Sticky labels can screwup the playback of your DVDR's

[kbuegel]

Well, the really big question is what to do now. Assuming you have a bunch of DVD's with bad labels, can you do anything with them??

I'm going to attempt to peel off all the labels on my DVD's, which will revive them so that I don't have to write new ones. But what, if anything, should I put on them. These are store-bought DVD's with logo's and sharpie writing on them, so they are not very pretty. I would really like to find a way to label them that would not affect playback.

And, no, I don't want to do a hub label. I want to cover up all the logo's and sharpie writing.

Has anyone ever tried actually applying paint to a DVD in order to create a white background, and then use a clear label? I'm thinking maybe an enamel paint or epoxy paint would stick to the plastic ok, and also take a plastic label over it. Then, as a final touch, I could spray it with the sealer/fixer from the craft store to waterproof it. Seems like a lot of work, but its better than recopying all those DVD's.

[Solarflair]

although it may damage playback. that will occur more often with crappy media. And the best chance of it happening is if it started to peel. All other ways of going bad , chances are slim to none.

When you drive a car. everyone has a chance of running head to head with a mack truck and get annihilated. people still drive dont they?

Ive used labels on my dvds with no problems, ive burn dvds for about 9 months now. Not saying its best way to go. But i think the chances of going bad is highly exaggerated. If it shows any signs of playback faulties, make a quick copy of it. =)

[kbuegel]

I've been burning DVD's for about a year myself. The label problem is not random chance, its dependent on your DVD player being able to read labeled DVD's. Some players work fine with them, others do not. In my case, 100% of my labeled DVD's are now unplayable by my home DVD player and my computer DVD recorder, however when I originally burned them, they were all perfectly fine (tested with NERO after writing, and played in home player). None of the labels have peeled or bubbled, nor is anything phsically wrong with them. And I have always used name-brand DVD's. I've never burned a ritek or opti-whatever, I always use HP, Verbatim, Memorex, etc. The good news is that if I peel off the label, it revives the disk, 100% of the time. So its definitely the label, not the DVD writer or damage to the DVD itself.

So, in my opinion, the only random chance is what type of DVD player you have. Beyond that, all paper labels will fail eventually. (possible exception for labels manufactured in last month or two now that companies are aware of the problems).

Or, its possible that somehow you have stored your written DVD's in a way that prevented the labels from shrinking and causing distortion. In that case, you'll just have to wait a bit longer to see if it will happen to you too! Perhaps you should get your oldest DVD's and lay them out in a cool DRY dark place. After a few weeks of sitting in a dry cool place (not stacked or the labels won't be exposed to air), see if there are any playback problems.

So far, the leading theory is label shrinkage, so that would probably be affected by humidity and heat.

[mpack]

This is a complete guess, but...

Are you guys familiar with something called a bimetal strip? It means two strips of different metals bonded together sandwich style. It has the interesting property that if you heat it up the strip curls, because the two metals have different expansion coefficients.

Maybe something similar is going on with the disk and the label. You would see the problem if your DVD player happens to run rather hot...

Maybe to test this you could try (carefully!) segmenting the label with a razor blade after application. Then the label should mostly expand and contract with the disk, and the remaining "bimetal effect" should hopefully be insignificant...

[Peterdragin]

Just a little comment from a newbie here, but an old computer dude.

About taking the labels off DVD’s SIMPLE GREEN works the best, most grocery stores have this in the cleaning section, and places like Wal Mart, just make a little tray out of tin foil and immerse the disc and 20 to 30 minutes the label and the glue is off. Warm water and your fingers clean the disc squeaky clean. It also does NOT remove the sharpie marks. (Make sure you wipe the disc dry with paper towels, I have a well for water and it water spots if you don’t wipe them dry.

I have tried painting discs and printing them, Plastic Kote white primer works but takes 24 hours or so for the ink to dry on them. Printing looks good but I don’t recommend this option, it’s a crude way and the sharpie writing comes through the primer. The white primer did not hurt the disc and plasti kote is what I use for priming my NASCAR models, so any paint you use to paint the model will not affect the plastic. (Another little note, Simple Green also takes the paint off models without hurting the model).

The Epson R00 printer is cheap and the ink lasts forever when just printing discs, Epson has refurbished R200’s for 77 bucks and free shipping. Ink is cheap for this printer anyway less then 6 dollars a cartridge on the net. I have printed over 125 discs on mine and the ink is still only half gone. Epson warranty is still 12 months on refurbished printers.

I went to prodisc 03’s and a R200 and can’t be happier with the results, no more skipping and freeze ups. I just recopy the discs and give the sharpie marked discs to friends. Prodisc pintables are less than 50 cents a disc, and the R200 does a Great job with them. And my Plextor 712A and NEC 1300a just love them.

[bigmac]

query. if putting stickers on dvds make them freeze, jump ect, has anyone tried putting the label on first then burning the dvd? if sois it better or still the same?

[dudeman316]

Has anyone tried putting something on top of the sticker? for instance spray some of that clear coat in a spray can. Would this work? Any thoughts? I may have to test it.

[SCDVD]

Mpack's post on Oct. 25 is precisely correct and is the ONLY reason for the problem that some have reported. If the labels shrinks enough to cause the outer edge of the media to curl up slightly (not visible to the eye), the laser in the player cannot focus properly. This cases the playback problems.

Labels aside, this lack of flatness is one of the major problems with inferior DVD media. You can see this with the following procedure. Find a room with a flat edge fluorescent fixture on the ceiling. Position yourself at a desk or table under the florescent fixture. Place a DVD disk on the table and move your head back and forth so that you can see the edge of the florescent fixture reflect on the DVD disk. As you move your head back and forth, you should see only a small amount of angular distortion of the reflection of the fluorescent fixture on the disk. On badly made media, this angular distortion is much greater. This problem becomes even more critical at higher recording speeds (16X). Controlling media flatness was one of the technical problems that needed to be solved by the media manufacturers in order to make reliable 16X media.

[dudeman316]

...The Epson R00 printer is cheap and the ink lasts forever when just printing discs, Epson has refurbished R200’s for 77 bucks and free shipping. Ink is cheap for this printer anyway less then 6 dollars a cartridge on the net. I have printed over 125 discs on mine and the ink is still only half gone. Epson warranty is still 12 months on refurbished printers.

I went to prodisc 03’s and a R200 and can’t be happier with the results, no more skipping and freeze ups. I just recopy the discs and give the sharpie marked discs to friends. Prodisc pintables are less than 50 cents a disc, and the R200 does a Great job with them. And my Plextor 712A and NEC 1300a just love them.

Where are you getting the Refurbished Printer, the ink at that price, & the printable DVD's??

[Peterdragin]

The printers are right on Epson's web site. Here's the link http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/ClearSave.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes

Printers are shipped out of Indianapolis, IN

Ink is at www.tylermartin.com I have been buying ink from them for years and never a problem.

[mowermanEd]

It's sooooooo typical. I wish I'd of known about this forum sooner. I looked at an Epson R200 printer a couple of weeks ago. After moistining my finger and rubbing it on the printed CD that was on display and seeing the ink smear, I decided that sticky labels were the way to go. So I went out and bought 100 glossy labels. I thought that the freezing problems and pixelization of my backups were because of bad media or burning problems but after reading this I think I made the wrong decision. So I went to Epsons site and ordered a refurbished R200 and await it's arrival on the 24th. For those that wondered if it made a difference if the label was applied before the burn, no it doesn't. I've had freezes with labels applied both before and after the burn.

[biffle]

I have had problems like this and only the ones WITH the labels are at fault. I'm glad i'm not the only one.

[Tommyknocker]

I don't think you should post the results here. If you read most of this thread, so will see there are people who made hundreds of thousands of labeled disks for hundreds of thousands of years, and never had one fail. Core labels. 'Nuff said.

[BIGTIME]

Guy's I have a Neato cd stomper device and it has a center button device in it bust it on the sidewalk or wherever, and get the tan button out of it. It will be easier to apply your labels with just the center piece instead of the whole bulky device which may wrinkle your label. I have labeled 820 disc's with no problem with playback issues. Hope this helps.

[Tommyknocker]

I have labeled 820 disc's with no problem with playback issues. Hope this helps.

See what I mean?

[dudeman316]

OK, here is my recent news on this situation. Fellowes Neato claims that have fixed the problem, & because I complained, they sent me a replacement pack of Labels & stated that the ones I was using were old labels & the problem had not been fixed with them. I tried the newer label, no probs at all.

But on the other hand, I bought some Memorex labels. I complained to them, they know of the problem with the playback issues & was not able to send me replacements, cause they havent fixed the problem yet, but they still sell the labels claiming that they are for DVD's & CD's. What a lie! Anywho, Memorex did refund me check of 11.99 (OH BOY!) & gave me an apology, but they still sell their labels, so everyone beware of Memorex labels for now.

[mowermanEd]

My refurbished ($77 + free shipping) Epson R200 printer arrived today. Guess what?..... My disc labeling problems are over!!!! The results I'm getting with this printer look almost identical to OEM pressed discs. My only worry is keeping them dry so they don't smudge.

[dudeman316]

How long does it take for a printed disc to dry? I am really considering a R200 myself.

[Bodyslide]

My Discs from the Epson 900 are dry within a few minutes.

[dudeman316]

I'm gonna start a new thread for this question:
https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=245893

[mowermanEd]

Dudeman,

I just printed a disc and then burned a movie to it imediately after it was printed without any problems. Apparently Epson is just covering their ass by telling people to wait 24hrs.

[trickyman]

My only worry is keeping them dry so they don't smudge.

coat 'em with a little krylon clear spray paint, problem sloved...

HOw long does it take for a printed disc to try? I am really considering a R200 myself.

It depends. i have an R200 and use prodisc silver inkjet printables. Normally i just print a simple title which drys pretty much immediately. On the rare occasion i do a full color print i usually give it a few hours to completely dry...

[zero|fade]

For those of you wondering about getting labels off, here's the mthod I've been using. Just slit the label from the centre to the outside edge with a very sharp knife. I use an Olfa, then use a blow drier to loosen the glue and slide the knife sideways under the slit to start peeling the label. If you keep the label nice and warm you can get the whole thing off with minal to no glue left behind. A bit of Goo-Gone will get rid of any traces.

[dudeman316]

For those of you wondering about getting labels off, here's the mthod I've been using. Just slit the label from the centre to the outside edge with a very sharp knife. I use an Olfa, then use a blow drier to loosen the glue and slide the knife sideways under the slit to start peeling the label. If you keep the label nice and warm you can get the whole thing off with minal to no glue left behind. A bit of Goo-Gone will get rid of any traces.

No need for the knife or the chance of possibly damaging the top surface. Just use Goo-Gone on a cotton ball or what have you, smear it all over the label, let it set for about 10 mins, & the label should peel right off. If you still have parts that stick, hit those spots with Goo-Gone.

[chunkT]

I have tried painting discs and printing them, Plastic Kote white primer works but takes 24 hours or so for the ink to dry on them. Printing looks good but I don’t recommend this option, it’s a crude way and the sharpie writing comes through the primer.

HAHAHA WHAT THE @!*(&@(*!&@!



// I see neither the humor nor the point to this post.
// While we at videohelp.com have a good humor, and jab at each other,
// this does not seem to fit into the norm. Seems more like instigation.
// Not worth a warning, but worth mentioning it's inappropriateness.
// This is in response to complaints in the complaints thread.
// -- moderator lordsmurf


Then you need to get your head outta your arse and lighten up. Anyone who goes to lengths of painting cd/dvd so they may print on them seems a little wacky.

So if you cant laugh at that or seem to think it was meant in an offensive way then I have some .45 calibur asprin you can take to make your miserable life end sooner then to drag it on in anal retentive moderator lifestyle.

You are in breach of the forum rules and are being issued with a formal warning.
/ Moderator lordsmurf

That sort of attitude is going to get
you BANNED. Talk back to a mod again like that and you will be taking a hike.
/ Moderator offline

[chunkT]

Nice..

[Captain315]

Personally, I think the idea of being able to coat a disk is a viable alternative. Many of us have a stack (sometimes hundreds) of DVD's with problems occuring from labels. I see no sense in removing and placing another label on the disc and having the same problem again. Spraying on a primer of sorts would certainly be a better solution than replacing the discs with new ones. Guess I will try some experimenting and see what might be done.

[DFranz1]

Since alot of us have a ton a non printable DVDs and alot of labels, would it help at all if we put the a blank label on first and then put that into a R200 printer? I am thinking the same result would eventually happen but I am just curious to see what you guys thought.

[Captain315]

I think we've all tried everything, including that, to find the cause. I read an advertisement from Fellowes, the maker of Neato labels and they say they've solved the problem. I guess that's to be seen but at least one manufacturer has publically admitted that the problem exist. I ordered some for the two hundred or so non-printables I have on the shelf. I guess I'll find out.

[Espen]

I'm well aware of the problems that labels might cause. I myself have run through lots of problem using labels in my early days of DVD burning. A couple of years back when i was completly new to this dvd burning thing I just bought the media that was cheap, like prodisc and Princo. I almost always run into playback problem after labeld these discs
and a few of them didn't even play correct before I had labeld them. Some of them did work after i labeld them, but a month later or so they show signs of playback problems.

When I read and learnt alot more of DVD burning I figured that invest some extra money in quality media would give me much better results. So I decided to start using more expensive media like media
with RICOHJPNR dye and once I did so the playback problem got more unusual. However some labeld discs stil gave me playback problem.

So far I had used a burner that handled + media only. Now I thought it was time for a new burner that did handle - media to. So i bought a LG GSA-4040B burner. I had read much about ritekG04 so I decide to gave that media a try.I orderd about 6 different brands of media that did use ritekG04 dye and my test winner of these brands was Datasafe. So I decide to give Datasafe a real try.

I Orderd a 100pack. A few month later I hade burnt all of them and labeld most of them. I did try them in atleast 10 different players and no disc did show playback problems. Well there was one or two, but it was related to dirt, they did play fine after i cleaned the surface. I have sticked to
Datasafe ever since and they still work perfect no problems what so ever.

Concerning the peel of theory some people claims to; I have labeld media for a couple of years and not a singel label dvd have shown any tendency to peel of. And if they haven't done that so far I'm pretty sure they will stay on in the future to.

Conclussion of my experiences are: sure label can screw up the playback on dvds, but if you stick to quality media and quality labels they will just play fine. If you don't belive me just try Datasafe 4x dvd-r they wouldn't give you any palyback problems!