Rumplestiltskin!

Just wondering cos Blockbusters are selling off ex-rental DVD's at low prices. Does it matter if they have been watched hundreds of times ?

Rump.

super_si

More the go in and out , The seem to pick up surface scar's.

Si

what would scooby do

yes everything wears out in the end. BTW how many times would you want to watch battlefield earth LOL

rik1471

Probably in much the same way videos wear out.

But i reckon DVDs will 'last longer'

NotoriousREV

Most of my (small) DVD collection is ex-rental, out of about 6 or 8 films, only one has ever skipped and it's never done it since (probably a bit of dust or summat)

Mark Kwiatkowski

Where a videotape wears a bit each time it’s played, DVDs can be played as often as desired without any wear at all. The data on a DVD consists of an optical layer that’s protected by a polycarbonate protective surface. Most normal scratches caused by a lifetime of handling are compensated for by built-in error correction that recognizes read errors and automatically corrects them. A 100-year-old DVD disc will play as well as a 2-day-old DVD disc (or so the manufacturers say!).

what would scooby do

They will probably start to oxidise or rot after 10 years or so - much like laser discs I guess

Devil's Refugee

If you ask the same question of your CD collection, that should answer it mate.
There were problems with the old laserdiscs but that was due to size issues.
DVD's probably will degrade with time but not for a good while.
More likely to be damaged than degrade.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Mark's right - playing a DVD doesn't wear it at all, unlike a tape which has a distinctly finite life. The issue is the number of scratches that the disc will acquire over time due to careless handling.

A certain level of damage can be completely corrected for by the player, so the picture and sound will be exactly the same as though the disc were new. If there are too many scratches, though, the error correction won't be able to cope, and the disc won't play properly.

I guess that the rental stores just want to unload discs with moderate damage, that still play OK, before they've finally had so much abuse that they're useless.

A.

Dracoro

Physical damage is the only thing you need to worry about.

Anyway, how many times will a dvd get watched? Let's say for arguments sake 10 per year (who watches the same film 10 times a year I'll never know!). Now I have some music CD's that I've listened to hundreds of times and they still play perfectly (that's the whole point - longevity as well as quality) so DVD's will have no problem as long as they're cared for (i.e. don't leave them out of the case on top of the tele/table/on the floor etc.)

south-star

Me..

speedking

I thought that micro-cracks appear in the plastic with time and that then the silver (aluminium?) coating oxidises and loses its reflectiveness. Don't know the timescale though. Those b4st4rd cases where you have to bend the disk through 90 degrees to get it out are probably the main cause (built in obsolescence).

Read here.