This sounds dumb but can you damage a dvd if you leave it in your DVD player for about 8 months or longer?


I have a 5 disc changer and I left the Rock Criterion and the ET DVD in there for a year since I want to watch the bonus features and I keep prolonging it.



I watched them finally and I did not see any problems.


Just curious if anyone has any input/

Shouldn't be an issue..hasn't been with me. Of course, there is always the chance for dust to build up on the disc while inside the player. Nothing to serious.

I agree with Bill. Just be sure to carefully remove any dust.

A year?? Holy cow...

In what way do you think it could be damaged?

I think you answered your own question.

What about the heat generated by the DVD player? Everytime you play a DVD it does get heated up by the DVD player itself. With a multi-disc player, all the discs, in the unit, pick up the heat of the player regardless if they are played or not. I would think leaving a DVD in the player for months on end is not the optimal way to store a DVD. Recommendations for storage are in a cool dry vertical position. All that being said, it probably won't make much of a difference.

i was curious about this as well. sometimes i dont take the DVDs out right away and leave them sit in there until i want to watch another.

i guess i was worried about the heat buildup inside the machine, though it is OFF. and worried about whether the laser is in a certain position when there is a DVD in the machine that it shouldnt stay in when its not playing a DVD. like when you press stop in the middle of a movie and when you restart it, its in the exact same position.

FWIW, a lot of DVDs have printed on the packaging "Store upright in a cool dry place"


<-------------hence my location

I wouldn't keep them in a DVD player that long, I would definitely put them back in the case.

Another question, will leaving a DVD player on all the time (24 hours a day) shorten the life of the DVD player? I've had my DVD player on for the majority of the two years I've had it and haven't had any problems yet, just curious if it is bad for the player.

I never leave discs in the player. they are removed asap. it's not that I think heat build-up is going to damage a disc...but who knows how it could effect the bonding over a period of time. QC does not need any help in damaging the discs...and depending on the bonding material they used....lets just say I dont have enough faith that the disc was pressed properly to begin with. gotta use kid-gloves in every way with these fragile bastards.

Yeah, when the CD was first marketed it was supposed to be nearly indestructible. I remember reading an article where they said you could throw them around like frisbees. Obviously, that is not the case.

DVDs are a little sturdier than CDs, but small scratches also affect playback more noticeably than a CD.

I tend to leave a disc in the player until I'm done with it. That usually doesn't take more than a few days, though.

Haven't had any problems so far.