Dvd Decay?

[Member-136960]

Originally Posted by 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?

Finally someone else with problems with Tomorrow Never Dies! I thought I was the only one & oddly enough you described it perfectly with what is wrong. Only Tomorrow Never Dies isn't my only 007 dvd with this issue. Years ago I bought the four boxed volumes, all played perfectly back then. Recently tried watching Tomorrow Never Dies on dvd & this problem occured, have it on blu-ray now though. Tv shows, concerts (that aren't available on blu) I Tried various titles from each volume with same result. Also have this problem with season 3 of the Dukes of Hazzard, just one disc so far (discs are double sided, had numerous issues with tv shows released by Universal as well, mostly the A-team & The Rockford Files) All these discs are like new, no scratches, no discoloring of the disc, nothing. I also want to point out a similar problem with Magnum Force out of the Dirty Harry Collection (on blu-ray). I did have an issue with the picture freezing on it as Harry is on the scene of the first hit by the motorcycle cops. Returned it for another copy, watched & played fine this time.
I have also had issues with adult dvds, (most of the adult dvds I buy are between 2002-2009) however most would actually play on a different player with no issues, only 2 I recall wouldn;t play properly on a different player out of about 25 that wouldn't play on my main player. Don't know if that's a good thing or not, could it be just a matter of time that they won't work on other players?

[hamchuck1]

I have copied all my bought DVD's into an external HD. These are ones that I think will never see a Blu release or they might go out of print. That way at least I have a backup copy of it. Something to think about.

[cricepng]

Originally Posted by hamchuck1

I have copied all my bought DVD's into an external HD. These are ones that I think will never see a Blu release or they might go out of print. That way at least I have a backup copy of it. Something to think about.

It might be something to think about but not to write about on the forums. Discussion of ripping is forbidden here due to legal issues.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by cricepng

It might be something to think about but not to write about on the forums. Discussion of ripping is forbidden here due to legal issues.

Here in the UK we're allowed to make back-ups of all our media and it's all legit (I think it starts in June or July). As to the OP it seems like the back-ups were a wise move!

Speaking of Bonds my Ultimate Edition of The Spy Who Loved Me is kaput.

[cricepng]

Originally Posted by chip75

Here in the UK we're allowed to make back-ups of all our media and it's all legit (I think it starts in June or July). As to the OP it seems like the back-ups were a wise move!

Speaking of Bonds my Ultimate Edition of The Spy Who Loved Me is kaput.

Not saying there aren't places where it is legal (there aren't laws against it here in PNG either), just because of the USA laws, the owners of blu-ray.com have made it a forbidden topic of discussion.

[mrr1]

Originally Posted by cricepng

because of the USA laws, the owners of blu-ray.com have made it a forbidden topic of discussion.

The land of the free

[Chiefy]

Not DVD decay per se, but my copy of From Dusk Til Dawn had a "pinhole" imperfection that caused the disc to glitch at that part. The imperfection was there from the beginning. I first noticed it when it glitched out on the first play.

Worse than that, when I bought Deep Rising (yes I know. It's a guilty pleasure) online in late '99, the new sealed pack was empty. Luckily it was a reputable online vendor, and they promptly sent a replacement.

[hamchuck1]

Originally Posted by cricepng

Not saying there aren't places where it is legal (there aren't laws against it here in PNG either), just because of the USA laws, the owners of blu-ray.com have made it a forbidden topic of discussion.

I'm not 100% sure about this but I was to believe if you have the cover art or some kind of proof of purchase, you were able to make a back up of it legally.

[DrrnHarr]

Originally Posted by 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?

The only DVDs that were available Day 1 were three or four IMAX specials.

DVD was launched in the US in March 1997, I made the jump in May 1998.

[cricepng]

Originally Posted by hamchuck1

I'm not 100% sure about this but I was to believe if you have the cover art or some kind of proof of purchase, you were able to make a back up of it legally.

I am 100% sure that you are wrong. Fair use would apply if you own th disc (not cover art or some other proof of purchase), but the Digital Millennial Copy-protection Act makes it illegal to circumvent the copy protections in place on commercial DVDs and blu-rays in the States. And thus the encouragement, endorsement and instruction of ripping has been forgotten on the site.

[GrouchoFan]

Originally Posted by 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.

Yep, my original copy of Vertigo died a few years ago. No visible signs of damage. It just doesn't play. I couldn't go without Vertigo in my collection, so eventually I got the replacement with the other cover mentioned above, and put the DVD in the old case. I just picked up the single Blu-ray release last week; I'm debating whether to put that into the DVD case, that original cover with the theatrical poster art is soooo much better than the Blu cover it's not funny.

As far as I know, out of close to 1,000, that's the only of my DVDs to go bad (knock on wood!).

[JeffTheMovieGuy]

A lot of my dvds had a problem with rot or mold, I think it had something to do with the environment and the fact that before we got new windows the walls would sweat. Thankfully blurays have a protective coating. Even though not every movie looks great on blu, I see bluray as an investment in saving film.

[AnamorphicWidescreen]

Originally Posted by JeffTheMovieGuy

A lot of my dvds had a problem with rot or mold, I think it had something to do with the environment and the fact that before we got new windows the walls would sweat. Thankfully blurays have a protective coating. Even though not every movie looks great on blu, I see bluray as an investment in saving film.

Yes - prior to joining this site earlier this year, I was unaware that Blu's had the protective coating on them since it's tough to actually see. However, the fact is that Blu's are much less prone to scratches than DVD's - so, even if the PQ between a Blu & DVD is negligible, it's still worth it to invest a little extra $ (if you're buying a film, since TV seasons on Blu are a lot more than DVD's) to get the Blu over the DVD.

I question why this protective coating wasn't ever put on DVD's and/or CD's over the years...CD's have been around since 1982 (32 years), and are still being produced to some extent. Regular DVD's are also still being produced. I guess the protective coating is expensive, hence their only putting this on Blu's - which typically sell for a higher price point than regular DVD's. That being said, ironically I have seen some music CD's that sell for a lot more than Blu's...in the same store.

[tilallr1]

I have a large collection of CD's & DVD's and have had zero problems with playback since I have been buying them in the early to mid 1990's.

Keep in mind however I live in Canada where the temperature is cooler, so house is usually constant temperature, so no real fluctuations. I think those of you who don't use a heat/cool supplement to regulate temperatures and humidity in your homes may be more likely to experience disc rot.

It appears that storing them horizontally actually can cause damage to them. Apparently a design flaw in the dual layer concept will allow information to "bleed" or slip from one layer into the next. Storing them horizontally allows more gravitational pull on the information thus encouraging this informational slip. By storing your discs vertically, the information will be held in place as it has nowhere to go, as well as the fact that the disc was designed to hold information in place across its surface (otherwise centrifugal force would fling the data all over while the disc was spinning away in your player!). Which is why I have always stored my discs vertically.

But it's nice to know my collection of Blu's aren't going to ever experience this problem.

[chip75]

Most of my DVDs are stacked horizontally! Which I have to do for space reasons. Hopefully they'll be okay. I do plan on displaying them vertically but I need to buy some extra shelves.

[tilallr1]

Originally Posted by chip75

Most of my DVDs are stacked horizontally! Which I have to do for space reasons. Hopefully they'll be okay. I do plan on displaying them vertically but I need to buy some extra shelves.

Please don't worry too much, I personally stored DVD's for years that way and they are still fine. Theoretically it makes sense that Gravity could warp the disc edges if stored horizontally (even in the case), but I doubt in the real world this has happened often. This used to be a big problem with LaserDiscs, but that was because of a paper based sleeve and large size. But I would be interested to know how many people with clean DVD playback issues had stored their disc horizontally. I have never seen any real numbers, but I doubt there has been any scientific study done on this. After all, most people would just rebuy the disc and isn't that what the hollywood movie makers want you to do?

Also please note that DVD rot is usually visible, so if your having playback issues and the disc looks clean, no scratches or rot then it may be due to the defect above or slight warping.

[Louisville Slugger]

I've had HD-DVDs that played perfectly when I bought them 7 years ago, but some of them now skip in random places and throw 408bc504 errors on three different players. Most of the bad ones I've tested have been Warner titles. I did some digging and most, if not all of the Warner HD-DVDs were manufactured by Cinram. I actually contacted Warner and got them to replace numerous HD-DVD titles with their Blu-ray equivalents. The last movie I experienced problems with was Blade Runner on HD-DVD. I wasn't going to wait for Warner to replace one movie so I re-bought it from Amazon using my Chase Freedom reward points. Of course this had to happen to my favorite movie of all time.

I'll never know what other titles are bad in my collection until I end up watching one that has an issue. I am not going to sit and watch each movie from start to end waiting for a 408bc504 error. I'll deal with each bad disc on a case by case basis.

I have yet to have an issue with a Blu-ray, CD, or the few DVDs I have in my collection.

More information:

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/152-hd...d-dvds-17.html

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=213043

[tilallr1]

Originally Posted by Louisville Slugger

I've had HD-DVDs that played perfectly when I bought them 7 years ago, but some of them now skip in random places and throw 408bc504 errors. Most of the bad ones I've tested have been Warner titles. I did some digging and most, if not all of the Warner HD-DVDs were manufactured by Cinram. I actually contacted Warner and got them to replace numerous HD-DVD titles with their Blu-ray equivalents. The last movie I experienced problems with was Blade Runner on HD-DVD. I wasn't going to wait for Warner to replace one movie so I re-bought it from Amazon using my Chase Freedom reward points. Of course this had to happen to my favorite movie of all time.

I'll never know what other titles are bad in my collection until I end up watching one that has an issue. I am not going to sit and watch each movie from start to end waiting for a 408bc504 error. I'll deal with each bad disc on a case by case basis.

I have yet to have an issue with a Blu-ray, CD, or the few DVDs I have in my collection.

Could it have also been a bad laser on an old HD-DVD player? This is also the number one problem with laser disc players in general. In other words, did you try the HD-DVD discs on another player to check it was the discs and not the player?

[Louisville Slugger]

Originally Posted by tilallr1

Could it have also been a bad laser on an old HD-DVD player? This is also the number one problem with laser disc players in general. In other words, did you try the HD-DVD discs on another player to check it was the discs and not the player?

I had three players, and one was still in a box as my backup. All three threw the error in the exact same place. It was the disc.

[tilallr1]

I wonder if HD-DVD quad layer was even more fragile. Glad blu-ray won out then.