Why Good Discs Go Bad

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,116473,pg,1,RSS,RSS,00.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,116473,pg,1,RSS,RSS,00.asp</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Burning CDs and DVDs is the easy part. Knowing your data will be there when you go back to it days, months, or even years later--well, that's a bit harder. Not all discs are created equal, as Fred Byers, information technology specialist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, can attest. Byers is part of a team heading up an independent study of DVD media quality. Based on the first wave of testing results, the situation is murky at best."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/dvd-r.jpg" /> <br /><br />Wondering why CD and DVD discs go bad? It might not be from what you think...

[ux4484]

They hit on a particular sore spot that I recently experienced...

"One thing we've found in compatibility testing [of DVD-R and +R media] is that it's a relationship between a specific brand of media and the manufacturer of the hardware," observes Byers. "There was no one drive that played every single type of compatible media, and there was no one media brand that played perfectly in every drive."

And, he adds, sounding as frustrated as any consumer might, "You can't say there's a clear, delineated set of reasons as to why."


This ads confusion to the pot, even for experienced users. Is it the disk or the drive?

I found this when I recently upgraded my two year old HP +RW with a 8X multi-DVD burner.
Using only Maxell and Imation disks: The first two drives I tried made disks that my rack DVD burner and my daughters PC DVD drive didn't like (though my Apex player ran just fine). I discovered the first two were just re-badged versions of the same drive. I then tried #3 (a re-badged Benq) and all my players seemed to like it's disks, but my very speedy Lite-on DVD ROM CD/R/RW drive (in the same computer) doesn't like (even after upgrading the firmware on all the drives) disks from that drive. I've tried two other drives since then, and neither were as reliable as the Benq drive, so I've stayed with the Benq. While everything works pretty well now, I can't help but wonder: In six, eight, or twelve years from now, will a drive still be made that can read the disks we're making today?

I have a good idea of the answer :?, and it really irks me that I have to digitally archive all the video I've already transferred to some other format in the next decade.

[Jason Dunn]

While everything works pretty well now, I can't help but wonder: In six, eight, or twelve years from now, will a drive still be made that can read the disks we're making today?

As long as the drives are based on a red laser, the answer is yes.

[Ed Hansberry]

As long as the drives are based on a red laser, the answer is yes.
Can a blue-laser device not read a red-laser disk? I know red can't read blue because it is too wide, but I figured blue could read red.

[Jason Dunn]

Can a blue-laser device not read a red-laser disk?

What I've read about blue laser drives said that they weren't backwards compatible with current DVDs, so I assumed that meant red laser. I think I read about a company talking about doing a dual laser device, but nothing firm.

[ux4484]

Can a blue-laser device not read a red-laser disk?

What I've read about blue laser drives said that they weren't backwards compatible with current DVDs, so I assumed that meant red laser. I think I read about a company talking about doing a dual laser device, but nothing firm.

Yes NEC, right here (http://news.com.com/2100-1041_3-5129320.html?type=pt&part=inv&tag=feed&subj=news)