Has anyone sufferd from DVD Rot? Due to manufactruing problems as much as 10% of discs may be affected by this. I have found 1 in my collection so far The Matrix Region 1 it breaks up badly after the layer change (chapter 21 Off To See The Oracle).

More info on the manufacturing problem here: DVD Deterioration?

Yes DVD rot is a real problem, it derived from the term Laser rot which was also a problem with Laserdiscs. I have a large collection of Laserdiscs which I am slowly selling and replacing with DVD's and I am finding that a percentage of the discs have gone bad and have terrible picture breakup, some of the discs are less than 5 years old. I haven't found any problems with any of my DVD's yet but now you mention the problem with your Matrix R1 disc I will check mine later today to see if it has gone the same way.

It is believed that Laser/DVD rot is caused by a manufacturing defect where the layers of the disc are not glued correctly which allows air to get between the layers causing the aluminium to "rot". on some discs you can see the rot if you hold it up against a really bright light and look at the reflection on the reflective layer where it will look like it has rough patches in places but not always the case as my laserdisc copy of Contact is almost unplayable now but has no evidence of rot when you look at it.

I have also heard that it can happen to normal cd's too but not seen any yet.

I've got a couple of CDs that are starting to rot. Very annoying it is, too. Fortunately, my DVDs are fine (so far).

I have a few corroded CDs too mostly about 10 of them I think. They sorted the problem out with CDs it was down to lack of poor or no sealant on the edge of the disc. You can see lines of aluminium that have just disappeared

You would have thought that given how long laser discs have been about they would have sorted out the problems since its a similar technology!

Warner DVDs seem to be the worst for DVD rot. My copy of Contact R2 is ok.

I got a free dvd of the Honda ad with Jack magazine last week and the reflective layer was so rotted the disc wouldn't even play. And it couldn't have been any more than a couple of weeks old.

Funny you should say that, i watched my Matrix Region 1 last weekend, and it played fine. Its the very first release in a cardboard box, probably 3 years old now.

I had a mist on T2 but if you wash it in warm water then dry it, it will be ok. This DOES work, Try It. Hope this helps.

I've not had any recently, but my R1 copies of "Contact" and "Pulp Fiction" (first releases, bought in 1998) both suffered from really bad rot and would become unplayable. Both discs looked like the ones on this site.

What's the official line on this? If you were buy a disc and then have it suffer from this a few months down the line, have you any come back?

I purchased the Man United Season 02/03 DVD yeasterday and found that between chapters 53 - 56 it was unwatchable the screen scrambled, (very annoying as it was the best bit seeing liverfools getting a beating). This was 1 hour 30 in to the dvd . I bought it from tescos but it was wrapped in plastic so you would think it would be ok . The disk itself looked a bit weird it had a lot of smudges on it or maybe cloudey bits.

My DVD player is the Samsung 709, i tried it on my playstation 2 and it was ok.

Any ideas anyone.

..I've been into VCD for as long as I can remember now.

I have a few official CDi disks and all have been fine. About three years ago, when technology was resplendent with the influx of CD writers, home DVD players, free mpeg software encoders etc I started to archive video footage and photos to VCD. The same 'DVD rot' problem is inherent within CDs... In my experience the deterioration has happened after time.

In the era when we think we can conquer all, most technologies these days are wrought with inherent probelms...

If you have a misty/foggy DVD just wash it in warm water and dry it, it will then be ok, I had T2 with fog in the disc and when I washed it all was ok again. Hope this helps.

What actually causes the fogging?...and can cleaners/polishes make it worse?

i have never suffered from DVD or CD rot at all which is quite surprising really as i have thousands of CDs counting Audio CDs, Console and Computer games etc and have never noticed any of them suffer from rot.

I have had a few rented DVDs that have suffered from very bad pixellation and image and sound break up but usually just cleaning them with a cloth clears this up, its usually just bad smudges on the disc where someone hasnt handled it carefully

I have a lot of rot/flaking or bronzing of CDs bought in the early/mid 90s...It's a common problem related to discs manufactured by PDO (Philips-Du Pont) during that time...The company is now owned by Disctronics and I believe they still offer a service (which I must take up asap) where they will send you a new one (if still stocked) or copy a new one from the master...

The other strange effect I've seen on some discs manufactured by EMI Swindon (now closed) in the mid 90s is a heavy swirling pattern on the disc which makes it unplayable. The discs I have that are affected are mainly promos (no, not an early copyright protection ploy). They can be used after heavy duty cleaning/polishing (sadly I've run out of the cleaner that worked on them), but the swirl does seem to return over time.

I'd be interested to hear of anyone else who's had a simliar problem to this one because I don't think it is as well publicised...

I'm curious to know whether the atmosphere in the room where the discs are stored has anything to do with..my discs are stored in a room with poor ventilation that can suffer varying degrees of temperature depending on season. Could mean absolutely nothing....

You haven't got a Toshiba DVD player by any chance?

Toshiba solved a Matrix problem for me by updating the ROM. They replaced my DVD player free of charge.

No its a Samsung S224.

Amazing!

I was watching the Matrix tonight, and at just that place, starting (I think) when Neo and Morpheus are in the elevator, I started getting bits of pixelation, then stutters.

The same occurred in both of my machines, though to a slightly lesser degree.

Weirdly, the more I repeated it -- taking it out, gently wiping it down, then gently washing it -- it just seemed to get worse and worse.

I googled and the first thing I found was your fairly recent post describing the same thing.

Definitely a manufacturing problem here.

Yes filmgeek44 (welcome to the forum) thats roughly where it breaks up on mine I have 2 DVD players which have problems with this disc. It gets worse and worse and becomes unwatchable.

Remember mediocrity takes less effort and most people won't find out till its too late anyway.

Just as a followup: Prior to these two machines, I owned one of the very early Sonys -- not the 7000, but the other one, I forget the number now, 3000? 500? -- on which I had watched this Matrix disc multiple times. On the off-chance that the problem was simply bad error-handling on the part of the newer cheaper machines, I lent my disc to the friend to whom I had passed on the old Sony. He played it, and it locked up totally during the elevator scene.

So, unless the new machines both have the same problem AND the Sony machine has deteriorated in some way, there has DEFINITELY been a change in the disc itself.