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Swirl Marks on Bottom of DVDs

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Swirl Marks on Bottom of DVDs

Old 12-27-10, 01:48 PM
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Swirl Marks on Bottom of DVDs

So, I rec'd the Bette Davis Collection Vol 3 for Christmas and sat down this morning to watch In This Our Life. At the 54:00 mark, the image crapped out. A checkerboard pattern of fuzz and distortion washed over the screen. I tried the disc in my laptop's drive too and the same thing happened.

I then looked at the bottom of the disc and noticed a two-tone swirl pattern (it almost looked "wet"). Some other other discs in the set also have this pattern but they seem to play fine (based on brief tests in the player).

I'm not too concerned about returning the set, as Amazon has always been fair when I've had problems. It does, however, make me concerned about the 50-odd other discs I've bought in the last few weeks. In particular, I bought myself the 4 Warner Gangsters boxes (totaling about 24 titles). I really don't want to test each disc... but what if I have problems 3 months down the road when I finally watch the last one?

Anyways, does anyone know what this swirl pattern is?
Old 12-27-10, 02:59 PM
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Re: Swirl Marks on Bottom of DVDs

DVDs like CDs are really a series of cuts in super thin clear plastic disc. This plastic layer is laminated with adhesives to outer plastic layers and a reflective inner layer to make a final disc. There are very thin elements being adhered together here. Thin films when they are not perfectly adhered to each other can create visual patterns that look like ripples in water. It's no coincidence it looks like this, it's a similar refractive property of light at work.

That said, this really has no direct impact on the data on the disc, reading of the disc, or longevity of the media. It is simply related to how evenly the adhesive was applied across the surface and ultimately what small variations in the width exists between the layers. The variations here are sub-micron.

Contact the retailer or the studio to get the disc replaced. There should be a easy way to get a replacement that works.
Old 12-27-10, 03:23 PM
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Re: Swirl Marks on Bottom of DVDs

First try washing the surface of the disc off and see if the problem still exists. Glitches can often be from flecks of dirt or whatever stuck to the disc that comes off when washed.

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