ADV Films has stopped using DVD-18s. I hope Universal does the same.
 

ADV Films has stopped using DVD-18s because of consumer complains about defects.

I hope Universal does the same thing.

Here's a link, but I won't post any excerpts:

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=4302

DVD-9s have problems too, and sometimes they stop working after a while. I hope all studios stop using those. In fact, DVD-5s sometimes have problems; they should quit making those too.

Thank you ADV! I hate "flippers" (DVD-14/DVD-18). Especially with my two 400-disc DVD changers. DVD-18's just make classy releases like Casino and Carlito's Way look just plain cheap with the single-disc. Not to mention having to eject the disc from the monsters and manually flipping the disc -big Pain in the butt.

DVD-9s rarely if ever have problems. There were some issues with bad pressing in the late 90's but there have not been any major issues in some time. DVD-18s are still having the same problems with high defect rates they had from day one. If they can't work those problems out after all this time there is simply no reason to use them. Hopefully Universal will figure this out at some point.

Agreed!

..but these problem are very rare (exceedingly so in the case of 5's) and have mainly been pinned down to a manufacture fault which is consequently rectified, whereas there have been a huge number of ongoing problems which have dogged (at least) Universal's DVD-18 based releases. I'm not sure if that's because they're 18's, or because the manufacturer used by Universal has issues.

Notwithstanding, it is true that 18's, by their nature, have to be handled with more care to avoid scratching/fingerprinting the play surfaces, and they are physically more fragile, because you've got four layers crammed in there. Which is why AFAIK Universal are producing DVD-9 editions of their stuff for Netflix (the 18's wouldn;t stand rental treatment).

It's always been known that 18's are more difficult and expensive to produce, hence their rarity up to now. I remain unconvinced that they're solved the manufacture problems associated with them.

Plus,I really see little compelling reason to use them aside from a desire to minimise the number of discs in a box. But the boxes themselves are usually the same size (so they catch the eye on the shop shelf) - so the space saved is promptly lost. And any saving made in reducing the disc number instantly gets eaten up with the higher manufacture cost for 18's!