Sticky labels can screwup the playback of your DVDR's

[defense]

I just read this entire thread and all I can say is WOW...i'm glad I never labeled or even ATTEMPTED to label ANY of my DVD's. Never labelled any of my cd's either. I'd have to say that there must be 80% of the people in this thread had immediate issues labelling their DVD's! In addition, the ones who claim they haven't had any issues are probably gonna be up shits creek without a paddle..because over time the adhesive wears and can cause a number of issues.

I hope the FEW that have had success, continue to have success...but look at the numbers....you are fighting a losing battle.

Long Live DVD Markers!

[paulwill]

I completely agree with alhall. The issue is the the media, not labeling. I labled about 200 dvd-r's, and never ran into the problem of a disc skipping, pixelating and freezing in the last 10% of the disc UNTIl I got these wonderful Princo 1x Logo tops. I'm totally bummed.

[Tommyknocker]

I chose the second answer, but only because it was the closest to what I wanted to choose:



Hail to hubs!

[Metaluna]

You have to look to all area's , different media batches, software changes, etc.

These theories can not explain how someone can take a perfectly working disc, label it, and have it stop working in the exact same player. Assuming the user did not damage the disc during labeling (other than the hypothetical damage caused by the label itself), how can you explain that away by saying it's a bad batch of media? The disc used to work. Now it doesn't. What changed?

You could also reasonably hypothesize that the people who are having no problems are using good quality media, which has a sufficient margin of safety such that the damage caused by the label doesn't result in uncorrectable PI/PO errors or tracking problems. But we have no way of knowing how close to the edge the good quality discs are being pushed by the application of the label, if at all. If someone with a labeler has access to a Liteon DVD-ROM and Kprobe it might be enlightening to run a PI/PO scan before and after application of the label (at 1X speed of course).

[jntaylor63]

Want a nice safe label, use the neato core labels!

They cover the clear plastic from the center hole to the near edge of the where the data starts on the other side. Some of you may have seen these with your BlockBuster rentals.

You just need the neato media face software to create. (Version 2 is free)
Plus the labels are cheap! (100 for 10.00 USD)

True, the text/logos are smaller than a full label, but it looks a hell of a lot better than a Sharpie!

[Tommyknocker]

I use the Surething hub labels (see earlier post). They are like jntaylor's but Surethings cost $9.95 for 520 labels. I wish Jntaylor had given us a picture, so maybe we could see why they would be worth paying five times as much than you would pay for Surething's.

[jntaylor63]

Tommy,

Sorry for my type-o

Its 100 sheets at 10.00 USD. With 20 labels per sheet!

[leebo]

tommy and jntaylor63,

Where do you buy these? CompUSA?

Their perfect for double sided discs.

[CHAOS]

I label all my disc's, and have had no problems what so ever.

Probably depends on the make or mechanism of respective players,
might be worth including label compatability in the player list.

Yep, I was thinking this also only a couple of post's down the thread.
Try the same dvd's in diff. players & see what happens.
I have put labels on all my dvd+r's and vcd/svcd's, never had a problem with any of my dvd+r's.

[Tommyknocker]

Leebo, click here, although I have to defer to jntaylor63, he does have the better deal.

[Mysterio]

HI dvd techies,

I use LabelDr with ICD CoolBella and never had a problem and neither have my friends.

They are not that thick and stick very well.

CYa,
Mysterio

[phatnadz]

Is it okay to sharpie a DVD?

[Craig Tucker]

Is it okay to sharpie a DVD?

Yes

[JMO]

I've been making DVD recordings for nearly three months now, since I bought by pride-and-joy standalone recorder (a Philips DVDR880). I couldn't be happier with it, but for the first month, I was labelling the discs I made with NEATO labels (and one of their stompers). I started hearing alarming things about using labels on this forum among others, so I revisited the discs I'd made and to my horror, they were all acting up. Sometimes they'd play, other times they's pixellate to hell, stutter or even stop dead in their tracks. I was horrified.

I had a disc I wasn't too worried about, and being of a bloody-minded nature, I tried methylated spirits (wood alcohol) to try to get the label off. That didn't work, so I tried turps substitute instead. That brought the label off, but left a gunk layer behind that had to be wiped off with a rag. Surprisingly, the disc played after that - without any trouble. I was even able to back the data up to a fresh disc without getting cyclic redundancy errors like the labelled discs were giving. I'm now working through the other discs making safe backups, but I'm keeping the originals to see if the turps has any adverse effect in future. I rinse the discs under running water before drying them and copying them.

Needless to say, I'm only labelling discs by writing around the hub margin with a Sharpie now.

Moral of story - don't label.

[Tranceaddict]

personally i label ALL of my dvd's.... no playback problems whatsoever.... and i make many labeled dvd's for friends and family and they never have problems.... the people in this forum that do, probably have POS dvd players

[Hardcoreruss]

personally i label ALL of my dvd's.... no playback problems whatsoever.... and i make many labeled dvd's for friends and family and they never have problems.... the people in this forum that do, probably have POS dvd players

Whats a POS dvd player ?

[Tranceaddict]

POS just stands for piece of sh*t.... didnt wanna use bad words... sorry

[VinnySem]

personally i label ALL of my dvd's.... no playback problems whatsoever.... and i make many labeled dvd's for friends and family and they never have problems.... the people in this forum that do, probably have POS dvd players

It has little to nothing to do with the DVD player, and more to do with the quality of media and the thickness of the label.

I have a Philips DVD player which will play anything I've ever thrown at it EXCEPT any DVD labelled with a Neato or a Meritline label. I started using the ultra-thin frosty no-wobble labels from Americal which work fantastically. I also use BeAll media exclusively, which are, in my opinion, the best media you can buy. Any disk I've given to anyone regardless of their make of DVD player has been able to read a BeAll with an Americal disk.

[Tranceaddict]

thats interesting, cuz i use the neato labels on all my dvd's,. and they play flawlessly... so it absolutely is the either a) the person dont know how to correctly center, and apply the label, or b) the dvd player cant handle it

[Tommyknocker]

thats interesting, cuz i use the neato labels on all my dvd's,. and they play flawlessly... so it absolutely is the either a) the person dont know how to correctly center, and apply the label, or b) the dvd player cant handle it

It has little to nothing to do with the DVD player, and more to do with the quality of media and the thickness of the label.

You probably do not realize it, but you just made an argument against your stance. It goes something like this: Unless you can center a CD label exactly, if you absolutely sure your labels are not too thick, or if you are certain your DVD player can play labeled DVDs, you should try a hub label or a sharpie in the center of your DVD.

[teddymines]

I suspect one or more factors come into play:

1. The extra mass makes your player fail trying to servo the spindle. The motor and firmware are probably just adequate enough to respond in time to speed changes based upon the mass of the media. Extra performance in firmware and hardware may mean extra cost.

2. A perfectly centered label may appear perfectly centered, but variations in thickness and the true spindle center might not be visibly verifyable. There is no such thing as perfectly balanced, only balanced enough to be handled by the player.

3. Another possibility could be how the media responds to heat with and without the label. A label may tend to insulate the media, thereby making it less able to cool. The heat will expand the media, more toward the outer edge, making track pitch uneven, or the disc unbalanced. Also, the label itself may flex (expand) when heated, making the disc bow downward along the outer edge, affecting focus and tracking.

One way to experiment with option 3 is to run your player with the cover off, or in varying temperatures.

[Tranceaddict]

Hey, Good point! I guess its just a matter of the brand of DVD player in question. I have a panasonic dvd-rv21, and a cheapo Avia dvd player and they both play without any problems. And i've yet to find a friend or family worker have a problem either... Guess we've all been lucky that way... Or i've just been luckey to get the label centered correctly.. If i did start having problems, then i'd rethink labeling my dvd's.

[leebo]

In the end, everybody is really just guessing.

For everyone who complains about "label problems", there's another who claims they never have problems (I'm in the latter group).

Many of the "Problem" people claim they've done tests which prove their case, but many "Non-complainers" claim the same thing.

In the end, there's is no cut and dry proof.

My opinion is that many more people will post a complaint then will post a success, because if things are working well you usually don't feel the need to post.

On to the next topic:
Why are Windows machines better than Macs?

[Tranceaddict]

thats an easy one.... cuz macs suck.... if you like to be gouged on their rediculous hardware, be my guest.... and if you like a very small selection of software be my guest as well.... now all the sucker mac zealots will disagree... but hey, at least i'm not broke after building my awesome setup..

[Craig Tucker]

thats an easy one.... cuz macs suck.... if you like to be gouged on their rediculous hardware, be my guest.... and if you like a very small selection of software be my guest as well.... now all the sucker mac zealots will disagree... but hey, at least i'm not broke after building my awesome setup..

Have you been introduced to TGPO yet

[leebo]

Yes, but he's just a youngster. With age comes decreased bowel movements, er, I mean experience.

[BReeve]

I have burnt many DVDs well over 500. I have used many brands of DVDs (but all 4x) and many brands of label. I also have an Epson Stylus Photo 900 which prints directly onto the disc. I have had no problems with any of my discs and they play on many different DVD players (standalone and PC). I have printed on the label before and after application. I use 2 Pioneer 105 and always burn at 4x. I also use the stomper machine.

I havent got an idea to your problem, just thought i would share.

Hope you all fix your problem.

[JMO]

I've found white spirit shifts labels the best. Swab on to the paper surface of the label just enough to make the label go translucent and leave it for five minutes. The label peels off with the minimum fuss. A quick wipe with a white spirit moistened Kleenex to get any last vestiges, then run it under the cold tap to wash away any residual chemical both sides. Pat dry with a paper towel and polish with a spectacle cleaning cloth. I then duplicate the disc to have a working backup.

[RabidDog]

I take it a "sharpie" is a biro?? they are provided free in the Uk by banks and willaim hill (and now BT has taken away our public toilets) 8)
But my real point is where can I buy hub labels and software in the UK?? web sites or retail? or a very cheap cdr capable printer?

I dont label my cdr
I dont burn DVd

[Tommyknocker]

But my real point is where can I buy hub labels and software in the UK?? web sites or retail?

http://www.surething.uk.com/