Fractured Blu-ray discs

[Gozzi]

I rent discs by mail, regular DVD and BluRay, from a big national firm. I have received several fractured BluRay discs which were unplayable. I've had scratched DVDs that wouldn't play but not cracked ones. Is there something about the BluRay disc structure that renders it more vulnerable?

Gozzi

[Batman1980]

Uh no from what I can tell blu-rays are far more durable and far tougher than DVDs, not sure how they would've gotten that damaged unless someone was smashing them against something.

[mjbethancourt]

I've run into that too... cracks originating from the center, before I've even had the chance to use the disc. So far it's only been games, not movies. Maybe they're being horribly mishandled by shippers/merchandisers?

[Mr.White]

Originally Posted by mjbethancourt

I've run into that too... cracks originating from the center, before I've even had the chance to use the disc. So far it's only been games, not movies. Maybe they're being horribly mishandled by shippers/merchandisers?

As for the cracks,never had one on a Blu,dont want any either,have had them happen on DVD's on a very minor occasion,from stubborn discs that that dont want to budge,i'm talking about these hard plastic DVD cases that Anchor Bay and others uses for TV seasons,i'm sure you all know the cases i
m talkin' about,the plastic is real brittle and super fragile,handle w/ care!

[Rojas]

Originally Posted by Mr.White

As for the cracks,never had one on a Blu,dont want any either,have had them happen on DVD's on a very minor occasion,from stubborn discs that that dont want to budge,i'm talking about these hard plastic DVD cases that Anchor Bay and others uses for TV seasons,i'm sure you all know the cases i
m talkin' about,the plastic is real brittle and super fragile,handle w/ care!

oh i hate those, High School Musical 3 came bolted to one of those.
i replaced the case with a standard blue ray case.
they will crack the disk they are very hard to remove.

[lch]

i'm sure people don't really take care of stuff that they don't own, eg rental.

[discipline]

As far as I know Blu-ray discs are supposed to be more durable and I have never had any problems with any Blu disc. DVDs, however, had to replace a few.

[mastertang]

It could be the cases, or the mistreatment by others for sure. Either way if it was a title you owned you could probably send it back to the manufacturer for a replacement (assuming it was only a year or two old). The problem with netflix etc. is they are jus as bad as local rental stores because they seem to have no quality check system on returns unless a customer attaches a complaint on it.

I've always wondered how people do what they do to the discs in the first place to screw them up so bad. Some I've seen look like they wee used as air hockey pucks without a air hockey table.

Or maybe they were doing something like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KvRe4hJyjU
That's why you'll never see 150x speed drives.

[jkwest]

this is where the hardcoat is a PITA....the mail sorting areas have a machine that pinch in both sides of the mailer and fling it through...DVD's are more pliable and can bend with the force on it...Blu-rays, unfortunately, do not bend as easily....making them more prevailant to fractures...

[Borris]

Originally Posted by mjbethancourt

I've run into that too... cracks originating from the center, before I've even had the chance to use the disc. So far it's only been games, not movies. Maybe they're being horribly mishandled by shippers/merchandisers?

I had this happen a couple of months ago with my Netflix, lasting about 3 weeks. I decided to look into it to find out what the cause for the suddenly numerous cracked discs was. Turns out that the post office is supposed to hand-process Netflix and Blockbuster discs if they are equiped with the newest automated sorting machines. My post office had recently upgraded to new processing equipment and the torque settings on the automated sorting machines was causing the discs to crack under the pressure (higher torque settings = higher parcel per minute processing average). I spoke with both my post office and Netflix and it turns out that the overnight crew at the post office had arbitrarily decided to just run the discs through the automated sorter to save the time that was needed to hand-sort the discs. Every disc processed by this crew got cracked. Netflix followed up with my local post office as well and I haven't had a cracked disc since.

[Gozzi]

I had a long conversation with the folks at Netflix and they are in agreement with JK and boris. I got 3 separate BluRay discs from Netflix yesterday and each one had a 6-10mm radial crack. I've previously gotten discs with two opposing cracks. Netflix is saying the scratch resistant coating on BluRay discs makes them more brittle then if the post office is sending them through roller lines cracking results. Netflix claims they're looking for a better packaging/mailing system but....
Good luck

[jstutman]

Maybe like gamefly uses? The hardboard sleeve?

[Devildog151]

I've been in this battle for a year now and so far my count of cracked Blu-rays from Netflix is going on 17. I've had long talks numerous times with them and we've kinda come to a solution which was for them to contact my local post office and tell them any red Netflix envelopes that come through must not go through the machine sorter. So far I haven't had a cracked disc in three months (knock on wood). You would think instead of having to replace thousands of costly Blu-rays they would create a sturdier mailer. That topic came up and I was told it would cost them to much to change all the mailers. Oh well, I'll continue to do what I'm doing and hopefully no more cracked discs.

[zicmubleu]

Originally Posted by Devildog151

You would think instead of having to replace thousands of costly Blu-rays they would create a sturdier mailer. That topic came up and I was told it would cost them to much to change all the mailers. Oh well, I'll continue to do what I'm doing and hopefully no more cracked discs.

I am not familiar with rental aspect but it would seem that they can get free replacement discs from the manufacturer which indirectly implies that the disc itself doesn't cost much to produce. Why don't they lower the price of Blu-ray to be close to DVD? Once they produce the first copy of a Blu-ray the majority of the cost has been spent. I understand the rental charge is not much more than a DVD and based on this thread it maybe justified just on replacement hassles. Can you rent to buy from Netflix? I rent the movie, decide I really like it and so I send the empty shipping container back and they charge me a used disc fee for purchase, like 40% off retail?

[SpikesBluBlooded]

Originally Posted by zicmubleu

I am not familiar with rental aspect but it would seem that they can get free replacement discs from the manufacturer which indirectly implies that the disc itself doesn't cost much to produce. Why don't they lower the price of Blu-ray to be close to DVD? Once they produce the first copy of a Blu-ray the majority of the cost has been spent.

Because not everything is directly related to production cost, profit not being one of the lesser reasons. The price of Blu-rays are coming down, and there are plenty of good deals out there (thanks Amazon!) if you're willing to wait for them. Remember, everyone has to make a profit in order to justify doing what they do. That goes from the farmer in the field to the CEO making the hard decisions, profit is what drives business to do what it does. Would you be willing to do your job for minimum wage to ensure that the end user of your product or service gets the best possible bargain? I wouldn't, and I don't think anyone else out there would either.

[atomik kinder]

I have had many shattered DVDs from Netflix in fact. I had two in a row twice. The one movie arrived, I reported it as damaged, and then sent it back. The next day I received the same movie and it was shattered too, not just cracked, but shattered into four or five pieces. A while later, the same thing happend again, two of the same title in a row. I have never had a broken or unplayable Blu-ray disc, but I don't rent them very often. The movies I usually rent don't get released on Blu-ray.

[zicmubleu]

Originally Posted by SpikesBluBlooded

Because not everything is directly related to production cost, profit not being one of the lesser reasons. The price of Blu-rays are coming down, and there are plenty of good deals out there (thanks Amazon!) if you're willing to wait for them. Remember, everyone has to make a profit in order to justify doing what they do. That goes from the farmer in the field to the CEO making the hard decisions, profit is what drives business to do what it does. Would you be willing to do your job for minimum wage to ensure that the end user of your product or service gets the best possible bargain? I wouldn't, and I don't think anyone else out there would either.

I am probably missing your point, my point was that the actual production cost of a Blu-ray is very close to the production cost of a DVD. Once you create the master file of data, replicating it onto the disc is virtually the same whether it is a DVD or a Blu-ray. They could sell a Blu-ray for the same price as a DVD and make very close to the same profit. The Blu-ray gives them an advantage with the BD-Live type stuff to keep you hooked on their product by updating the previews via the Web, etc.

Remember back in the days when DVD was new? It cost a lot more than a VHS but in reality it was cheaper to make, the media is much easier to produce and imprint, etc. It is corporate greed, making a profit is the point of a business but that should be done by serving your customers well. Your buying your Blu-rays from the cheapest source is an example of how we try to thwart that extra cost. High cost encourages piracy which leads to more DRM stuff and constant frustration of having to update players just to see the movie you paid for. You buy a DVD and you get to watch it without any hassle. Once Blu-ray has fully matured and it replacement is new on the scene it, Blu-ray, will probably be like DVD is now, straightforward, well priced, and people will be talking about their upscaling Z-Ray compatible with Blu-ray players. Then of course it might go the way of digital copy, keep the Blu-ray cost high and that will become an attractive option.

[liannagreyson]

Very nice post with a ton of informative information. I really appreciate the fact that you approach these topics from a stand point of knowledge and information
instead of the typical “I think” mentality that you see so much on the internet these days.

[kingofgrills]

Originally Posted by jkwest

this is where the hardcoat is a PITA....the mail sorting areas have a machine that pinch in both sides of the mailer and fling it through...DVD's are more pliable and can bend with the force on it...Blu-rays, unfortunately, do not bend as easily....making them more prevailant to fractures...

+1. I read an article on how Netflix is having a widespread problem with this, due to their mailers having difficulty with mail sorting machines. I've been using Netflix for several years now, and fortunately I haven't run into this problem yet.

[Propellarhead9]

I have yet to have a broken blu-ray come but in one of my first shipments from Netflix i had all 3 disc arrive completely destroyed beyond recognition. The discs looked like the crumb at the bottom of a pringles can.