Blu-ray scratches

[stackerboy99]

Hello,
I've noticed one or two Blu-rays I own have these weird types of marks/scratches on the disc. These ones are only visible when you hold the bottom of the disc up to the light a certain way. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's experienced these types of scratches before.
I've tested the discs and have had no problems at all, but I am just curious if this is something I should be concerned about.

Thanks!

[Crimson King]

Originally Posted by stackerboy99

Hello,
I've noticed one or two Blu-rays I own have these weird types of marks/scratches on the disc. These ones are only visible when you hold the bottom of the disc up to the light a certain way. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's experienced these types of scratches before.
I've tested the discs and have had no problems at all, but I am just curious if this is something I should be concerned about.

Thanks!

If they play, then you should be okay.
Minor scratches will not affect play.
If they start to bronze then I would worry, because that would would be disc rot, which can be fatal to disc media of all kinds.

[stackerboy99]

Originally Posted by Crimson King

If they play, then you should be okay.
Minor scratches will not affect play.
If they start to bronze then I would worry, because that would would be disc rot, which can be fatal to disc media of all kinds.

Thank you. The scratches do not appear bronze at all, so I'll try not to worry. Just have paranoia/OCD, so need to ask if I should've been concerned

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by stackerboy99

The scratches do not appear bronze at all, so I'll try not to worry. Just have paranoia/OCD, so need to ask if I should've been concerned

Not sure what you are seeing but it is most likely not gouged surface scratches, if it were then the disc probably would not play when it reached that area. Have you tried cleaning the disc surface using recommended procedures (one here)?

[slimdude]

The scratches that you're seeing are probably surface scratches, and it will not effect the playability of the disc because, blu-rays have a scratch resistant coating on them, to prevent deep penetrating scratches from occurring that will cause defects.

[frogmort]

1) - Hold disc under running warm water.
2) - Wipe disc on shirt.
3) - Fin.

[orangerunner]

My unofficial method of determining whether a scratch on a Blu-ray will affect the playback is breathing on the disc;

If I can see the scratch through the fog of my breath it may cause a playback issue. If I can't see the scratch through the fog, it's probably okay.

[PhysicalMediaNut]

Blu-ray is very resilient. I’m a bit OCD myself though so I know how you feel. Blu-rays can take quite a bit of damage though before it affects playback. My suggestion would be to test damaging on a disc you are not attached to. That would put things into perspective.

[HorrorBlu]

I stopped looking at the bottoms of blu-rays/DVDs/CDs. As long as they play fine, I don't want to know. Out of sight, out of mind.

[RdCrestdBreegull]

My Star Wars 4K sets that arrived all had scratches. I returned them and replacements came, and most of them still had scratches and often in similar places. It seems when the discs were made there was an imperfection to the disc-making process which would explain how some of the discs had the same scratches even in the replacements. It's honestly driving me pretty crazy. And with movies as important as these, and considering that these might be the last physical versions ever produced, I feel the need to just keep returning and swapping discs until there aren't any scratches left. However, with current worldwide events delaying shipments, there is a possibility that replacements won't arrive within the 30-day return window (once the return is initiated) and that will certainly be a dilemma.

[wicker]

I have been noticing 5mm minor scratches on some blu rays (many brand new ones just opened.)

Most of these scratches are only visible when the light is angled just right and not too bright, and even knowing exactly where the scratch is, it can take a bit of angling to try and see it again.

Given that the vast majority of people wont notice these, is this something that all blu-rays potentially have? And if so, do you think its the actual blu ray itself that is scratched, or a different unrelated "layer" of the disc (it seems to be the very top layer) which should not matter if its scratched?

I'm curious if these minor scratches can potentially result in disc rot if the scratch breaches the protective layer, but im not sure if they would be deep enough to be the case.

[Lee A Stewart]

My own experience: minor scratches - no problem. Smudges - big problem. Movie freezes up and refuses to play forward. If I skip chapters AI will eventually reach a point where the smudge no longer affects play. Of course the solution is to clean off smudges.

I buy a lot of used discs. DVDs? They play every time unless the disc has a crack in it.

[Musashi]

One of my 4K discs proved itself defective today. I watched it once before without issue but this time halfway through it choked. I got it a long time ago with no idea where the receipt is. Yet looking at it appeared to be in a pristine mint condition.

[stonesfan129]

The discs do not scratch themselves. I have noticed certain binders are not kind to the disc surface (especially with DVDs). I only use Case Logic binders for mine. I don't like keeping stuff in the original cases either as I've had the center of discs start cracking (my Criterion Collection of The Last Emperor did this and I had to buy another copy). I think sometimes the players do it too. I had a Blu-ray of Se7en that got scratched to where it wouldn't play anymore.

[stackerboy99]

Thank you everyone for your advice about this topic. It's a very important one to me because I always worry about the condition of discs in my collection, especially 4Ks, because I have heard those are more sensitive than 2K Blu-rays.

However, I do want to ask: Is there like a certain technique or a certain piece of advice that anyone can give to someone who struggles with OCD about disc scratches? I know it's probably a stupid question, but anything can help in the longrun for somebody who obsesses over it and sometimes goes out of their way to replace it or buy another copy or two of it to get the best disc they want.

[RdCrestdBreegull]

stackerboy99 I'm also super OCD about scratches and will sometimes go stupid lengths to get a copy that is not scratched. I have also noticed that sometimes probably hundreds of the same disc will have the exact same scratch because even the third replacement copy will have it in the exact same place pretty much. So I think sometimes there is a malfunction or something at the factory. It sucks pretty major.