An Amazing Discovery (Media-related)

[dvdr4gods]

Hey :)

I had my share of bad discs.. I ordered the PRODVD from meritline (light-purple dye) and they all had the infamous effect: movie starts freezing and pixelating after 50 mins or so.. meaning, end of the disc is unreadable to anything but the DVD burner itself.

So far nothing is new. We all knew that this is what happens with shit media. So I went and ordered a different brand from Meritline, this time DARK-PURPLE discs that I know for a fact (ADVDINFO) that they are RITEK (meaning, GOOD!), So I burned about 20 of those, all came out okay.

Now, after 2 weeks, I've put those discs in my player, and was amazed to discover that some won't read at all, and some has the same effect that the light-purple discs had. I was about to jump out the window, when I realized: "No way! I tested that disc 50 times.".

So I thought about what I changed, and then it hit me! CD-LABELS!
I have recently printed ALOT of cd-label (those little stickers you put on the discs so they'd look like originals :)) and pasted them on the discs (Been using these CD-Labels on regular CD's for the past 3 years).

I decided to check this somewhat stupid theory, I mean, how can it be the cd-labels which are preventing the disc from being read good? or if it is the labels, why only the end of the disc is unreadable?!
So I tested, sat down for about an hour and started pealing off the CD-labels from various DVD's I've burned (all on the dark-purple) ones.

To my surprise - IT WORKED! as soon as I removed the label, the disc would read faster, no freezing, no pixelating, NOTHING! perfect.

I tried this on more than 20 discs. all worked as soon as I removed the label. I can't possibly explain WHY it fails to work with the label on, but I really don't care right now, as long as it works.

So I remembered reading ALOT of complaints about discs that "used to work perfect, but now after 3 weeks or so that I tested, they don't work", Well guys, this might be it, if you've put cd-labels on your discs, REMOVE THEM. It will work :)

Please feel free to comment and share your experiences regarding the above subject.

Happy to serve the community,
PurpleMan

(at this time also known as dvdr4gods :))

[sarahjh69]

I can think of 2 possable reasons why the labels
stop the dvd working.

1) Heat.....DVDs get hot and paper is a good insulator
maybe it heats the dvd up to the point the plastic
transparency changes

2) Wobble.......the paper stuck on the dvd is not exactly central
and the laser tracking can't cope with the wobble.....more
wobble on the outer edge of the dvd

[HomerJ]

Purpleman,

Welcome to reality. This has been a "Known" problem with certain DVD disc media for some considerable time (see the link:-

http://www.dvdoctor.net/cgi-bin/ubb/Forum6/HTML/000399.html

There are loads of discussions of a similar nature if you do a search.

Sorry you found out the hard way.

If you want to be ahead of the game, check out this site :-

http://www.pioneeraus.com.au/multimedia/dvd/dvd-r_faq.htm

HomerJ :D

[trekkerj]

OK, so I tried this because it seemed to fit what's been happening with my discs. I'm suprised no one suggested this earlier.

I couldn't remove a label from the cheap disc, it just scratched the label size of the disc and some glue stuck.

However, I tried some new burns without labels, and watched the last 15-20 minutes (the part that usually is messed up). Seemed OK.

So I bought some Sharpie permanent markers. Problem is, when I lightly write on the white side, I can see it bleed thru to the data side. Is this going to cause problems? I figure it a label causes problems, seeing permanent ink would. I thought that's how most of us label discs. Should I be using a certain color or something?

Thanks.

[Commander XJL]

A sharpie won't cause problems with a disk that has a printed surface that is made for labling. There are some generics where a sharpie can cause problems because of bleed through. You'll have to test and see

[trekkerj]

Well, I can see part of the markings on looking at the data side of the disc, although it plays OK. It is generic media.

I wasn't able to remove labels very well, but a couple of discs I played perfectly BEFORE putting a label don't work at the end of the disc. This is making me think that the labels are a likely suspect.

[gooki]

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=29695&highlight=label

[Commander XJL]

Labels aren't a good idea, plus I've never seen a CD label yet that doesn't start to peel off after months or years, once they do that your DVD's will never play again. If you use labels your DVD collection may be a temporary thing

[gdornas]

There is this new printer (CP-88):

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/runpc/cdprinter1.html

It costs $150 and the black ribbon costs $9 and prints 30-40 DVDs. The problem is that the print area is small. There is a sample of the print area in the link above. Anyone tried this print yet?

[gnutellafan]

I tried to start a write in campaign some time ago to get printer makers to start making printers capable of printing on cd/dvd printable media. There are a few out there but they are cheap (low quality). There is no reason printer companies shouldnt go for this, it uses up more liquid gold (ink), they just need to know there is a market for it.

[crow]

I've been having the same problem, on a couple of my disks.
The thing is I don't have any lables on my disks.

They will play for 55min & freeze.

I'm getting ready to buy some more media, does anyone know if
(Optodisc band DVD-R 4.7GB) are any good.

[Commander XJL]

Optodisk are crap, I had them before, they pixalate and freeze like mad. If you insist on generic media you better go with Riteks since they seem to work for most people.

[gnutellafan]

The best solution of course is printable DVDs. However since few people are currently using them (and few even know they exist) they are quite expensive. Part of the problem is the printers are quite expensive as well. If we could just convince the major computer companies to make them and bundle them cd/dvd printers and printable media would be common and cheap.

Typical printers start at about $1000, ouch click here (http://www.mediasolutionse.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=MS&Product_Code=SIG57100&Category_Code=CDP)

There is a cheaper one available, but considering that its just a modified epson at 4x the cost its really a rip off click here (http://ezcdprint.com/)

[gnutellafan]

my old thread on printable DVDs (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24654)