Home Video Asylum

TVs, VCRs, DVD players, Home Theater systems and more.

DVD rot?

I remember talk of the old 12" Laserdiscs sometimes going bad and becoming unplayable, a phenomenon referred to in those days as "Laser rot" but I've never seen or heard of this in a DVD until yesterday.

My first projector (Sony VPL-HS10) arrived last week and I've been sampling all the DVDs in house, enjoying the big screen presentation. Last night, I chose "Contact" from the shelf and tried to go directly to a scene late in the movie. I thought it strange to see only black on the screen. After going back to the scene selection screen, I chose another chapter and got the same results. This is strange as I bought this disk a few years ago and have watched it several times.

I ejected the disc and examined the surface to see if it had somehow gotten dirty. The outer diameter did seem a bit foggy so I washed the disk but to my surprise the fog remained. Apparently it is not on the surface of the disk. I re-inserted the disk and tried several more chapters, working my way back toward the start of the movie. I reached a point where I could get playback but after a minute or so, got to the part of the disk where the problem seems to start as the picture froze.

I have never seen this with any other DVD. I'll be writing to Warner (who produced the disk) to inform them and ask for a replacement.

Anyone else ever seen or heard of something like this?
What do I call it? DVD rot?

Barry


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Topic - DVD rot? - bdiament 04:47:35 05/22/03 (3)


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