Early Blu-rays that may have playback issues (Criterion, Well Go USA, etc.)

[Torrente]

I live in France and on french forums, there were several customers who said they were having playback issues with this set (but I never managed to get an answer from them about details so I wasn't able to get any further on this). I was just trying to relate the info. Rest assured that I never report a disc when the only issue is the aesthetic aspect of the surface of the disc (sure, it's among the first steps of deterioration but it doesn't mean it won't play, you're totally right).


We started a site with some friends about all those issues.
http://bluraydefectueux.com/liste-de...ay-defectueux/

So far 228 french blu-ray titles are reported (and confirmed) as problematic. A lot of other titles have only reported once (or on other forums without being able to communicate with the members who reported them) so they don't appear on the list yet. It's a VERY serious issue here in France and companies are aware about it even if they don't communicate on this. They still accept to replace the titles when thy're still in stock (although those are often from the same batch).

[neo_reloaded]

I am not based in France so my involvement with the problem is obviously much smaller, but I have been frequenting the French forums for years, ever since the QOL issues were first starting to gain concern. I've routinely searched for issues related to two Potemkine releases that have no suitable alternatives (the Rohmer set and Gun Crazy), and the only thing that has ever turned up in my forum searches is one guy complaining that there is a brown color around the center ring (which isn't even necessarily "deterioration" - there's no evidence that that is not a perfectly normal color for that area to be). If you can show me people reporting playback issues on the Rohmer set, I would be very interested (and saddened) to see it.

[mande2013]

Originally Posted by Torrente

I live in France and on french forums, there were several customers who said they were having playback issues with this set (but I never managed to get an answer from them about details so I wasn't able to get any further on this). I was just trying to relate the info. Rest assured that I never report a disc when the only issue is the aesthetic aspect of the surface of the disc (sure, it's among the first steps of deterioration but it doesn't mean it won't play, you're totally right).


We started a site with some friends about all those issues.
http://bluraydefectueux.com/liste-de...ay-defectueux/

So far 228 french blu-ray titles are reported (and confirmed) as problematic. A lot of other titles have only reported once (or on other forums without being able to communicate with the members who reported them) so they don't appear on the list yet. It's a VERY serious issue here in France and companies are aware about it even if they don't communicate on this. They still accept to replace the titles when thy're still in stock (although those are often from the same batch).

Speaking of which, I've bought two TF1 blu-rays within the past two months, Carol and Happy End. I guess one just has to take their chances.

[Torrente]

Originally Posted by neo_reloaded

I am not based in France so my involvement with the problem is obviously much smaller, but I have been frequenting the French forums for years, ever since the QOL issues were first starting to gain concern. I've routinely searched for issues related to two Potemkine releases that have no suitable alternatives (the Rohmer set and Gun Crazy), and the only thing that has ever turned up in my forum searches is one guy complaining that there is a brown color around the center ring (which isn't even necessarily "deterioration" - there's no evidence that that is not a perfectly normal color for that area to be). If you can show me people reporting playback issues on the Rohmer set, I would be very interested (and saddened) to see it.

May I also ask what the name of the forums you visited are?

From Potemkine, so far, Nymphomaniac director's cut (2015) has playback issues (reported and registred as being bad).
And, personally, I had playback issues with 2 other discs from them, that I won't name here (to avoid any "panic") because I didn't find anyone else (who bothered posting online) with the same problem, yet.

Again, I don't have the Rohmer's set. And I don't have time to do this research again, I'm sorry
But I remember the guy you're talking about perfectly (I spoke to him many times over the past few years) and he is trustworthy. He specifically said the aspect of the inner ring changed other time (meaning it deteriorates as it didn't look the same on day one after purchase). And on the contrary, there ARE proofs this color change is one of the many effects of the chemical deteriotaion that plague Blu-ray discs.
All the BD-50 discs that have the issue have this same look. It is NOT the regular look of this area. I can't understand why anyone would argue about this, when one just have to compare 100% of the discs that still play fine from all over the world to the ones that aren't anymore which were manufactured by QOL. It's just logic.

Anyway, knowing the pattern, it's safe to assume that "if it's a QOL, it's just a matter of time before it turns bad"

Also, I even had playback issues with single layer discs from QOL, so it's not just a problem with the BD-50 discs despite what they tried to say for their defense before they had to shut their facilities down.

[neo_reloaded]

dvdclassik, bluraydefectueux, blurayenfrancais

There are people saying that many of their QOL discs, both defective and not defective, have that yellow/brown look around the center hub. There are also plenty of reports of QOL defective discs without that look. And there are discs made by other manufacturers, in other countries, with that yellow/brown look around the center hub that are not defective. In addition, the innermost center hub is sealed off from the data portion of the disc, so there's no indication that anything in the center hub past the barrier point has any relation to whether a disc is readable or not.

I'm not saying don't post info to avoid "panic" - more info is always better as it paints a fuller picture of what is going on. I'm just saying that the available info does not, imo, match your conclusions.

[Torrente]

Even if the brown color were only an indication, it's still relevant to point it out when it is there. It's the first warning. If the "disease" doesn't spread to the whole disc in the end, then great, good for the collector who owns the disc. But still, it's an indication for 100% of my discs which gone bad. To me it's relevant enough
This brown thing is probably a chemical result of the leaking of the material used to "glue" both layers but it still demands confirmation. There are suspicions that the plastic of the cases were a factor too (a friend of mine at bluraydefectueux intensively tested and inpsected all his collection and he wrote a long paper about it), same as the ink from the booklets used in mediabooks (like what happened with music CDs many years ago). Anyway, we don't know for sure but it is NOT the regular aspect of the inner ring of blu-rays correctly manufactured.

The main thing every customers should keep in mind is : "Don't buy any QOL discs, ever...unless you have a gambing addiction and like to squander your hard earned money."


On a side note, what irritates me the most with this debacle is that customers and forum members still argue with each others rather than stick united and try to work together.
It's so frustrating... most members prefer saying "I won't bother testing and I will see if the discs are bad when I'll finally decide to watch or rewatch my discs".
When I read such answers, it discourages me and to speak frankly, I'll probably won't post anything about it on foreign forums anymore.

[neo_reloaded]

I'm all for testing - VSO Inspector tests let you know if even a single sector is unreadable, and I regularly do that on discs I'm worried about.

[I KEEL YOU]

The one QOL pressed disc I have still plays fine, fortunately. I would be pretty upset if this disc stopped playing because it's in my top 10 movies of all time and this French release is the only release of this film in the world that has English subtitles.

I'm still not sure what the coloring around the disc hub means and whether it affects disc failure. Most of my discs have a white or light blue-ish color around the center hub, some of them have transparent and some have a brownish color. I've also discovered that sometimes, the brown color can be wiped off to reveal a more white color underneath. Some of my Warner Archive discs look like they have a circle of sticky residue around the hub, where they're even more sensitive to finger prints.

[Torrente]

Here are some pics: http://www.homecinema-fr.com/wp-cont.../02/brot22.jpg , http://fretless6.free.fr/sinctyechange/sc1.jpg , http://fretless6.free.fr/sinctyechange/sc2.jpg & http://www.homecinema-fr.com/wp-cont...5/02/brot1.jpg

It's a corrosion over time "inside" the plastic.
Because no matter what anyone says, it's not normal that plastic reacts like this so fast in a safe regulated environment.

[iaragorn1]

The only discs that I have ever had that suffered from "Disc Rot" were some of Criterion's Blu-Rays and they were replaced as part of their recall. How the pressing plant screwed up is beyond ridiculous.

I have CD's that were pressed in the mid-1980's that are both looking good and playing good.

Seriously, how does a modern plant screw IT UP!

(Rhetorical question, since obviously they have and did)

[mande2013]

I'm a little worried about my Red Desert Criterion blu-ray. With my Mac blu-ray player software, it skips past the menu every time and jumps straight to the start of the film, and it always acts a bit funky when you try to bring up the menu via the controls. With Cyberlink PowerDVD on my PC I have no issues navigating the disc, but sometimes it takes like 15-20 seconds for the sound to come on when you bring up the menu. (Note: it only seems to do this when relying on the computer speakers; I haven't had the issue when connecting the laptop to bluetooth speakers). And Nero DiscSpeed doesn't seem to be registering any errors on the disc. It just seems a bit fishy regardless. When I scanned my Solaris blu-ray with Nero I definitely got errors.

[EricYuillMovieFan]

I checked my Paris, Texas about 3 months ago but did not play it. No browning on disc.

[BluProofie]

Is this bronzing/laser rot? Disc plays perfectly, but it’s the only one I own to have a brown color like that around the ring. Sorry for poor quality pic.

[fdm]

It could be. But you also could be lucky and the discoloration just stays near the rim of the center hole and never makes it to the playing area. There's lots of pictures in this thread of what the really bad ones look like, where the whole playing side has turned various shades of brownish. (And then there's other discs that that have just failed after some time without any change in color at all.)

[neo_reloaded]

There's no evidence that that brown coloring around the inner ring has anything to do with the data-area "bronzing" that kills discs. The bronzed discs' discoloring is very different looking, and those discs are not known to have a brown inner ring as seen in the previous photo. In fact, bronzing normally works from the outside in, with discs first starting to freeze/skip around the layer change before eventually not playing at all.

[BluProofie]

Thanks, guys. It doesn’t look like I have anything to really worry about unless the disc actually starts screwing up. I’ve been really lucky with my collection so far.

[fdm]

Some of my bronzed Criterions have/had darkening around their holes also. The bronzing occurs in both directions.

(Edit: But yeah you should be fine BluProofie. I have a few that looked like that too and played fine. (I probably have a bunch more, no telling just when I'll get around to them.))

[eddyw78]

My Warner BD of Omega Man has just failed to read. I haven't watched this in maybe 7 years. The disc surface looks immaculate though.

[neo_reloaded]

Originally Posted by eddyw78

My Warner BD of Omega Man has just failed to read. I haven't watched this in maybe 7 years. The disc surface looks immaculate though.

What's the IFPI number on the inner white plastic ring?

[eddyw78]

Originally Posted by neo_reloaded

What's the IFPI number on the inner white plastic ring?

I can't find one on this disc