Hello, I’m new to the whole collecting of LD and I’ve only bought a few so far (some have arrived and others are on the way), but I noticed that some of the ones I bought have a couple smudges in the middle rim and I wanted to know if this is a common thing? I think out of all the discs I have only a couple don’t have the smudges.

Mind sharing some photos? Could be something as simple as finger prints, or it could be oxidization from the layers of the disc separating.

Picture posted

Ah okay; yeah that's from the layers of the disk separating due to poor manufacturing, low quality glue, or being stored in a humid environment. I'm guessing this was a storage issue as this release [14795 CS] doesn't have any reported rot on the database.

I have a few old Ford Discs with this issue, most play fine but definitely show some signs of "laser rot" (slight audio distortion, "snow" in the image in certain parts).

It's just something that happens with optical media like this unfortunately. Thankfully Laserdisc, unlike DVD will continue to play even with these issues, instead of jumping around or freezing.

So then just take care of them from here on out and they will be fine?

Pretty much! It'll still breakdown over time, but that's just optical media in general. Proper storage in a low humidity environment will definitely slow the process.

Definitely be careful who you're buying your discs from though. Here on LDDB sellers know what they have, and will show/share any defects the discs have; eBay can be a bit more of a crapshoot.

I once read that if I store discs in like a vacuum sealed bag it’ll help slow the process, know if that’s true as well?

I mean; I'm sure it would help but I personally wouldn't bother going through vacuum sealing every film in my collection to preserve them, I have also never heard of anyone here doing that, but I'm sure someone somewhere has, sure.

Just seems like more trouble than it's worth because then you need to reseal every movie you watch, each time you watch it.

Little Mermaid, The (1989) [14795 CS]

The film isn't that expensive if you ever need a replacement copy, most movies are pretty damn cheap on the format.

Oh it wouldn’t be this one I would be storing. The only way I could convince the lady in my life to let me get into this was buying movies that she enjoys as well so that one was one of the haha

Fair enough! I can can say that I own a few titles that my wife asked for, most recently Rocky Horror Picture Show, The: 20th Anniversary (1975) [1974-85].

But yeah, wouldn't bother with the vacuum sealing, just invent in some cheap vinyl sleeve protectors, and put them on a sturdy shelf (LD's weigh way more than you think).

Here's what a really badly rotted Laserdisc looks and sounds like.


Most discs never get this bad, but the old Ford Communications discs were manufactured very poorly so they didn't hold up over time. A more recent example of disc rot would be the short-lived HD-DVD format, quite a few of the titles on that format barely function, despite being manufactured around 15 years ago.

Yeah there’s one I have I plan on preserving, maybe 3 more because of historical/sentimental context, but most of the discs I have are made (if I’m reading this right) by Pioneer USA/Japan and Mitsubishi

Sounds like you need to put the lady on ebay

Really this is common and from the manufacturing process.
These aren't like CDs and its the play surface that matters.

Enjoy collecting LDs and don't use a microscope to find every flaw.

I remember buying brand new discs and this was on the discs, this has nothing to do with glue, rot, seperation etc.

If you need a vacuum seal, possibly on your body? it is rotting faster than the LDs.

Yeah its nothing dont worry about it and enjoy your Laserdiscs!

Wait so a vacuum seal bag speeds up the process of disc rot?

No, your body is rotting faster right now as you live than any of the stuff around you.

My 150 year old house will be around longer than you or me.....

Don't waste your time with bags like that, enjoy and use what you have.

Fight the OCD.

A general rule of thumb for me is that you just have to play a disc to see if there is any rot showing up as drop outs in the video.

These days, I don’t get too concerned about rot since every disc out there is at least 25 years old so if there was a rot issue it would have already deteriorated the aluminum really bad by now. In other words, you play a disc and it looks good, you’re good to go. If it plays bad, return it.

Thank you for clarifying, I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer as you can tell haha sometimes I feel like I made a mistakes going down this rabbit hole haha

Laser/Disc Rot has to be absolutely the worst most overstated issue with LaserDisc Evah!

(Never-mind when it's not even rot but just some kind of manufacturing defect.)

Outside of a few limited manufacturers it's no more of an issue than for CD or DVD etc. But still, people you think might know better carry on like ignorant idiots that every disc on your shelf is a ticking time-bomb about to go off anytime soon (this one really makes me laugh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiYAP3nAUXo&fbclid=IwAR0yRB66zyPteHhoaw2wnyqtrnFeXmLbLjy3vBzq7wyfOrcCiY64zz2_j-c). The truth is >99.9% of the LD's in your collection will easily outlast you, most likely your grandchildren's grandchildren too.

But please spread the "it's rotting to sh!t" mantra as much as you like because we need to discourage all these 'Johnny come latelys' jacking up prices on discs and hardware as much as we can!!!

Idk if I got scolded in that last response or if I was being enlightened?