Crazy Question on Storage
 

Does it really matter how you store your dvd's as to the quality of playback?

I assume most people store them standing on a bookshelf or something similar. For the last few years mine have been sort of stashed wherever there was room in the house.

This shouldn't affect any quality should it?

My main reason for asking is that I dug out a dvd that I hadn't watched in years tonight and right off the bat it started skipping. Last time I watched it was fine.

Re: Crazy Question on Storage
 

I've always heard that it's best to keep them standing upright, as opposed to lying flat.

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I have all my standard DVDs in an escient Jukebox. But my Blu-Rays are standing upright on a shelf.

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Why would that be, Ed?

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Honestly? I have no idea. It's just something I've always heard. If I had to take a guess, I'd say maybe the weight of other discs pressed on top of each other could have an adverse effect.

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I've always kept my DVDs standing spine to spine on a shelf and haven't noticed any problems with playback.

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Stacked on top of each other,the data will seep into the bottom layer, so you should regularly flip them.

Standing upright, the data can eventually slip to the bottom half of the disc, so you need to rotate the discs on their spindle every few months.

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What?! You're kidding. I've never heard anything about this!

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I store mine in one of these, attached to a 24x7 power generator, to ensure that the data on the disks is in a constant state of equilibrium between all sides of the disk.

http://www.celebrationsource.com/spa.../spacebig.jpeg

Maybe the OP's disk was so happy about getting played for the first time in years, it couldn't help but skip.

But seriously folks....the best reason I have for keeping them stored like books is that it's easier to get the one you want out if it's not on the bottom of a stack.

Re: Crazy Question on Storage
 

FYI, this would have been perfect for our "official" Storage/Organization thread.

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I store my films on DVD racks vertically and to date have never had a problem with data sinking to the bottom? with all due respect Trevor- I store all of my TV shows in 4 Sony 400 disc players the 4th one which is only 3 quarters full to date, the other 3 are completely full-

you all know I'm joking, right?
 

You're closer to the equator than me, so the data retention rates are higher. It also depends on the shielding in your storage racks of course. I use titanium.

Re: Crazy Question on Storage
 

I'm shocked at the amount of misinformation on this forum.

For the uninitiated, DVDs etc. contain DIGITAL information, in the form of 1s and 0s printed on wafer thin sheets inside the disc.

This sequenced data CAN NOT 'slide to the bottom of the disc!'

However, as discs age, if they aren't played every so often (think 'refreshing' your computer screen) then the 1s and 0s age. 0s grow up to be 1s, 1s become 2s and then the whole disc is messed up and you have to get a new one.

Play every DVD you own all the way through at least once every three months, and this won't happen.

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I guess owners of large collections, including myself, are destined to be very unhappy as the years roll on

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Ditto! It would be virtually impossible for me to play over 4000 DVD's that often! Hell I'm lucky enough to to be able to work reduced hours/week at my job as it is to give the time to watch the new stuff I buy and some of the old favorite stuff!...In between helping take care of a 4 year old and a 5 month old!!! Thank God my wife understands my habit and does most of that work!:)

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Funny thing...I've never had any problems like these with my VHS tapes. -ptth-

In fact, I just pulled a bunch out for the Holiday Challenge that I haven't touched in over 20 years and they played just fine. (Of course, I do store them properly.)

Re: Crazy Question on Storage
 

DVDs that are always standing up in a book shelf get tired and may not perform correctly. They need to be given a rest every few months. They also need to be spoken to every now and then so they know that they're loved.

The one thing you should watch is not to store your DVDs near heat such as a vent.

Re: Crazy Question on Storage
 

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This can't be true. I just bought the old snapper case version of The Road Warrior (just for the opening titles). It must have been sitting in a warehouse somewhere for the last 6 years and it played fine.

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This thread certainly has me re-thinking all of my current storage methods. :lol:

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Like he said, when the 1 becomes a 2, that's what others call DVD rot. Your player can't ever see the 2 and so it won't play right. It'll see the 1s but those used to be 0s, so it's reversed. Then it can't find any 0s, which completes the triangle.

Re: Crazy Question on Storage
 

Of course, it all depends on the relative size of the starship.

http://www.rpod-owners.com/uploads/444/flash-gordon.jpg

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Of course snapper case DVDs and anything with Mel Gibson will act differently, since they are both so eager to please, at this point, they will do anything to be loved.

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Stand Mine up in my DVD library :)

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Just for the hell of it I took out a couple of discs after this thread came out and put them in...played fine, and they were at least 10 years old! So...whatever-

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What studio? Paramount had more rigid standards back in the day, using stronger data on their discs, so they are likely to last longer than other studio releases.

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Frankly, I'd be more concerned about the centrifugal force the DVD player exerts upon the disc. If you look closely at your well-played discs, you will see a build-up of information around the outer rings as the data accumulates there. Don't worry, it's held in place by the plastic layer so it can't escape the disc -- unless you unfortunately suffer from disc rot.

Most of your high-end players can deal with this piled up data, resulting in a cleaner and crisper picture than your low-end WalMart players. And of course, you should be using Monster® Cables as the nanode-filters will force-correction on the analog data string to help further increase clarity.

Re: Crazy Question on Storage
 

Glad you brought that up, Fanboy! I totally forgot about this aspect, and how I tinkered around in my current DVD Player - Toshiba SD-1700. I managed to engineer it so that it spins in reverse every other use, this way data stays properly balanced. A wonky fix, I know, but it works for me.

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You're all starting to sound like Best Buy employees trying to sell us service plans.

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Whoa whoa whoa, why *wouldn't* you buy a service plan? It's win-win. And don't forget to let us install that DVD for you.

Re: Crazy Question on Storage
 

:lol:



Mine are stored, in their respective cases, standing up next to each other in my bookcase. I can't see storing them any other way, they're neat, and I can see everything I own. I store my LPs vertically, standing next to each other as well, but that's for a very good reason: temperature variations aren't as likely to affect LPs stored vertically, stacked next to each other, as they would be if they were laying flat, and they would be more susceptable to scratches, scuffs, and warping as well. These same susceptabilities aren't inherent in DVDs stored in their cases but I still feel more comfortable storing them vertically as opposed to horizontally. It just looks better, and they're more accessible that way. Having said that, I really don't think it matters as long as DVDs are stored in their respective cases. Some even remove them from their cases and store them in organizers, more than likely stored flat (don't see how they can keep their DVDs scuff free, but that's not a question for me to answer). Who the hell knows what's best for DVDs, I just know how I store mine. -kd5-

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Because they "float" in the case. I'm sure you have heard your DVD rattle in it's case before. That's because the disc is only touching the case on the inside of the hole where it touches the center hub. So yes, the best way to store your DVDs is in a DVD case. As for upright or lying flat? Not sure what difference that would make. But if you are stacking them pretty high the weight could possibly press the discs on the bottom into the case.

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All 4669 of my titles? Wow... Better quit my job.

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In other words, don't forget to rewind your DVDs! We all remember the "Be kind, please rewind" stickers on rental DVDs.

There is another problem with scratched DVDs. The spinning of the player can cause the bits to escape through the cracks and go flying all over your house!

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Oh no! I have never rewound any of my DVD's! Now my weekend is shot, as I'll have to go through the library to find the ones that need rewinding. Is there an easy way to tell? Will all the 1's and 0's be in one place on the disc? Why don't the disc manufacturers make it easy for us to know? They put little windows on the VHS tapes for this reason.

My wife is going to be so mad.........

--John

Re: Crazy Question on Storage
 

This thread is... an Epic Win.

I cannot stop laughing.

For the record, I store my DVD's standing upright. My books, however... some are stored stacked. I have storage issues. So will the ink on the pages start to bleed into each other that way? Oh, Crap!

Re: Crazy Question on Storage
 

^

I kept my comic collections in a stack, with the Calvin & Hobbes on the bottom and the Family Circus and Hagar the Horrible on the top. Over time I found that the books on top seem to have lost their humour.

This may or may not have anything to do with the forces discussed in this thread.

Re: Crazy Question on Storage
 

Just in case the OP actually was hoping for some helpful advice:

http://www.itl.nist.gov/iad/894.05/p...dlingGuide.pdf

Note item #4 on page vi:
4. Store discs upright (book style) in plastic cases specified for CDs and DVDs.

Re: Crazy Question on Storage
 

You're all either kidding or completely crazy. I can't quite tell.

Re: Crazy Question on Storage
 

If there is a reality, I think kd5 is living in it. If I had to guess, storing DVDs upright is simply a weird extension of the above rule for LPs. And I suppose if you had all your DVDs in tyvek sleeves and stored them in a huge stack they probably would be susceptible to the same problems as with LPs.

Since I do often store DVD screeners in a stack, I find it helpful to keep them really hot all the time so they actually don't warp, since they're so soft. It helps them keep their shape ...