Laserdisc "laser rot." What to look for.

The earliest laserdiscs date from around 1980, many of these laserdiscs where defective and after many years, have began to experience "laser rot," corrosion and contamination of the reflective layer that causes artifacts and eventually renders the disc unplayable. Laser rot may not be apparent to the naked eye on the disc surface, but is easily discernible by "snow" artifacts on playback, garbled sound, and unexpected pauses. Dual layer laserdiscs are more prone to this rot effect, with one side usually being more affected than the other.

This example uses the intro, outro, and warning screens to "Taxi Driver," A dual layer CLV laserdisc printed in 1983 by Pioneer. Artifacts are clearly visible on side one playback, but not so much on side 2. The disc surface has no visible corrosion or discoloration.

It is important for those who would like to collect laserdisc media, to verify playback before purchase, as laser rot may not be apparent on the actual disc surface.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• laserdisc
• laser
• disc
• clv
• cav
• pioneer
• discovision
• rot
• defects
• phillips
• intro
• outro
• logo
• laservision
• bump

[ingodidoubt]

I am not sure if this is actually caused by the laser reading the disc. I suspect it is actually a combination of things like the materials used in the disc, and how well the material inside the disc is isolated from outside contamination. This however, did not mean that the concept of laser disc was bad. manufacturing simply needed to be improved.

[Watcher3223]

Wow, not just visible, but you can also hear the noise in the analog tracks.

The early 1980s did have problems with rotting discs primarily because they hadn't quite figured out how to maintain materials purity in manufacturing, particularly the glue used to bond two disc halves together in making one rigid dual-sided disc.

And, yes, laser rot isn't obvious until you actually play the disc. Only exception are some 3M pressings where the rot can manifest as visible spots on the aluminum layer.

[videolover1999isback]

Oh and By The Way, The Early Version Appears On My Tapes:

Pinocchio in Outer Space 1982 VHS

Robert et Robert 1983 VHS

He-man & The Masters Of The Universe Vol. 2 1983 VHS

Gerald McBoing Boing (Magic Window Tape) 1985 VHS

[videolover1999isback]

Those FBI Screens Appear On My VHS Tapes:

Ghostbusters 1985 VHS

Care Bears 2 1986 VHS With The These Films Screen Frozen)

[Condorsat10]

Nice video...IMHO many people are mistaking scratched 35MM theatrical prints for Laser Rot. This is a good demonstration of actual Laser Rot on side 1.

[tom11zz884]

thanks for this video..now I know what laser disc rot looks like