I have 1 title with a hand full of Rott and its actually the oldest video of any format that I have.
I payed like $8 for a copy of War of The Worlds on Laserdisc and I was thinking it was gonna be a 1983 pressing and surprisingly (Probably Luck) It was an original 1981 pressing.
I knew that it was an original 1981 pressed disc because 1, There was no sidecode bar on the back of the cover and 2, the edge markings where scribed on by hand.
I also have Fantasia,Only DADC disc I got. Has mild rot
The only time I ever seen Laser Rot on my collection is one some of my discs but usually at the end of each side. I have a collection which I specialize in Disney, music (rock operas, musicals etc), animation and classics
Im a collector of Laserdiscs and was wondering if anyone knew if there are a value to these things. cause I see some for sale on ebay ranging from $25-$100! are they nuts or are they actually worth something?
It's not easy. Usually, it's recognizing the mint marks and their patterns and then figuring out what replicator distributors usually hire.
For the longest time, Warner made their own discs through their WAMO facility (now Cinram). Their discs sometimes had a logo and there was a certain way the discs and mint marks looked.
Technicolor is used by lots of people, including Universal, Paramount, Fox, and so on.
"1. Can laser rot still happen in conventional DVDs and in Blu Ray discs?"
Possibly. There have been reported instances of spots developing on certain Blu-Ray Discs, though this may have been corrected. There have also been reports of DVDs that developed problems and stopped playing. In fact, my brother had one of his discs in his "Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight" develop a slight discoloration of the reflective layer and the disc would no longer play.
@Watcher3223 Several of the first Universal dual-layer DVDs have become unplayable. I've personally seen 3 DVDs rot- 2 would not read at all while one glitched on the 2nd layer. MANY HD-DVDs made by Cinram (formerly Warner's own factory) have either rotted or were possibly defective from the get-go. I've collected nearly every HD-DVD released in the US, and have had about 20 discs, all Warner titles, not play at all or freeze up anywhere from 20-80 minutes into the movie (verified on 4 players!)
@Watcher3223 Yes, early Panasonic USA-made DVDs failed- the 3rd DVD I ever bought was Boogie Nights which stopped working after about 11 years. Crest National's discs failed too (they made a lot of Anchor Bay titles). My friend has "FM" which has been out of print for a long time, he never watched it and when I tried to copy it we discovered it was unreadable. I've seen a few defective Technicolor DVDs- they were notorious for bad DVD-18 (2-sided dual-layer) discs.
@Watcher3223 I strongly prefer the use of 2-sided DVDs too, instead of twice as many 1-sided discs. Technicolor made so many bad ones though that many people thought all 2-sided discs were inherently bad and would not buy them! I think they're great when they work; Warner actually reissued Gilligan's Island on 1-sided discs so I bought the 2-sided ones while they were still available.
However, in the bigger picture, DVD and Blu-Ray rot remains very rare.
As for the second question, rot can cause laserlock, especially with CAV discs, but it would have to be a very severe instance. Laserlock is where the optical servo stays locked onto one frame over and again and cannot advance to the next frame, giving the appearance of a freeze frame. CLV/CAA discs may not have the same effect.
Audio wouldn't "disappear" with possible exception of the digital track (if a rotted LD is programmed with it), but it would have to be a very severe instance.
As for a film stopping entirely, well, if the defect is bad enough, there have been rotted discs that deteriorated to the point where the player would not play the disc at all.
As for rotted discs damaging players, possible but highly likely.
@Watcher3223 Do you have any laserdisc examples that show laserlock via laser rot and the other serious defects that I asked? I want to know if the laserdisc players ever show any error messages on the screen, or if the error messages are pre-programmed into the laserdisc itself (like how a computer hardware or software outputs its own messages if a problem occured).
No, I don't. I have a DiscoVision copy of "The Choirboys" that has had a problem with laser lock, but the problem was more likely caused by a different defect, such as foreign object inclusion, rather than laser rot.
heavy metal.. what a classic
polaris911 2 weeks ago
@polaris911
And, fortunately, can be seen in glorious high definition video on Blu-Ray Disc.
Watcher3223 2 weeks ago
I have 1 title with a hand full of Rott and its actually the oldest video of any format that I have.
I payed like $8 for a copy of War of The Worlds on Laserdisc and I was thinking it was gonna be a 1983 pressing and surprisingly (Probably Luck) It was an original 1981 pressing.
I knew that it was an original 1981 pressed disc because 1, There was no sidecode bar on the back of the cover and 2, the edge markings where scribed on by hand.
I also have Fantasia,Only DADC disc I got. Has mild rot
Dakkiller1 1 month ago in playlist Uploaded videos
The only time I ever seen Laser Rot on my collection is one some of my discs but usually at the end of each side. I have a collection which I specialize in Disney, music (rock operas, musicals etc), animation and classics
avickers1992 2 months ago
@avickers1992
Laser rot is interesting regarding where on the disc and how it happens.
I've seen laser rot happen in the way you describe: usually at its worst towards the end.
I've also seen it where the opposite was true: gets better as it plays.
I've seen some where it gets better and worse then better again and so on.
I've also seen rot on discs where the deterioration is, more or less, consistent throughout the entire side.
Watcher3223 2 months ago
Im a collector of Laserdiscs and was wondering if anyone knew if there are a value to these things. cause I see some for sale on ebay ranging from $25-$100! are they nuts or are they actually worth something?
fntsydrgn 3 months ago
@fntsydrgn
Depends, but usually a rotted disc isn't worth much, especially if good copies can still be found.
The value falls even further if the movie has seen a better release on DVD or Blu-Ray Disc.
Watcher3223 3 months ago
How do you determine the manufacturer of a DVD?
STAY AWESOME! :)
cessnaace 4 months ago
@cessnaace
It's not easy. Usually, it's recognizing the mint marks and their patterns and then figuring out what replicator distributors usually hire.
For the longest time, Warner made their own discs through their WAMO facility (now Cinram). Their discs sometimes had a logo and there was a certain way the discs and mint marks looked.
Technicolor is used by lots of people, including Universal, Paramount, Fox, and so on.
Sony obviously uses their own facilities (DADC).
Watcher3223 4 months ago
@Watcher3223 Thanks for the info.
STAY AWESOME! :)
cessnaace 4 months ago
@cessnaace
But there's also many I don't know about and some times where I was wrong in determining who made what.
Watcher3223 4 months ago
oh god this is horrible. I'm glad none of my discs are doing this, especially my mind's eye ones.
shorty1k 4 months ago
Very informative video. Helps us know what to look for.
Shakermaker01 4 months ago
@Shakermaker01
Basically, the best rule of thumb in helping to avoid getting a rotted disc is to test play it before buying it, if possible.
Watcher3223 4 months ago
Two questions:
1. Can laser rot still happen in conventional DVDs and in Blu Ray discs?
2. Does there exist a form of laser rot so severe, that if the disc were played, any of these could happen:
- Film is frozen
- Audio disappears, sounding mute at times
- Film stops playing entirely, possibly causing damage to the laserdisc player
WammyGiveaway 4 months ago
@WammyGiveaway
"1. Can laser rot still happen in conventional DVDs and in Blu Ray discs?"
Possibly. There have been reported instances of spots developing on certain Blu-Ray Discs, though this may have been corrected. There have also been reports of DVDs that developed problems and stopped playing. In fact, my brother had one of his discs in his "Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight" develop a slight discoloration of the reflective layer and the disc would no longer play.
Watcher3223 4 months ago
@Watcher3223 Several of the first Universal dual-layer DVDs have become unplayable. I've personally seen 3 DVDs rot- 2 would not read at all while one glitched on the 2nd layer. MANY HD-DVDs made by Cinram (formerly Warner's own factory) have either rotted or were possibly defective from the get-go. I've collected nearly every HD-DVD released in the US, and have had about 20 discs, all Warner titles, not play at all or freeze up anywhere from 20-80 minutes into the movie (verified on 4 players!)
eyeh8nbc 4 months ago
@eyeh8nbc
I wonder who made the DVDs that had failed. The one disc from my brother's "Chronicles of the Heroic Knight" was made by Technicolor.
Universal usually had a good number of their discs made by Panasonic (most of their older releases) or Technicolor.
Never owned HD-DVD. Kind of said to hear that one manufacturer had serious problems.
And, mentioning Cinram being originally owned by Warner, I do now recall that Wamo also had problems with DVD production when they first started.
Watcher3223 4 months ago
@Watcher3223 Yes, early Panasonic USA-made DVDs failed- the 3rd DVD I ever bought was Boogie Nights which stopped working after about 11 years. Crest National's discs failed too (they made a lot of Anchor Bay titles). My friend has "FM" which has been out of print for a long time, he never watched it and when I tried to copy it we discovered it was unreadable. I've seen a few defective Technicolor DVDs- they were notorious for bad DVD-18 (2-sided dual-layer) discs.
eyeh8nbc 4 months ago
@eyeh8nbc
Interesting. Seems like DVD had some growing pains when it first came out.
As for faulty DVD-18 discs, oh, I can sympathize.
I had to contact Universal and Deluxe quite a few times to get replacement DVD-18 discs as some of my A-Team TV show boxsets had bad ones.
Watcher3223 4 months ago
@eyeh8nbc
The A-Team discs were all manufactured by Technicolor, authored and guaranteed by Deluxe on behalf of Universal Home Entertainment.
Watcher3223 4 months ago
@eyeh8nbc
Seaons 2, 3 and 4 of the A-Team are all DVD-18. Seasons 1 and 5 are all DVD-9 with exception of the last disc in season 1 being DVD-5.
Watcher3223 4 months ago
@Watcher3223 I strongly prefer the use of 2-sided DVDs too, instead of twice as many 1-sided discs. Technicolor made so many bad ones though that many people thought all 2-sided discs were inherently bad and would not buy them! I think they're great when they work; Warner actually reissued Gilligan's Island on 1-sided discs so I bought the 2-sided ones while they were still available.
eyeh8nbc 4 months ago
@WammyGiveaway
However, in the bigger picture, DVD and Blu-Ray rot remains very rare.
As for the second question, rot can cause laserlock, especially with CAV discs, but it would have to be a very severe instance. Laserlock is where the optical servo stays locked onto one frame over and again and cannot advance to the next frame, giving the appearance of a freeze frame. CLV/CAA discs may not have the same effect.
Watcher3223 4 months ago
@WammyGiveaway
Audio wouldn't "disappear" with possible exception of the digital track (if a rotted LD is programmed with it), but it would have to be a very severe instance.
As for a film stopping entirely, well, if the defect is bad enough, there have been rotted discs that deteriorated to the point where the player would not play the disc at all.
As for rotted discs damaging players, possible but highly likely.
Watcher3223 4 months ago
@Watcher3223 Do you have any laserdisc examples that show laserlock via laser rot and the other serious defects that I asked? I want to know if the laserdisc players ever show any error messages on the screen, or if the error messages are pre-programmed into the laserdisc itself (like how a computer hardware or software outputs its own messages if a problem occured).
WammyGiveaway 4 months ago
@WammyGiveaway
No, I don't. I have a DiscoVision copy of "The Choirboys" that has had a problem with laser lock, but the problem was more likely caused by a different defect, such as foreign object inclusion, rather than laser rot.
Watcher3223 4 months ago