Re: [NEWS] Some Warner Bros DVD releases suffering from 'laser rot'

On 2025-03-23 00:31:48 +0000, super70s said:
 

 On 2025-03-20 02:19:06 +0000, Your Name said:
 

 You might be eligible for a replacement ... if one still exists (and
 possibly US only).
 
 
 
 Still Clinging to DVDs?
 Some Warner Bros. Discs Have Started Rotting Away
 -------------------------------------------------
 You might be eligible for a replacement or a refund, depending on
 whether your malfunctioning DVD is still in print.
 
 If you're still hanging on to your physical DVD collection, you
 could be in for a nasty surprise.
 
 Many DVDs manufactured by Warner Bros. between 2006 and 2008 have
 been hit by an issue known as "laser rot," where DVDs simply stop
 working due to a rotting of the layers, an investigation by movie
 review site JoBlo reveals. So far, it doesn't seem like Blu-ray
 discs or HD-DVD are affected.

 
 I surely have some Warner Bros. DVDs manufactured between 2006 and 2008
 (58 discs from all studios of movies that came out in 2005 alone) but I
 haven't noticed the kind of obvious physical "laser rot" like that
 displayed in the original article.
 (https://www.joblo.com/warner-bros-dvds-dont-work/)
 
 It mentions Shawshank Redemption as one of those affected, I have a
 2-disc "10th Anniversary" edition of Shawshank Redemption but I have no
 idea what year it was manufactured (no date on it but its 1994 original
 release year). It looks and plays fine.
 
 I've encountered plenty of DVDs that skip badly but I don't think it's
 necessarily because of this kind of "laser rot." I don't own any that
 show the kind of problem of the picture in the article.
 
 In fact the only rot problem I've ever had is with one of my 700 CDs,
 an early pressing of The Who's "Who's Next" made in West Germany on the
 Polydor label. You can hold it up to the light and see several tiny
 "pinpricks" shining through it. I replaced it with a Canadian version
 that was supposed to be a superior mastering job anyway.

 
Discs getting rot and the rate they deteriorate will depend on a lot of
factors, including how they are stored, temperature, quality of the
original manufacturing and materials, etc. You might well not see any
problems for years or even never, while your neighbours collection is
already only useful as beer mats.
 
The problem is that there's no real way of knowing without constantly
checking them.
 
Same of course goes for pretty much every other format of anything: VHS
tapes, cassette tapes, floppy disks, etc. Even paper copies of things
can deteriorate. Carving into solid rock isn't guaranteed to last
forever either.
 
Despite many manufacturers claims. There is no storage format that will
last hundreds, let alone thousands, of years.