Hi,

I am looking for some good advice on how to best deal with warped discs.

I have not come across many warped discs however those that I did come across were ALL factory sealed discs. I have also noticed that Japanese discs were factory sealed in a different manner than US discs and they therefore do not have this problem.

One of the discs in my collection that I bought NEW and has massive warping issues is Boyz N Tha Hood Criteiron Edition. Both sides are 60:01 minutes respectively 60:05 minutes long ! After removing the cellophan from my copy I was first of all very pleased with the video transfer of this release. The video transfer is fantastic. It looks just as good as a good DVD and the sound quality is excellent, too. This is without any doubt one of the best looking discs in my collection. However after reaching the middle of side 1 I started noticing a lot of waivy lines in the image. My HLD-X0 wouldn't even play the last chapters of side 1 so I gave up watching this film which is a shame because it is an excellent motion picture. I then put a bunch of heavy books on my disc for about 2 weeks and it got considerably better but side 1 would still have a lot of waivy lines but at least I was now able to play through side 1 which is great. I then repeated my procedure and side 1 got even better. Side 1 now still has waivy lines towards the end but it is perfectly watchable in my view. HOWEVER to my dismay side 2 is still bad. My XO still won't play the last chapters of side 2 I am surprised. Since side 1 improved a great deal, why didnt side 2 of said title ?

Can please someone give me some advice on how to deal with warped discs ? I would like to try a new method. Maybe I should do the same procedure for both sides ?

I have also discovered another disc in my collection - Indian Runner. I opened the disc and ... again my player won't play the last chapters. It appears to be badly warped, too. This sucks. All other discs that I bought used do not have this problem. Actually, of all of my discs in my collection maybe a few are warped but nonetheless I would like to be able to watch Boyz N Tha Hood again. I love this film. It is awesome.

This is most unfortunate.
I do believe that this issue was mentioned in several threads however this is what I recall the solution wise :

Put the disc on a flat surface (in plastic sleeve of course) and put a good number of phone books or any heavy evenly distributed weight on the platter. Let it sit for as long as it takes, 24, 48, 72 hours......

I recall this had a good result for some member.

Thank the Sky Gods, have never come across a warped LD in all my years collecting/dealing .....

Hope this helps some ...
Let us know man.

Cheers,

J

don't understand how a thin layer of plastic cellophane warp discs when they are in jackets?
disc itself is thick plastic material than a thin plastic film.

storing the discs wrong probably causes disc to warp but plastic film I'm not so sure?
storing discs in vertical position is probably the best way?

I have warped vinyls, they have been stored in vertical position all the time, some of them are still warped can't straighten them out.

a vinyl record is thinner and more fragile than a laserdisc.
must be wrong procedure to store an LD causing them to warp

Well, it is actually pretty easy, van-dammage. The tightly packed cellophane exerts a great deal of pressure on the other edges of the disc over the years and thus it becomes warped. Japanese discs however were not sealed in that manner.

factory sealed japanese LD's had XtraLarge plastic bags which gives the jacket room to move inside which was great.

factory sealed US laserdiscs had XtraSmall slim fit wrapping so did vinyl records.
didn't yankee LD tech's learn from japanese technology not use slim fit wrapping if warping was an issue?

I have bought brand new US factory sealed LD's which were sealed for decades, had no issues at all playing my discs.
guess I was lucky?

The above is spot-on & there is shrink-wrap & there is shrink-wrap.

Depending on the wrap type used is a factor, some will sit round the cover with no issues for years while others continue to shrink (pulling on the cover & if severe the enclosed disc) over the years in storage. Had a few that suffered that fate.

Also if the picture cover is laminate covered in plastic which many are the wrap can stick to the cover & can cause quite severe damage to the cover if the wrap is removed.

I have had thankfully only a few discs that were warped but all were fixable.

Cheers.

Thanks for your input !

Of course, not all of my sealed discs shared the same fate but some of them did and that is really annoying.

May I please enquire how you were eventually able to fix this problem ?

Simple pressing sorted the few bad ones I have come across, the bit below is from a previous thread.

It can take some time but warped discs can be salvaged. If you are careful gentle heating of the affected disc with a hairdryer or the like can help before pressing I have found. Not too hot though - only done the heating before pressing thing to a couple or three very severely warped discs which did sort the problem. They were de-warped years ago now & they still play perfectly but one of the discs did have to be done more than once before finally laying totally flat.

Hope you can get them spinning as they should.

One very bad disc took a couple of tries to totally flatten but it still plays okay & has remained flat till now.

If you have a warped disc the pressing (with a little heat if required) thing does work or has for me so worth a try perhaps, good when it works.

Cheers,

John

I repaired a few very badly warped LDs that I received by leaving them under a pile of bricks for approximately 2 years.
The discs were removed from their jackets and placed between two completely flat sheets of very hard cardboard - the type you use for mounting photos.
I then placed two very heavy brick blocks on top. Put the discs in Japanese inner bags to prevent scratching.

Occasionally I lifted off the blocks and tested the LD flatness at eye level and pressing it down to check for ripples.
Then I adjusted the position of the blocks to exert slightly more pressure where it was needed.
This seems to work very well and both play almost perfectly now when previously they are were unplayable.

The wrap warping thing was something that took a while before it became an issue, some types of wrap continued to shrink in some cases over many years so it was not likely to have been an issue of sorts during the LD formats commercial life. Also on the rear of many US & UK LD covers is often a quote something like "remove film wrap completely from cover" so it was never really an issue as such, just us LD users now who are a bit pissed off with cover damage caused by the shrinkage thing.

If I do receive sealed LDs in shrink-wrap I remove it. Had a few covers with kinks/compression damage on still sealed LDs. Some wraps used are not a problem but softer card covers are susceptible to this type of problem so I remove it as a matter of course even if it has been opened in the past.

Also most of the Japanese LDs were machine packed including final bagging whereas the shrink-wrap way was a bit of a hands on process, just a different way of working but the Japanese poly-bag type was for me the better way of finishing the packing process.

Cheers.

.

Your US discs were probably warped because Americans are much better at accumulating stuff than storing it. I think your shrink wrap theory is not valid. I’ve opened new US discs are recently as last year, been collecting since 1992, and I’ve never had a single warped disc from the US or anywhere else.

JP shrink wrap is better, of course, so is the jacket, the bag, the liner, the disc itself, everything many times. But most importantly Japanese collectors store their discs vertically and not in 6 foot heaps in a U Store locker.

When I send people a message for their Craigslist ads a common question I have is “How long have they been stored like they are in the picture?” and if they don’t respond I don’t even try.

That being said, yes, JP shrink is way better. Just slit the top and it becomes a bag! Actual shrinkwarp, American style, yeah, throw that crap away! Also, take that dumb sticker off your hat!

Also had many sealed wrapped discs with no issues but the shrink-wrap causing damage does happen. Only had a few (Fiend Without a Face on LV27210 was one) that had the problem but it does exist.

The shrink-wrap on many Revell, AMT, Monogram & other model kits from years ago has pulled in the outer boxes on many I had & I can assure you they were stored correctly - they often came out of the suppliers outer box with the wrap already pulling the boxes in. The type of cellophane wrap used does matter as some types do continue to shrink well after passing through the heat source used to seal.

Cheers.

.

I haven't read the previous answers but having experienced this years ago I managed to flatten a disc by putting it horizontally between two flat wood boards (around 1/2 inch thick), still in its inner packing.
I put a pile of 78rpm records (heavy) on the sandwitch and forgot it during around 3 weeks (can't remember). Result was perfect. I can't guarantee it works with every disc but it did with me.
Hope this helps.