Labels messing up burned DVD's

[kbuegel]

Hi folks, looking for a bit of advice here:

I'm using Avery's Afterburner labels on my copied DVD's, and have just determined that these labels are causing disk read problems. In worst cases, the dvd is completely unplayable with pixelation and skipping and freezing. But, if I peel off the label, the disk works great.

I like to use nice labels on my DVD's, and these Avery labels cover over the center area of the DVD leaving only a small hole for the spindle which allows me to put a nice photo or artwork on the DVD. I may have to try other labels now, or could use the printable DVD's but I'm not sure what to do with my hundreds of DVD's I've burned and stuck labels on already.

So, what do other folks do for labels? Has anyone had success or failure with different label brands. Has anyone tried putting non-printable DVD's into a DVD inkjet printer to see if it will work anyway? Does the ink just smear or what?

Need some help here. Thanks!!

[bdiver]

Summary of what people have said:

Neato labels work

Inkjet dyes work on printable disks, pigments (eg Epson) don't, take a long time to dry, and smudge either by themselves or with water (humidity?)

All can be overcome on non-printable disks using hair spray or some craft spray-on transparent covering after printing

Hub labels work but are hard to print on accurately

Transparent labels are good but seem to be expensive

My answer: get a loan and buy a Canon i965, it's the best thing since sliced bread, literally!!!

[kbuegel]

Well, I checked out the Canon I965 printer which seems to only be marketed to the UK and Australia, but non the less, this seems to be a very nice inkjet printer for photos and such, but it does not say that it does CD/DVD printing. Are you suggesting I get Neato labels and print them with the I965? Not sure what the I965 will get me, although the price seems fine to me.

Also, your suggestion of using a craft spray is intriguing. Are you saying that the ink would normally smear when using a DVD printer and printing on a non-printable (normal) DVD, but the craft spray will seal it so it won't smear?
Or, are you saying that spraying the craft spray over the paper labels helps to seal them so they don't interfere with the DVD playback?

After experimenting with the DVD's I have that don't work, I think that the problem with the Avery Afterburner labels has to do with the DVD deflecting because the label shrinks when it warms up and causes the DVD to bend or curl upward. Thus, since the DVD is not flat, the laser can't focus on it and you get skips and pixelation which gets worse as the DVD gets warmer (they do get very warm usually). I've tried removing the hub part of the label but that didn't make any difference. Removing the whole label seems to be the only way to revive the DVD. Tonight I will try one more thing, which is to cut radially through the label to give it some seams that can pull apart when it heats up, but I fear that this will probably not work since I would have to cut a lot of seams and it will look terrible.

[atreides93]

Don't use labels. They look pretty, but its not worth it. Over time they will cause your disks to fail as the glue ages from the heat and time.

I had good luck with hub labels.

[kbuegel]

I must use labels!! I've invested hundreds of hours in making nice labels for my DVD's. So I can't stand just using a sharpie- I must have a label or be able to print on the DVD directly. Also, I keep all my DVD's in a few large books and don't use cases of any type. So, the label is the way to identify the DVD.

I've been reading up on other forums about this problem. About 20% of the DVD copiers have this trouble.

The consensus is that either the adhesive causes trouble or just the bleed-through of the ink on the label creates colored shadows on the disk which cause read problems. My thought that it had to do with the heat-related deflection and shrinkage does not seem to hold water as I have noticed that a read errors re-occur in the same spot on the DVD all the time, and you can skip to that spot and get the read error immediately before the DVD heats up.

I have peeled off the labels leaving lots of left-over adhesive in little clumps on the DVD and this does not seem to affect it at all. DVD's work fine.

My next test will be to apply a double-layer label, putting a white label down first, then a printed label over it to see if the ink jet color bleed through is really affecting the playback. Also, I don't think there are any weight or off-center issues since these problems occur with thick or thin labels and mostly people are careful to center them. Mostly these playback errors creep in about 6 weeks after the DVD label has been applied. So its very hard to tell if there is a problem since the DVD usually works fine when you apply the label initially.

As you indicated, the clear plastic labels don't seem to cause trouble, so I might do that.

[bdiver]

Kbuegel
I'm surprised the i965 is marketed to the third world, ie Australia, and not to other parts but I can confirm, yes, it does print onto DVDs. It has an attachment that fits into the paper "out" tray on the front of the printer. This orients the disc for accuracy and printing to the inner and outer edges. I have noticed on printable discs it is impossible to remove permanent marker even with solvent so I guess that's the reason inkjet printing works so well on these discs.

When researching labelling I noticed in a forum a discussion of smudging and the use of hair or craft spray to fix inkjet prints to discs (ie printed directly onto the disk not to a label). Someone mentioned the Epson R800 which is supposed to be true glossy 35mm photo quality but this person had used both the i965 and the R800 and said the R800 sucked at disk printing since the ink takes 24 hours to dry and doesn't dry completely. For me methods other than the i965 are a waste of time.

[2COOL]

Originally posted by kbuegel
I must use labels!! Well, if you must...
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=62490&highlight=labels

[kbuegel]

Well, I'm definitely going to get printable media and a CD/DVD printer soon. But, my big problem is that I about 200 disks with labels on them now, which I will unpeel and then need to put a new label back on them. Since these DVD's work fine with the label peeled off, there is no need to waste them by recopying them to printable DVD's. These are all name-brand DVD's like Memorex, HP and Verbatim, and thus have the logos and various colored markings on the disks. So, these need to be covered and labeled in some way, or else they will be "butt ugly"!

I think I will try some plastic labels of some sort. perhaps clear, perhaps not, but definitely not paper. There is a forum posting on another website that recommends a "no wobble" plastic label that seems to work ok.

[Commander XJL]

If you use labels your DVD collection is temporary. I have been doing this since the days when DVDR's where 20 bucks a piece and these labels over time will peel or bubble and that will be the end of your disk playing. Or the glue over time will react with the top surface of the disk and that will be the end of the disk. As long as I've been doing this I still find it amazing that people will burn dvd's then do something that sooner or later will ruin them. I have friends who didn't listen and now they are very sorry because they have so many dvd's that are junk. Hub labels are the only safe label to use.

[Tiffany]

What Commander says is absolutely right. But let's take this one step further.....

Brand "A" DVD player can play all comers...all home-brew DVDs with or without labels. Brand "B" DVD player does not. Although "B" happens to be a better player with more options, it will not play any DVD home-brew with a label stuck on it. As the DVD is played, it slowly gets the stutters or pixelates.

Currently you own Brand "A" DVD player, and you happily pass the hours sticking labels on all your home-brews. What happens down the track when Brand "A" is ready for the bin, and you need to purchase a new player. You may well end up with a Brand "B". Sure it worked OK in the shop when you tested one of your labelled movies..but you only watched the first 15 minutes. Now at home, and at 33 minutes, it's stuttering due to the label....And you have more than 200 home-brew DVDs with labels. LOSER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But you could always purchase another Brand "A'.....If they are still available...
And, to make it more interesting, the label problem is actually intensified by the introduction of the new Dual Layer home-brews.

[kbuegel]

How about using the plastic labels? I've seen people recommend the "no wobble" plastic labels. Not sure what brand that is or who sells them, but planning to look for them Monday when I return to work :)

Hub labels are just too small. For instance, with episodic DVD's you could not put the episode titles. Just the disk number and maybe a small graphic.

Also, I must take slight offense to the person who thinks so many of us that use paper labels are crazy or stupid-- Fact is, I had no reason to believe that paper labels would affect my DVD's and since I bought name-brand labels and followed all instructions, why would I? I can't believe these labels are still on the market! Granted, for CD's they work, but they should have a big red warning that says, "NOT FOR DVD's!". As a consumer, I just presume that any company that produces defective or poorly engineered products will get its butt kicked in court by people who enjoy starting class action law suits. So, I just can't believe this paper label problem has not been fixed yet. You expect that bleeding edge technologies have some bugs, but these paper labels have been around for a couple years now and it seems nothing is being done!

Anyway-- Has anyone tried plastic labels? If so, please post your results!!