Dvd Decay?

[dragon53]

I have TOMORROW NEVER DIES on dvd. I watched it a number of times without any problem on my Sony Blu-ray player and Sony dvd player, but about two years ago it began to freeze on one scene. I tried to play it on my pc and it froze on the same scene.
I've since bought the Blu-ray JAMES BOND 50th ANNIVERSARY set, but I've tested the old dvd a few times and the problem got worse over time. Now, it will display the opening MGM introduction (showing scenes from ROCKY, FARGO, etc.), but then it stops and won't access the movie at all (i.e., no menu, no Sony introduction, nothing)---in other words, the freeze problem has grown to the entire movie instead of just one scene.
Is there something like Dvd Decay where a problem gets worse over time or are the problems with TOMORROW NEVER DIES just a coincidence?

I'm asking because I was watching my dvd of THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS on my Blu-ray player which never had problems in the past, but now it freezes on one scene. I played it on my pc and it freezes for about half a second then plays normally, so I'm thinking THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS freeze problem might worsen over time like TOMORROW NEVER DIES.

[Batman1980]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_rot

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Yes, this happened to me with the SW: ANH disc from the 2004 DVD set; the disk froze during the scene when Obi-wan is talking to Luke on the Falcon right after they leave Mos Eisley, and there were no scratches on the Disk. I guess this is just one of those things that happens over time.

Incidentally, I remember reading about DVD rot as early as 2003, right after I got my first player. So, it's been happening for a while re: DVD's, not just recently....

[dragon53]

GUYS:

Thanks for the information.
Both TOMORROW NEVER DIES and BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS/THEM! were fine when they were new.
I'm watching THEM!, the flip side of BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS, to see if it has the Rot, too.
Either way, it looks like I'll have to get a new copy.

[Blu Titan]

DVD rot is extremely rare. I started collecting DVD since they were first introduced in the market. Still own over 2,000, since I have given away a few hundred due to being upgraded to Blu-ray and I lost about 200 to family members from the wife's side who never returned them( I do not loan my Blus...so this will never happen again).

Anyways, I have never seen a case of DVD rot.

[88mph]

I have only ever seen one case of DVD rot and that was The Terminator UK R2 version. Funny thing is that the disc actually still plays fine but it developed a cloudy and sticky surface originally and could washed off with soap. Possibly not really rot.

[figrin_dan]

Originally Posted by 88mph

I have only ever seen one case of DVD rot and that was The Terminator UK R2 version. Funny thing is that the disc actually still plays fine but it developed a cloudy and sticky surface originally and could washed off with soap. Possibly not really rot.

I had exactly the same thing with my uk Three Amigos! It was sticky but playable and then eventually unplayable. My only disc to do that.

[Dvd Aficionado]

I'm a dvd collector - hence my user name

Dvd decay or rot has become a serious problem for collectors, and we can't do anything to stop it.

I have experienced two cases of dvd rot: THE YAKUZA and THE HAND, both R1 US Warner Bros dvds bought new and sealed, handled with care, without any scratches. I always hold my dvds as instructed, put them back into the cases after watching and even keep them in resealable plastics.

The first time I watched them, the discs played perfectly. A year and a half later both skipped to the point of becoming unplayable (picture freezes, pixellates and disc stops playing).

There is another WB dvd that has shown signs of rot (read: skipping) - PAPILLON. Though I haven't retested it lately. It's very likely to become another victim of dvd rot.

I'm thinking that dvd decay or rot must be caused by sub-par authoring process which sacrificed quality for quantity. There is no other reasonable explanation for this.

If this happens to dvds, this may happen to blu-ray too

[WilsonBros]

J*sus - the curse of laser-rot from the days of the big ol' shiny discs has returned. There was a lot of panic about the durabiliy of Laser-Discs and how they would become vulnerable to laser-rot. Some called the whole thing a conspiracy theory that manufacturers wanted collectors to keep buying them., whilst others denied the existence of the very concept.

In the end, most agreed that some Laser-Discs ended up becoming unbonded through the materials either wearing out or being made of inferior materials, regardless of there being no real proof. Some believe storage conditions exploit an inherent weakness in the discs, so maybe this is the case here.

For the record, we bought the US disc of Tomorrow Never Dies with out first player back in August 1998, and the DVD is still playing just as well as it ever did.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Good information here. Thankfully, it sounds like this type of thing is rare re: DVD's.

Hopefully it won't happen with Blu's....IMHO Blu's are better made, anyway, since they're more scratch-resistant, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they won't have this issue...

[Vandal Savage]

Yeah, "DVD rot" is a thing, but so far it doesn't seem like a widespread problem at this time.

Most cases are likely due to a small manufacturing defect where the disc isn't properly sealed and air creeps in and oxidizes the aluminum substrate that holds the data.

Some discs, particularly DVD-14 and DVD-18 discs, two sided DVDs with one or two double layers, seem more susceptible to rot than DVD-5, DVD-9, or DVD-10 discs, but it can strike any DVD.

Also note that some entire runs of certain DVD titles have this problem. A decade or so ago, a number of Anchor Bay discs were afflicted with DVD rot due to using sub-par materials in the manufacturing process and certain titles were almost guaranteed to become unplayable. I remember Kentucky Fried Movie and Heathers being mentioned as problematic discs.

I still have DVDs that I bought fifteen years ago that still play fine and I've only encountered one DVD that actually became unplayable: The MGM SE of The Howling, which was a DVD-14. I've also had a couple of adult DVDs go bad, but some of the adult companies use unauthorized replicators to cut costs so it shouldn't be surprising that manufacturing defects would creep in.

On the plus side, it appears that if a DVD is going to 'rot,' then it will probably start exhibiting symptoms within a couple of years. That's been my experience, anyway.

The jury is still out on how long we can expect DVDs (and blu-rays for that matter) to last. It's entirely possible that a 'typical' disc might only have a twenty or thirty year lifespan; they could also last for a century and outlive us.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Overall, the DVD format lasts a lot longer than VHS tapes did. Sure, if a DVD has rot or is scratched it won't play; however, if you take care of your disks they shouldn't get too scratched, and DVD rot is rare. So, if you keep your DVD in good shape it can conceivably last for years, and if it does the PQ will be as good years after you get this as it was the day it was purchased.

Conversely, VHS tapes had a lot more moving parts, so there were a lot more chances the tape would get messed up, tear, etc. Also, IIRC a VHS tape's PQ would deteriorate each time it was played....

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by Blu Titan

DVD rot is extremely rare. I started collecting DVD since they were first introduced in the market. Still own over 2,000, since I have given away a few hundred due to being upgraded to Blu-ray and I lost about 200 to family members from the wife's side who never returned them( I do not loan my Blus...so this will never happen again).

Anyways, I have never seen a case of DVD rot.

Yep, I stopped allowing people to borrow my Bluray's. I had several DVDs that were never returned and I drew the line after that.

[Crimson King]

Originally Posted by Vandal Savage

Yeah, "DVD rot" is a thing, but so far it doesn't seem like a widespread problem at this time.

Most cases are likely due to a small manufacturing defect where the disc isn't properly sealed and air creeps in and oxidizes the aluminum substrate that holds the data.

Some discs, particularly DVD-14 and DVD-18 discs, two sided DVDs with one or two double layers, seem more susceptible to rot than DVD-5, DVD-9, or DVD-10 discs, but it can strike any DVD.

Also note that some entire runs of certain DVD titles have this problem. A decade or so ago, a number of Anchor Bay discs were afflicted with DVD rot due to using sub-par materials in the manufacturing process and certain titles were almost guaranteed to become unplayable. I remember Kentucky Fried Movie and Heathers being mentioned as problematic discs.

I still have DVDs that I bought fifteen years ago that still play fine and I've only encountered one DVD that actually became unplayable: The MGM SE of The Howling, which was a DVD-14. I've also had a couple of adult DVDs go bad, but some of the adult companies use unauthorized replicators to cut costs so it shouldn't be surprising that manufacturing defects would creep in.

On the plus side, it appears that if a DVD is going to 'rot,' then it will probably start exhibiting symptoms within a couple of years. That's been my experience, anyway.

The jury is still out on how long we can expect DVDs (and blu-rays for that matter) to last. It's entirely possible that a 'typical' disc might only have a twenty or thirty year lifespan; they could also last for a century and outlive us.

FM was another Anchor Bay dvd of which the whole batch rotted, to date, no company has reissued a widescreen version (its a Universal title so I have no idea who has the reissue rights these days)

[Lacenaire]

My old Criterion DVD of A Night to Remember fails to load at all in my Blu-ray player and it is in mint condition. I don't have any other player to test it on right now. Not sure if that is disc rot. All my other really old Criterion DVDs load and play fine. The playing surface of the disc does look a bit off-color but the color is completely uniform across the entire disc. I think when disc rot happens any accompanying color change is not uniform.

[Atreyu]

I have been collecting dvds since the early days and have not come across any rot as of yet. I do remember it happening with several laserdiscs. I do have some MVA Discovision lasers, (the earliest laserdiscs), which still play just fine.

[Member-167298]

Originally Posted by Dvd Aficionado

I'm a dvd collector - hence my user name

Dvd decay or rot has become a serious problem for collectors, and we can't do anything to stop it.

I have experienced two cases of dvd rot: THE YAKUZA and THE HAND, both R1 US Warner Bros dvds bought new and sealed, handled with care, without any scratches. I always hold my dvds as instructed, put them back into the cases after watching and even keep them in resealable plastics.

The first time I watched them, the discs played perfectly. A year and a half later both skipped to the point of becoming unplayable (picture freezes, pixellates and disc stops playing).

I bought a brand new copy of The Hand last year and experienced the same problem. I am going to guess it might be a manufacturing error of some kind.

[8traxrule]

Another common rotter was the first issue of "Vertigo", with the orange cover (not the later one with the Alfred Hitchcock profile.) A friend gave me one just to see if I could get it to play, but no go.

I've had Boogie Nights and Halloween 4 become completely unplayable a few years after buying them new, also Training Day went bad a couple years later. Of course a TON of HD-DVDs from Warner's manufacturer have gone bad, either not loading at all or freezing in the middle (I've had long threads about that on a few forums.)

[AmishParadise]

I own over 2,200 DVD's which I started purchased day one of the format. Not a single case of DVD rot here either. Moved a couple years ago in fact and took the opportunity when unloading them from my Sony DVD changers prior to the move to inspect them, each and every one looking as pristine as the day they were removed from their original packaging and placed in the given changer. And yes, a significant number of them are played each year, no issues to date, the primary TV watching in my home being DVD's and Blu-ray's. No streaming takes place in my home and broadcast TV gets little to no play aside from sports programming.

[bhampton]

Day 1? Really?... I remember seeing a circuit city ad that claimed there were over 13 available titles on DVD... I don't remember which ones were first. Do you remember what you bought day 1?

I agree with you about broadcast and mostly agree with you about streaming. I used to watch broadcast sports (NFL) but FreeQAM went away and I get nothing over the air here. (I've never paid for broadcast or cable.)

I would say i'm fully against streaming to but honestly we have amazon prime and if a movie is free in HD on there and otherwise hard to come by I tend to watch it that way if for no other reason I like to see if it's worth buying when it's available on Blu.