, most of the time you would be able to remove the whole label without braking it, then use a clean cloth or towel to remove the rest.
Ive been having problems with all the labels with certain players, so I don't labels DVDs any more I print them with my Epson 900.
Haven't had any problems yet with labeled CDs

[Gabo]

WOW I think I was the only with this problem, I have a Sony dvd player and have the same problem with the labels ( Mate normal paper label ) with Princo DVD-r media, sometimes I get excelent movies without any problems and sometime get ones with problem until I removed the Label. I always think when I get problems that the disk is hot, but not sure in this topic, another idea I had is that the label was too thick.

[Cannonball888]

I never had a problem with regular disc labels, but before that I was using plain printer paper and a gluestick and I could hear the labels flapping around in the player's drive.

[Kolosus]

Here's some more fuel for the fire...

The Video Rental place I go to labels ALL of their original DVDs with a transparent "Property of ..." sticky label. Most of the time it's not evenly applied either. Hmmm... Maybe we're seeing a thick vs thin label problem here.

I watched a girl behind the counter in Movie Gallery recently who didn't quite get the label centered correctly. So she ripped the label back off along with a good portion of the coating on the disc.

Slightly off topic, but my point is that the video store employees were applying these labels by hand. No wonder there are bubbles under the label and they're off centered.

[Guest]

Sorry. Maybe I posted in the wrong forum. Please advise.
https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=208419

[indolikaa]

1) CMC +Rs (yeah, some actually worked BEFORE labeling).

Which is worse? Admitting you actually used CMC media, or claiming that it actually worked? :P

[DVDguru]

Hopefully this will clear up the question of do labels cause a DVD to skip. The answer is YES. I have burned 500+ DVD's all with Avery matte white lables on Verbatim Data Life Plus -R. 99% of these play in my Panasonic home DVD players. (Panasonic DVD's in my opinion are the best players to play DVD+-R disks) I experienced some skipping with my toshiba. I went out to purchase a portable DVD player so that I could enjoy my DVD's on the road. First portable purchase Cyberhome 7", none of my disks would play. I then tried Toshiba 7", same thing. Tried Sony, Mintek, Panasonic, and a no name from Circuit City. I was determined to find a portable that would play my DVD's. I found the portable panasonics the best overall, as these players hung in quite awhile before skipping. I could not understand why my DVD's played at home but not on a portable. They also would not play in a laptop computer. After burning a new disk and before I used a label, I tried it in the Mintek portable. It played, I then thought it must be the labels. To prove my theory I removed the labels from my worst skipping DVD's that would not play. All of them played start to finish in the portable and laptop computer. I found an easy way to remove old labels. Get Goof OFF, the yellow bottel that smells like oranges or lemons. Squirt the DVD label and spread the Goof Off evenly over the top disk. Let the disk set for about 10 minutes(no more than 30), the label will peel up and leave very little glue. After removing the label apply a little Goof Off to a clean cloth and wipe the disk. Now use a warm sponge with soap/water and wipe the dvd. Dry with another clean cloth. Hope this helps those who are wondering why some play and some don't. If you only play the DVD's at home in a stand alone, then I would say Label at your risk, if you plan to go portable Good Luck, and I hope you bought the extended warranty you will need it.

[ozstar100]

I have used labels on literally thousands of CDs without one problem. I use the Pressit gadget and have used many labels from el cheapo to Neato, Officeworks etc. I like the Neato Matte ones better as they are really white and give a better finish, however that is just my taste, not for any mechanical reason.

On my DVDs I have used labels on about 150 and only about 6 have been returned. Could be the label, could be the actual disc (white top Princo) or the type of player as they are all different players. I am not sure and am trying to establish what it is.

I have printed my labels but now get them commercially printed at Kwik Kopy. Solid Ink and glossy.. Look professional.

The discs are burnt at 4x with DVD Workshop1.3 and take up 3.8MB.

[bearfx]

All of my DVD's include an .md5 file to verify the contents of the disk. Today, I took a DVD I burned and labelled with a surething label in December of 2002 and verified the files on the disc (The DVD contained 8 CD .iso files). All files tested OK.

I have always labelled my CD's and DVD's, and have never experienced a problem that could be traced to a label. (I dod experience some problems when I first started burning CD's, but these stopped when I learned that "Great Quality" media ( or whatever the comparable brand was in '97) is anything but great quality.

just my $0.02

[ozstar100]

How does one get this md5 program?

Once it does make sure the disc reads fine, it still does not mean that it will play on 'every' DVD player out there does it?

That's my problem, whilst 95% of my Princo's play fine I wanted to know how I can make sure that the returns 'will' play.

I burn TDK TYG01 x4 for these returns as they are supposed to be more compatable.


Still waiting on the outcome tho'.

Oz

[bearfx]

You can get an MD5 program for windows at http://www.md5summer.com/

Every linux distro includes md5 already.

No, an md5 program only verifies that the files on the disc are read as identical in the DVD-ROM you are using. In this case, however, I am merely stating that labeling my DVD's did not negatively impact the data stored on the disc. md5 provides a great way to verify the integrity of your data.

[Vast]

Correction To This Post...

No matter what I do, Sticky Labels not only mess up the playback, but they also make it nearly impossible for me to duplicate them once they have a label on them. And as Craig says below, it seems that even with good media it sucks. This sucks.

[Craig Tucker]

I just recently started using ritek DVD's after using some crappy media in the past and thought the same as you. I just tested this today, burnt a DVD pretty much to full capacity and put a label on it. Put it in my DVD player and it was pixellating and getting all messed up on the menu before even playing the main content of the disc. Removed the label with warm soapy water and the problem is gone. This is the absolute very last time I will apply a sticky label to a DVD. Am awaiting delivery of my Epson R200.

[Vast]

Hey Craig, are you sure the Epson R200 is ok? I went to their website and noticed the little astrick at the bottom saying

*1 on suitable media
*2 requires inkjet printable CDs

I'm assuming they mean the white face DVD+R's? I'd like to get a printer that will print right on the face of the DVD's. Any suggestions?

[Craig Tucker]

Yes you need inkjet pritable media, otherwise the ink will just smear. Some are white top but not necessarily inkjet printable, you need to get the ones that are specifically inkjet printable.

[Vast]

Very disappointing I have to admit. To print labels on my DVD's I not only have to buy a 300 dollar printer, but also special media. *sigh*

I do want to thank you for the Soap & Hot Water idea. It took me about 10 minutes of soaking them but the labels eventually came off.

If anyone comes up with an alternative solution, like perhaps some kinda special labels that don't mess them up, I'd appreciate if you post. I personally was beaming with pride at how good my labeled DVD's looked and dispondancy set in when I tried to get any of my DVD software to recognize it afterwards.

Thanks

[davelab]

Craig, you are right, i have many problems with labels in my authored DVD's, but no problem with CDR's!
Not only one of my DVD's have played fine after i have applied one label...but i have burned once again the same movies, on the same media, with the same tools, and i dont have a single problem with my movies!
guess what...

Interesting thread!
A friend of mine burned family stills(JPEG) on 5 discs and sent them to family members. They were all OK for about a year and then everyone could no longer see the pictures or access the cd-r. I have noticed some of the other threads talk about balance and that seem logical, however when I first got into burning cd's I can remember when cheap media was a big issue. The compatibility between drives was enough to drive you crazy and the manufactures of the drives would only qualify the drive with some vendors. I just wonder if DVD has the same problem right now and the difference in media and lack of standardization is a problem???

[Vast]

Just another update. I decided to try some different labels, and a friend had some spare Neato labels. So I tried and sure enough, they worked perfectly. I wrote Neato an E-Mail asking them the why and how behind it and this was their responce.

When NEATO developed the first commercially available CD Labeling products in 1995, most of the CD media and burner manufacturers said, without evidence, that CD media should not be labeled for fear of damaging either the media or drives. NEATO commissioned independent testing to show that these claims were false. Since then, the majority of CD media and burner manufacturers have either released their own CD Labeling products or partnered with a CD Labeling company, thereby endorsing the labeling of CD media.

When DVD media started to appear on the market, the same buzz started all over again, with "experts" stating that DVD media should not be labeled. In order to respond to these statements, NEATO commissioned additional, extensive independent testing on the effects of labeling DVD media. The results of these tests showed conclusively that there is no negative impact on the functionality of DVD media or hardware after NEATO CD/DVD labels have been applied. One of the main reasons is that NEATO uses water based adhesives that do not harm the data.
Some customers that still are Leary and are using these for home use have opted to work with our core label, these labels do not touch the data area at all and do not have any reported problems
Ellen Kintop
NEATO
250 Dodge Ave
East Haven, CT 06512
phone: 1-800-984-9800
fax: 203-466-5178

I just ordered 300 Neato Labels. After I burn about a hundred or so, I'll get back to this thread again.

Oh and BTW... I found it interesting that in this they mention the water based adhesive. On the cheapy labels I was using I noticed that the glue that was holding the labels down was so thick that I couldn't get it off even with strubbing vigerously (Never got them clean, and even without the paper portion of the label it still didn't work) This indicates that the problem may indeed be the problem, or at least a large portion of the problem.

[ttyner]

The definitive word on this subject can be found at the National Institute of
Standards and Technology web site.

http://www.itl.nist.gov/div895/carefordisc/index.html

I have stopped using labels because I have had a few (very few adnittedly)
problems losing data. Some data was not recoverable at all.

[Craig Tucker]

Just another update. I decided to try some different labels, and a friend had some spare Neato labels. So I tried and sure enough, they worked perfectly. I wrote Neato an E-Mail asking them the why and how behind it and this was their responce.

When NEATO developed the first commercially available CD Labeling products in 1995, most of the CD media and burner manufacturers said, without evidence, that CD media should not be labeled for fear of damaging either the media or drives. NEATO commissioned independent testing to show that these claims were false. Since then, the majority of CD media and burner manufacturers have either released their own CD Labeling products or partnered with a CD Labeling company, thereby endorsing the labeling of CD media.

When DVD media started to appear on the market, the same buzz started all over again, with "experts" stating that DVD media should not be labeled. In order to respond to these statements, NEATO commissioned additional, extensive independent testing on the effects of labeling DVD media. The results of these tests showed conclusively that there is no negative impact on the functionality of DVD media or hardware after NEATO CD/DVD labels have been applied. One of the main reasons is that NEATO uses water based adhesives that do not harm the data.
Some customers that still are Leary and are using these for home use have opted to work with our core label, these labels do not touch the data area at all and do not have any reported problems
Ellen Kintop
NEATO
250 Dodge Ave
East Haven, CT 06512
phone: 1-800-984-9800
fax: 203-466-5178

I just ordered 300 Neato Labels. After I burn about a hundred or so, I'll get back to this thread again.

Oh and BTW... I found it interesting that in this they mention the water based adhesive. On the cheapy labels I was using I noticed that the glue that was holding the labels down was so thick that I couldn't get it off even with strubbing vigerously (Never got them clean, and even without the paper portion of the label it still didn't work) This indicates that the problem may indeed be the problem, or at least a large portion of the problem.

Sorry but I have never read such a pile of crap in all my life. Adhesive harming the data layer on a DVD - yea right. The data layer on a DVD is sandwiched between 0.6mm polycarbonate plates, it is more than adequately protected from any adhesive you care to use. I am glad that Neato labels work for you but it is certainly not because of the reason that they give. If the data layer was being damaged by the labels adhesive (which is impossible) The disc would still be damaged after removing the label, which it obviously is not.

[Jraf]

It's only a mechanical problem.

When the label dessicates with the heat of the reader, it retracts itself and pulls the external edge of the disc, so it is no more in the same plan than the middle. The laser beam is no more perpendicular to the disc and there are read errors.

Just put your labelled disc on a plane surface, label on the surface and you'll see the centre is higher than the external edge of the disc ; you can push the center until it touches the plane surface.

We need to find labels that do not retract with the heat and therefore do not bulger or camber the disc (sorry, not english speaking). I didn't find any, so I don't label my discs anymore.

[Craig Tucker]

Well I found my answer, the Epson R200 printer. Absolutely awesome looking prints directly to the disc.

[tester]

I would suggest trying to recording the DVD at 1X. It will work great with or without the labels. Recording one at 1X and put the labels on, it will work great.

[Craig Tucker]

I would suggest trying to recording the DVD at 1X. It will work great with or without the labels. Recording one at 1X and put the labels on, it will work great.

This is rather a sweeping statement. Dont you think people may have tried this. This thread is over a year old and when I started it the only media I had was 1 speed. Burning a disc at 1 speed and labeling it does not mean that you won't have problems.

[fangstar]

I have done alot of backups....all with labels.....No problems so far.

I believe it depends on the quality of the label. I use Neato Feloowes Matte lables, and they are thick so the ink doesn't go on the disc.

If you use cheap labels the story could be different.

[Gritz]

I finally quit doing paper DVD labels because of the problems with playback ... ALWAYS at 4 GB and above! Probably one out of three would fail with pixelation, lockup and/or jerkiness! Since the first portion of each disk always played fine I just assumed it might have something to do with being out of balance ... like a car tire wobbling. But, that's just an idea. My labels were applied perfectly as far as I could tell, they looked great ... even beautiful ... so much better than a sharpee! I tried different brands ... but my testing here may not have been extensive enough because I tried to use up what I had first. Princo and Optodisk disk seemed to be the worst .... so I'm thinking the quality of the disks (especially at the outer edge) has something to do with it also. In any case .... I can't watch each backup all the way through, nor did I want to run up near the end and try to check the possible areas ... so I just quit using the paper labels. My next project will be with printable DVDs ... and we'll see.

[VinnySem]

I have had excellent results with the No-Wobble labels that Americal sells. I have alot of backups that I labelled, and they all play fine without any skipping. The labels look real good too, somewhat translucent, and on Ritek silver matte top disks they have a real cool metallic flake effect.