Anyone else finding just a few too many old DVDs just don't work any more?

WOW that's heartbreaking. I feel for you my friend.

 

I'm finding some used BR discs at very cheap prices (under $5). I'm okay with those as replacements for DVDs. I'm with you though, for the most part. I really can't tell a big difference btween DVD & BR among the older movies. On a side note, I'm running out of shelf space and the BR discs take up less room than the DVDs. It adds up after awhile.

 

That could possibly be some kind of mold/fungus thing that has grown due to high moisture or humidity. It's definitely possible for weird chemical reactions to happen with optical disc media under extreme conditions. Copy the discs to a hard drive, quick.

 

yes, I have them in a few rooms displayed...my son came over the other day and said.."You know these DVDs are like VHS now! old and out dated! Brat!

 

I find many of my TV on DVD getting gooey, cloudy from a reaction due to the clear cases...I cleaned them with 91% alcohol and they seem to be OK...even my Leave It To Beaver Complete set was getting the reaction...I have at least 3 dozen other complete sets of various TV shows that are turning! what a drag!

 

I had a Kentucky Fried Movie dvd die on me. Just had to buy another one.

 

Trust! This is happening. Just found the "cloudy" version on 3 dvds of FAMILY GUY this past weekend. They were in their original black plastic "slim" Amaray cases.

So can we presume that it was either:

a. Some sort of defect in the original discs?
b. Some sort of defect in the keep case that outgassed and fogged the discs?
c. Some sort of combination of the two?

I'm remembering with HORROR, the "self-destructing" rental dvds that were made. (DId they actually get distributed?) When you opened the sealed package they were in, a chemical reaction fogged the surface of the disc within a set number of hours.

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

I never had one, but always feared that what if the chemicals could leak to other nearby dvds? And wonder if the clouding we're seeing is some milder form of the same idea. And skeptically... What if it was somehow INTENTIONAL...??? (Studios knowingly cause SOME dvds to fail so they will have to be re-purchased...)

 

As far as TV-on-DVD goes, I recall that there were lots of discs that came in cases from the Scanavo company that started turning "cloudy" and that the cases themselves seemed to have an almost greasy feel to them after a while as if something in the plastic was breaking down. I don't remember anyone saying that their "cloudy" discs had failed or started developing problems, but I've definitely seen the weird "greasy cases" for myself and I kinda think even Scanavo eventually acknowledged there was a problem.

 

all good points and I would not put it past them to be that devious...I'm freaked out that I have thousands of dollars worth of DVDs that may go bad down the road
I'm going to start a thread on problem DVDs!...

 

My Silence of the Lambs DVD refused to play a few years back, the surface had turned cloudy. With nothing to lose (and following some google found advice) I cleaned it with soapy water and viola it worked again. Funnily enough, the cloudiness had come back next time I went to watch it, and the same trick worked again.

 

I agree completely. A computer is not a substitute for a consumer electronics device if you want durability these days.

Dead on. Slot loading drives really are a bad idea. They eventually fail when the rubber rollers get degraded or dirty and scratch the discs on each load. Only Blu-ray discs are somewhat impervious to this due the hard coat used on the surface. For CDs and DVDs, the plastic is too soft relative to the worn rollers. Works OK when new.

 

I had one DVD(PIXAR's A Bug's Life) that would not play in my Pioneer DVD player but played in the Playstation 3. The disc surface looked fine.

 

I think we all need to step back and look at the situation, rather than react to frustration.

When someone owns a car, say like a BMW, and the suspension fails due to a design defect (like mine), it is obvious that one doesn't panic and assume all cars, not just BMWs, or even all BMW models, have this problem.

Take a look at history with CDs. With CDs, almost all CDs with rot have been documented to come from a very specific plants with very specific production dates. Which is means that:

1. the other 99.99....% of CDs made do not have this problem, nor will get it​

2. however, most CDs made during these problem runs at problem plants rarely escape eventual rot or failure (PDO UK from late 80s, Discovery Systems from certain 80s runs, etc.) and are a very, very small number of discs relative to global production​

3. the discs made at these same plants during other dates have no rot issues, since the manufacturing defects were fixed​

4. Manufacturing defects or alternative materials, not the fundamental technology of CDs, were the problem. There is no 'rot epidemic' for CDs.​

​

Now, on to DVDs. What is very different about DVDs, besides the multi layer design, and pit density, is that they were made after the IFPI implimented the SID codes to track where discs and stampers are made. So, all legitimate DVDs are supposed to have IFPI codes identifying the pressing plant and the stamper used to make the layers.

What also different about some DVDs, is the packaging. The studios seem to like to use just about anything to store DVDs, most not too smart. Amaray cases (the original wide ones) are the standard and generally work fine. Others have used the Warner paper/plastic snap case (now gone thankfully!), digipaks with multipanels, paper sliders that scratch the discs, accordion style fold outs (Fox/Simpsons) possibly the stupidest packaging I have seen yet, slim Amaray cases, alternate shaped plastic cases, Pozzoli digipak overlapping trays, Super Jewel cases in various sizes, promo items in metal cans, etc.

What role could packaging play in this?

1. The hub keepers in some DVD cases are way too tight in tension on the hub and either crack the hub or require lots of bending to release. The disc will either break eventually spinning or delaminate. This is really obvious and sudden failure. Not a high probability for disc rot.​

2. The packaging, particularly in paper packaging, has outgassing problems with certain chemicals used, but also quite rare. i.e. someone made a mistake. usually these get returned at the beginning of the discs' life, not as much over time. This does happen, but it is quite rare and plant specific. The plastic cases generally do not any problems with outgassing.​

3. The packaging's design scratches the discs during each removal. The Simpsons FOX accordion style is the worst, since it requires the factory to scratch the discs as they are assembled. However, this would generally just scratch the surface and result in playback issues (skips/freezing), not rot and unplayability, since it not breaking the lacquer edge seal. Not a high probability for disc rot.​

While packaging can have a role in rot, it is not high probability of causing a mass epidemic of rot.

What causes rot? It is delamination of the lacquer layer that lets oxygen in to corrode the metal layer. How does this happen?

1. The disc has poor sealing from the factory due to defective manufacturing. The main difference between CDs and DVDs or Blu-rays is that video discs are multi-layer and delamination would affect the ability play the layers, whereas CDs are one layer. However, delamination will result to total failure eventually as the metal oxidizes, just CDs. Most likely cause.​

2. in rare cases, the plastic is exposed to something really corrosive to plastic.- very unlikely and very obvious and sudden failure.​

3. The disc has been subject to severe physical stress, bent at severe angles, hub cracking, or similar. Also unlikely and very obvious and sudden failure.​

Just like CDs, a DVD title sold in the Canadian market or European market is usually pressed locally by different plants vs. the US title, so any defect correlation with a title between markets is coincidental, unless it is some obvious error in the master. The discs are pressed all over the world for both logistics and copyright reasons. Occasionally there, are exceptions, where a US plant produces discs for Canada or vice-versa.

Most US market DVDs are made in the USA or Mexico at plants tied to the studios' contracts. Sometimes, really popular titles are pressed by multiple and different companies due to demand and capacity. The big US replicators for DVDs are Sony DADC, Cinram (old WEA/Warner plant in the USA and original Cinram plant in Canada), Technicolor (old Panasonic and Technicolor/Thomson plants)

As a result, studios do not have intentional degradation built into the discs, since the discs are pressed at plants all over the world that also press discs for other studios and to the DVD standard set by Philips and Sony. Only unique, poorly designed packaging that is mandated for title (Simpsons again, paper sliders, etc.) are the only mechanism to promote short life span from scratches in use intentionally.

Just taking a guess, most of the rot problems mentioned so far, are probably tied to a specific pressing plant's runs. It is easy to check. Look at the plastic hub and look for a four letter/number code moulded in the hub. It will look like this: IFPI 1R01 or 0122 and the matrix of the layer will have a number with 'L' and three numbers like this: L123.

Report back with numbers and the hub/matrix numbers can be looked up. This can also be done online with a search.

I own probably 75 or so DVDs, and none of them have any rot. Our public library has 1000s of DVDs.

My suggestion, for what it is worth, is to correlate which DVDs have problems and confirm that it is specific batches of DVDs from specific plants, and not the fundamental technology. I have confidence that these are isolated problems and not to worry about your discs all going bad eventually.

Hope this helps.

 

Several of my Buffy and Angel discs that I have had forever stopped working. I put them in the dvd/sony bd player/sony ps3 and they read as not having any data on them.

 

Sounds like a spell caused by some demon...time to call in the scooby gang.

So far all of my Buffy and Angel discs are still working. I've probably watched them more than my other DVDs. About 4 years ago to save shelf space I put each season in 6-disc cases (3 disc for buffy S1) rather than those awful accordian-style foldout digipaks. Started watching them again in January and now I'm in the middle of Buffy S6 with no playback issues. I switch between rooms in the house depending on whatever else I'm doing and whoever else is home - Samsung DVD player, Phillips DVD/VCR (2 of these), Panasonic BD. No issues with any of the players.

 

The 'Six Feet Under'' season five discs that no longer work are IFPI L906
The 'Veronica Mars' season two discs are IFPI G000
The 'Gate Of Flesh' (Suzuki, Criterion) is IFPI L339
The 'Big Love' season one disc is IFPI L907

The VM is pressed in Canada. The Criterion is pressed in the US. The SFU and BL are either US or Mexico; I'm not completely sure.

 

Not to worry. Surely they'll be issued on BluRay any moment now.

Probably the day after I find out that my DVDs are defective too and re-buy them all.

 

What type of packaging is the DVD housed in? Your scenario sounds like atmosphere glue transference from packaging to disc over time. I've experienced this with some digipak CDs from time to time.

 

Back then, I was doing quick 15 minute runs into the flooded house just to assemble and assess what I could salvage - the conditions were horrendous. I had to wear gloves, a mask and sleeves to cover any exposed skin.

The purple I mentioned looked like a huge sore within the plastic layers of the disc. Funny thing - all these years later, I'm STILL going through stuff I managed to pull from that house and having success. Over time, I've learned what and what not to do to attempt salvage. Even from day one, I could tell what could be a salvage project or not. "Eat-Thru", bleeding from front to back, or just too much black mold was an automatic toss. My cousin held a huge amount for almost 4 years after Aug. 2005.

Rachael Bee asked if the discs were exposed to salt water. With levees breaching and one of the water sources being the Gulf Of Mexico, I'd say yes. Bottom line is, we'll NEVER know what exactly was in the water that flooded all our homes and in Orleans Parish the water staying in house for up to 6 weeks. Most of you have seen the footage of the aftermath. Let your imagination run wild. Chances are your most horrific things were in that water.

If I didn't love music/media so much, I might have just said screw it and tossed it ALL out. Previously having a double-shotgun house(10 rooms), that was a LOT of stuff. Now living in a 2 bedroom condo, you learn a thing or two. Needless to say, if I have to bug out again, I have the ability to grab it ALL and run.

 

I'm sympathetic! I worked on a movie, Hurricane Season (starring Forrest Whittaker), which had a very moving scene where the coach and his wife got to return to their flooded New Orleans home briefly to retrieve a couple of personal belongings, but the safety people advised that because of the health risks from mold, they had to get out in about 20 minutes and just abandon everything. Very sad story.

Downsizing has its advantages. My advice would be to rip your entire collection to hard drives, and then back it up. If you have to get out of Dodge, at least grabbing three or four hard drives is much faster and much less trouble than trying to cart away thousands of CDs and/or LPs.

 

The only saving grace in that whole mess was that the weather was surprisingly cool(er) for that time of the year. Wearing long sleeve shirts and sweats in late August/early September - could have been interesting in normal heat for the area.

I know it's only physical stuff, but I'm sure many grieve over losing "stuff". The lion's share of my DCC/MFSL CD's got wet. Vinyl - lost roughly 600. That blew my mind until my close friend told me he lost 12,000! And I can honestly back him with that number. I saw his massive collection. Mind boggling.

My only regret was that it took this disaster to move from where I lived. I feel safer and more secure where I am now but just wish at the very least I could have salvaged my audio equipment. Not exactly on the same plane as "primo" gear, but the NAD and Metronome stuff I had for over 20 years was still kicking a$$. One of these days, I'll find a way to assemble a suitable system to enjoy video/audio to a better level. Who knows, I might shake the whole building I'm in! Not on a constant basis, just in meditional bursts!

 

I remember quite a few years back, on a different forum, there was a thread about people experiencing problems with some of their DVDs from Universal... specifically the "Collector's Edition" titles, most of which where released in the late 90's and early 2000's. I'm pretty sure the problem was something to do with the discs not playing properly, especially some of the older titles. I had about 40-45 of these DVDs in my library at the time, so needless to say, I was a bit worried at first... but when I went through and manually checked each one, they all played fine.

 

I don't have it to hand here, but from memory it was a cardboard cover with plastic tray, so very much like a digipak.

 

I believe that would probably be the very first issue from Orion/Image, which came in one of those Warner "snap cases" that everyone hated so much.

 

Those don't have issue with the paper outgassing, since the, IMO a really stupid design, Warner paper/plastic snap cases were all made at WEA Mfg/WAMO back then (now Cinram). Just not durable.