DVD Rot Is One More Worry
By Bob Small
Until a few days ago, we had never worried about “DVD rot”.
Though DVDs ”should last 30 to 100 years” Warner Brother DVD’s made between 2006-8 which requires DVD owners to “check inner ring codes for the suspect plant”.
Another point is that whyile Warner Bros says it will replace certain DVDs damaged some of the affected titles are no longer in print.
Thus your Humphrey Bogart DVD might be replaced by Scooby Doo.
Lastly, and we’ll just quote it here, there’s a tendency where DVD’s and other optical discs to oxidise underneath the reflective layer, causing the adhesive to de-bond and often resulting in a “milky” spot on the readable surface. “
Wait. There’s more! Over 600 Blu-ray Titles No Longer Work! Even Criterion, the “gold standard of DVD media, has had problems with some of it’s classics, including Citizen Kane. If you can’t trust Criterion for Citizen Kane,or Paris, Texas, well then you probably can’t trust anyone.
The next question to emerge is, “should we still buy DVD’s?”.
Why DVD Series Are Still Worth Buying in 2025 attempts to answer that question. Their reasons inclue
- No dependency on internet connections.
- Better picture and sound quality.
- Special features”
- Support for the physical media market”.
It seems that streaming is overtaking DVD’s, but there is a sizable, albeit older, minority still buying.
Unmentioned is a tendency among many of us to avoid monthly costs and sharing information online.
See also 5 Reasons Why DVDs & Blu-Ray Are Still Essential In The …
VCR’s also exist, even though they’re no longer making new players, many used players are on sale.
Places such as Good Will and Salvation Army, that sells DVDs also have VCR tapes, and for a fairly cheap price.
As someone who still owns and uses VCRs somewhat regularly, heed my advice and watch for VHS mold. Not only can it impact the affected video cassette but it can adhere to the playback heads and spread to any tapes that pass through the machine thus potentially ruining an entire collection.
If you have irreplaceable VHS tapes have them digitized and not only burned to disc but a second copy on USB or other external medium for posterity.