My friend accidentally ran over his Batman Blu Ray. Afterwards it still played fine. Damn these suckers are durable, here's his full story:

So there it was, my Batman: Gotham Knight Blu-ray, alone on a small street in Orange County. I stopped my car to go pick it up. Pieces were everywhere. I went straight for the disc to see if it was still intact. By the luck of the gods, Batman came out in one piece. But…the same can’t be said about the cover.

You can blame it on my stupidity, but I was tired from a friend’s kickback. My friend borrowed my movie, so I was able to get it back from him. I was heading back to my car, and I put the Batman Blu-ray on top of my car so that I can put my other stuff inside first. I forgot to take the movie inside the car as I drove all the way home. I came home and realized my beloved Batman wasn’t there to entertain me.

I realized it must have been back at my friend’s place, but as I traveled back, I see a shiny object on the road, not realizing it was my movie. I hear a crunching sound as I drove over it and realized that it was my beloved Batman movie. I stopped the car and used my mini flashlight to look for any remaining survivors. The only thing left was the disc and the back cover and back case. The front cover is still MIA.

As I looked at the disc, I was amazed to see that it was not messed up and it was scratch-free. I headed straight home and popped it in my Playstation 3. And to my surprise, IT STILL WORKS! Now with that said, I’ll never doubt the power of Blu-ray and I, without question, will remain to “Do Blu.”

I believe all Blu-ray discs have TDK coating that makes them extremely durable. I remember this was a key feature note when the format was being launched.

Man, The Dark Knight never fails!

Anytime I ever purchased a DVD that wasn't on the spindle, scrapes and scuffs. I've purchased blu-rays that were off their spindle, and I couldn't find a single mark on them. I LOVE the protective coatings.

Always go with protection.

Sony should use the OP's story in their next marketing campaign.

Man, I should diss way too many people with that line. I'll just say "Yeah"

That's what I thought as well, but apparently some studios have decided not to use this coating. A friend of mine who works in the industry said he thought Universal was one of these, but he wasn't entirely sure.

I thought the coating was mandatory or else the laser couldn't read the disc?

I thought a scratch-resistant coating was mandatory, too, so I'm not sure my friend's information is correct. But he's been right about everything else he's told me, and let's face it, if any studio was going to pull a stunt like this it would be Universal.

The protective coating is essential, it is part of the manufacturing process and the manner in which data is stored on the disc.

I am unsure I understand your friend's claim.

Pro-B

I've had Universal discs that were loose in the case as I said, no scratches or scuffs. I think your friend is wrong, especially since one of them was a very recent one, too.

The coating is not "the manner in which data is stored" on Blu-rays. The coating is just that: A layer designed as added protection for the fragile data that is much closer to the disc surface than it is on DVDs. But it is not, itself, how the data is stored.

The coating is spun onto the surface of the disc in two layers, and was a late addition to the format. Early (pre-release) Blu-ray discs were held in protective caddies. And now, different disc manufacturers use different type of protection. TDK's system was the first, but Sony and Panasonic each have proprietary systems and formulations.

As I wrote above, my friend wasn't sure it was Universal. And, it's possible for a disc that's loose in its case to escape scratches, even without the added layer.

From my rental experience Blu-rays can definitely be scratched and even minor ones can make them unplayable. However, for those of us that buy them and use them normally I doubt you will scratch one and I like the coating. Much better than HD DVDs that seem to get scratched very easily.

Depends on where the scratch is. You could scratch a disc to hell, but it would play. Place one small scratch on the inner "silver" circle of the disc, and you're fucked.

Ok, I looked into this further and found this:

It should be noted that while Blu-ray mandates the use of a scratch-resistant coating, it does not specify what coating is used, and both Sony and Panasonic have their own independent hard coating technologies that are primarily in use on Blu-ray pre-recorded discs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durabis

It certainly isn't as that is not what I wrote. It is part of the manufacturing process and the manner in which data is stored on the disc, not how. And that specific part I referred has to do with the description you offer - the data layer being too close to the surface thus requiring the protective coating.

In any event, I am not aware of any such new alterat6ions being initiated by Universal as the one suggested by your friend.

Pro-B

It is TDK actually that has been the strongest party. Hence the reason why they went on a tour with Panasonic to promote Blu-ray during the war.

Pro-B

I'm more comfortable buying used Blu-rays just because of this.

When I buy used PS3 games at Gamestop, the people there say they don't know why kids who trade in their discs take such good care of them. Several locations have told me that the PS3 discs are the only ones which never come back damaged. I am not sure they know there is a protective coating on these discs.

My discs cut right through a tin can and were still sharp enough to slice a tomato.

Ginsu-Ray!