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From: super70s <super70s@super70s.invalid>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv
Subject: Re: [NEWS] Some Warner Bros DVD releases suffering from 'laser rot'
Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2025 19:31:48 -0500
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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.