Stability of Ritek disks

[Andykard]

I had been using Ritek G3 disks burning with my Pioneer AO3 burner (Official latest firware at 1X) and always had good results. The disks played flawlessly in my Pioneer standalone or Sony DVD writer standalone. Then there was a shortage of G3s so I went with the G4s, initially burning at 2X, but after having problems reading them on my standalones I went back to 1X. I still had problems with these disks in my standalones, pixelating and freezing occuring after about 30 mins into movie. I have switched back to G3s. I found that some of my backups on the G4 disks couldnt even be read back by my AO3 burner. I then tried one of my perfect G3s which was burnt about 3 months ago and has been stored in a DVD case in a cabinet since then, also had problems playing back (pixelation and freezing)in either of my standalones.

Are these disks not stable. Has anyone looked at the stability issue? There is no point doing a backup if when you go to use it it wont play. Are the conventional brand names more stable?

[Caedel]

Where are you getting these discs from? I have discs that even after a year still play fine.

[windtrader]

I've burned about 150 Ritek G03 and G04 on a A05 and had one bad disc total. They burn fine at 4x. I get the discs from Rima, excellent service and good prices. Many people here use Ritek and have good luck. I don't think it is Ritek related. It may be media/player related but you say the burner firmware accepts Ritek media.

I then tried one of my perfect G3s which was burnt about 3 months ago and has been stored in a DVD case in a cabinet since then, also had problems playing back (pixelation and freezing)in either of my standalones. Well, something odd is happening. When you say "perfect" do you mean you know that disc played fron to end on the players without any problems? Maybe you've had the problem all along. It is always a good practice to test each disc you make.

Try a different brand of media and see what happens.

[djadjet]

Labels?

[disturbed1]

In an A03, the G04 have a horrible quality, 1x or 2x. They just plain suck in the A03.

I find myself ordering a batch of G03 for my LF-D311s, and A03, then the G04s are only burnt with my A05s.

Prodisc 4x burns better with the A03 than the G04s. But best results are with a 1x speed.

Taiyo Yudens are (of course) flawless at 2x in my A03.

[Andykard]

thats useful to know disturbed1...I was thinking of trying out the Taiyo Yudens. I wondered if the G4s were only problematic with the AO3 burner as many people on this forum have good results with them. I bought 200 and am not really happy with any of them. I'm still using the G3s now and if I view the movies soon after I burn them they are flawless. It worried me when I went back to one of my older burnt movies and had trouble playing it. I will try some more of my older ones when I have time....maybe that one was an oddity. I was just wondering if others had any problems with movies on G3s after several months storage.

[disturbed1]

I have G03s that are upto 2 years old (maybe longer:confused: ) No problems with playback so far.

The only problem I've had is with cheaper labels coming unglued around the outer edges, and causing skipping. Once the label is removed, the skipping dissapears. I now use a couple of CW-50s to print on my discs.

[Andykard]

I've been using Avery DVD labels and they sure dont look like they are coming unstuck but I will bear that in mind when doing my next test.

[disturbed1]

Originally posted by Andykard
I've been using Avery DVD labels

There's your skipping problem :sly:

[Andykard]

you were bang on target disturbed1, I tried to watch a couple of DVD's that were burned a few months ago and played perfectly then and once again they skipped, stuttered and froze now. I cheked the labels and they seemed perfect, no peeling or any defects showing. I removed the labels and the discs played perfectly again.
Its really bizarre that when the discs are 1st burned and then the labels are applied they play perfectly for a few weeks or so. However after several months they wont play even though the labels look fine!!!
(correction to my original posting, my burner is a Pioneer 104 not A03 as stated above)

[disturbed1]

As the disc is played, heat is generated, which causes the glue to unbond to the surface. After some time, the edges will peel, and you'll get a nifty buzzing noise as the disc plays. Still yet, some set top players can cope with the offset, while other older/more sensitve players will puke on it.

I made this mistake too. At first all seemed fine, then after a few months skipping. Soaking in water, then gently rubbing will take the label off.

I've moved on to an Epson disc printer for DVDs, and a Casio thermal title printer for all of my CDs. Much better results than labels.