Page 1 of Are my DVDs faulty? Can they be replaced by manufacturer?

Hi, not sure if this is the right place to ask so apologies if not but here goes....

Recently bought a boxset and am having trouble playing the discs.  Well actually just part of the discs.  The discs are dual layer and and certain epsiodes refuse to play (they just loop back to the menu) - I`m guessing the `missing` episodes are on the second layer.

At first I thought my dvd player was too old so I tried it on a couple of others but still the same.  The only place it works ok is in my PC dvd drive.  There is no apparent damage to the disc surfaces and I`m not sure if it is a case of faulty batch since it does work in my PC.

I bought them secondhand as they are now out of print so can`t return them.  I`m wondering if an email to Anchor Bay may be in order, although how could they replace if its no longer made (its circa 2003 I think)?

I`ve read lots of info on the net about dual layer dvds not playing in standalone players but that is usually when they are burnt from pc - these are commercial pressed.

I`m super confused.  Does anyone have any advice for me please?
Thanks.....

It`s possibly a combination of an elderly dvd player and badly encoded discs. My old samsung 709 used to have a hell of a job playing Pirates of the caribbean. Not too sure what you can do about it, other than get a newer player. 8-year old dvd`s are unlikely to be replaced by the manufacturer

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These days we are well beyond the days when a DVD player (unless yours is over 5 years old!) should struggle playing any commercial release, heck even your own burnt dual layer DVD-/+Rs shouldn`t be an issue!

Have you checked the discs for delamination? It`s where the glue that holds the layers together starts to decay, or react with the plastic, and destroy the data. It looks a bit like someone smudged your disks, but inside the disk itself, if that makes sense. Sometimes players are more sensitive than PC drives when it comes to that sort of thing.

What is your DVD player btw? And what are the disks? They might be known offenders.

I doubt Anchor Bay would take back a disk of that age. :/

Another option is to duplicate the disks and see if that fixes the problem.


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Thanks guys for the speedy and informative replies.

The discs are xena season 2 boxset (the original release not the recent one) - the missing epsiodes are always the middle ones - never the first or last, which is what made me think there`s a problem with reading the layer break maybe?

So far I`ve tried it on 3 dvd players:
Panasonic DMR-E100H (made in 2003), Panasonic DMR-ES10 (made 2005) and a Technika DVDFAW08 (made 2008). 
I guess the Panny`s might struggle due to their age (although have no problem with other dual layer discs) and maybe the Technika is just too much of a cheapo model (it was a gift but believe it was a Tesco deal)

The delamination thing, is that the same as this dvd rot I`ve read about?  I checked the discs and they seem shiny and new.  The only thing I did notice was that there does seem to be what looks like glue between the layers at the very centre of the hub, on the plastic not on the data part.  Would this be an early indicator of delamination or does it only affect it if you can see cloudy parts on the disc itself?

I`m half relieved that I can read the discs at all (on PC) and guess I could duplicate them to watch them as a workaround.  Would you suggest a direct duplicate onto DL disc as a test or would any faults on the original simply be copied over, if indeed it is a bad encoding on the manufacturers part?

On a slightly side note, if it is a combo of badly encoded discs and older dvd players, any suggestions for a player that would do the job?  Relatively cheap!  I`m not really in the market for another player but I can keep my eyes out for future....

Sorry about the long post and all the questions but am appreciative of the answers and time given.  Thanks.

The hubs sound fine - uneven gluing around that area is common and seldom a problem.  Delamination is unmistakable - the playing surface looks mottled.

I`d duplicate to SL discs, splitting the content between two discs rather than using DL discs, but frankly I`d cut my losses and pick up Xena season 2 from The Hut or one of its doppelgangers for £10.85. (Can`t do a link for some reason.)  £12.99 at Play.

J Mark Oates

Aye, I`d go with duplicating to SL, I`m not sure you`d notice the loss in quality for a TV series, it`s not even that noticeable for films.


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Thanks for the suggestions, was just about to resign myself to duplicating so I could view but after reading about a bit more decided to try one more thing.  Playing them on an xbox.  And to my surprise, it works!  So it does seem that it is indeed a combo of bad encoding and having to use a particular player.

Bit of a relief that I dont have to fork out some more £s for new sets and bin these - awkward that its only on one particular piece of technology because the manufacturers can`t do it right first time around but better than the alternative.

Thanks again guys for the input, sure was a help in looking at all the angles (also nice to know that the discs are not delaminated - something to look out for in the future - you learn something new every day).

Cheers.

Glad we could help! I am surprised the three players you listed struggled, it could just be the Xbox and PC have better optical drives. :/


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