Now the "Disc Rot" Issue Seems to be Affecting My Blu-rays...Can Someone Lend any Assistance? (5 Viewers)

[Kaskade1309]

Wasn't sure if this was the correct place to post this (rather than the hardware/players section), but figured it was suitable based on my previous thread I had started regarding problematic DVDs in the DVD area...

Something happened with my Panasonic DP-UB9000 last night -- though the issue has occurred, as I alluded to above, with some DVDs over the past few months (and this was AFTER the player's drive was replaced via a repair ticket). What concerns me is that this problem was happening ONLY with DVDs prior to last night, and I was under the impression that these discs (namely Warner Bros. titles) were succumbing to the so-called "disc rot."

Now, it appears to be happening to at least one Blu-ray, and I don't know if it's related to the player at this point.

I was watching my 1080p BD copy of The Conjuring, which I've watched dozens of times since owning it, and it never gave me any issues in the past; last night, I was viewing the second half of the film after leaving off about halfway through the night before. However, when I loaded the disc into the UB9000, the opening Warner Bros. logo and accompanying "piano" music briefly pixelated and dropped out, like the issues many of us have had with 4K discs. I was able to press the TOP MENU button on the remote to access the setup menu and get to the scene I was up to (just about), but as I watched from that point on, the disc broke into that colored pixelation before freezing -- the exact same thing that occurred with DVDs I've recently replaced that supposedly failed due to "disc rot." I tried ejecting the disc, blowing on it (to get surface dust off; it was NOT mishandled nor did it have fingerprints because I was meticulous with holding it) and then reloaded it to check playback again, and while I was able to get through the opening Warner start screen with no issues, the film itself broke up and pixelated when I got to the scene I was stuck on before.

After this, I put the disc back on the shelf and tried another 1080p Blu-ray from my collection, and that played without issue. From there, I decided to go ahead and do the firmware update (it was waiting to be downloaded in the player's menu because I hadn't installed it initially), but once it was finished, I didn't try another disc.

I simply don't understand what is going on here. How can it be sheer coincidence that I have been experiencing disc after disc with so-called "rot," and now it's affecting my Blu-rays? First, it was the Selena Special Edition DVD, then the American History X DVD and now the Conjuring Blu-ray; if this problem is originating from the Panasonic's laser, why doesn't it affect EVERY disc I play? It's almost like I don't know which of my discs are going to freeze up anymore when I take them off the shelf and put them in the 9000...and it seemingly comes out of nowhere. As I said, The Conjuring was playing fine the evening before -- then, suddenly, it pixelated and wouldn't let me play it. And the same thing happened in the past with the DVD discs I mentioned.

Anyone have any thoughts? I am getting tired of having to replace titles in my library after I went through having to rebuy a ton of discs to replace non-anamorphic or full screen DVDs (because the UB9000 doesn't have a way to deal with these properly, at least in the case of non-anamorphic titles).

Does this sound like it's related to Warner's rot issue with many discs -- and if so, why does it occur so randomly with my titles? Does rot affect both DVD and Blu-ray?

 

[Robert Harris]

I’d bet it’s the player. Make certain the optical system is clean, and that you’re running the latest firmware.

 

[Kaskade1309]

I’d bet it’s the player. Make certain the optical system is clean, and that you’re running the latest firmware.

I had the drive/laser assembly replaced recently through repair and did the latest firmware update last night.

I also keep the unit "clean" internally through regular laser lens cleanings (a brush-free disc system).

Also, if this was the player, why does it occur with totally random titles, and not all the time?

 

[Malcolm R]

Physical objects are always in a constant state of degradation. Nothing is ever going to stay pristine or functional forever. Players and discs are always going to fail eventually, some faster than others. Not much you can do about it.

If you watch The Conjuring disc that often, it's probably been subject to more physical stress than some other less-watched discs.

 

[Kaskade1309]

Thanks Malcom.

Physical objects are always in a constant state of degradation. Nothing is ever going to stay pristine or functional forever. Players and discs are always going to fail eventually, some faster than others. Not much you can do about it.

I totally get that -- I'm not disillusioned to the fact that nothing will last forever. But this is a bit of a different situation...I mean, these aren't VHS tapes here. Am I to believe that little by little every one of my discs, whether Blu-ray or DVD, are going to fail? For heaven's sake, the two discs that this occurred to before The Conjuring -- American History X and Selena -- didn't get much play at all (well, American History X did, but not as much as Conjuring), so why did they succumb to disc rot?

If you watch The Conjuring disc that often, it's probably been subject to more physical stress than some other less-watched discs.

That was our instinct, as well -- that because I've watched the disc so many times, the laser was kind of "burning" it at this point (or, as you suggested, it just underwent constant stress). But, again, this concerns me -- we're not talking about a VHS tape played over and over...it was a Blu-ray Disc that was handled meticulously.

Then, there's the question of the aforementioned DVDs -- why did two DVDs supposedly succumb to the rot, but now it's a Blu-ray going through it?

I'm beginning to think I'm simply cursed and that the gods don't want me to participate in this hobby...

 

[roxy1927]

I've written about my 4k My Fair Lady and 4k A Boy Named Charlie Brown not working on rewatching but watching Oliver! and Paint Your Wagon for the first time working perfectly. Maybe they'll stop working too. Is it the player or the discs?

 

[Kaskade1309]

I've written about my 4k My Fair Lady and 4k A Boy Named Charlie Brown not working on rewatching but watching Oliver! and Paint Your Wagon for the first time working perfectly. Maybe they'll stop working too. Is it the player or the discs?

I simply don't know, Roxy; my 9000 was having issues with 4K discs freezing and stuttering, so I had the drive replaced through Panasonic. Since then, that hasn't happened with UHD discs -- but it HAS occurred with two DVDs and now a 1080p Blu-ray.

I don't know what's going on. If it was the player, I'd think nearly every disc would hiccup and fail.

 

[Robert Harris]

Have you tried them on other players.

Did you enroll in the HTD Disc Replacement program, or the Best Buy Disc Replacement Program? It’s a low monthly fee per disc.

 

[David Norman]

First, second, and third. Try the discs in a separate preferably non Panasonic player - take a a disc to a store, borrow a friend's unit. The whole situation screams player issue regardless whether the drive was replaced. Multiple disc going bad simultaneous just doesnt seem possible.

Fourth clean the disc regardless how clean they look and try in the players again.

Fifth -- if you have a PC BD player. Try to run a program like VSO Inspector and have it scan the disc.

 

[DaveF]

I thought it was identifed four years ago that you have a faulty player and chose not to return / replace it. Presumably, you're experiencing the continued problems of a malfunctioning player, and not a sudden onset of all your discs failing.

A few words about…™ HDR and the new Panasonic 9000 — in 4k UHD Blu-ray

Lol, glad I didn’t call Panasonic

www.hometheaterforum.com

 

[roxy1927]

I'm sorry I meant A Charlie Brown Christmas. Considering I watched it as a boy in black and white of course not knowing anything else the 4k is so beautiful. A friend says I need a new 4k player. But I seem to have no problems with foreign region discs(it's a region free player) and regular dvds and blurays. I was thinking of buying a 4k player from best buy and seeing how the non working 4ks play on that. Easy to return in two weeks.

 

[OliverK]

@Kaskade1309:
As others have said get another player to make sure the discs are fine. You obviously have discs that you know do not play so it is a very simple test.

Is the player in a dedicated room with clean air or is somebody smoking in the same room, a fireplace or a kitchen?
In a dedicated clean room I would advise against preventive cleaning of the laser as it can do more harm than good.

 

[JoshZ]

One of my boys wanted to watch WALL-E the other day, so I pulled my Blu-ray off the shelf, last watched without issue in 2020. It wouldn't load past the main menu. I ejected and tried again multiple times. I took the disc out and noted that the data side looks cloudy. Cleaning it did nothing, so it's not just a film on the surface. At that point, I gave up and we watched the movie on Disney+ instead.

Sometimes the plastic these discs are manufactured from just degrades. Not much to be done about it except replace it.

On the other hand, if you're having similar problems with multiple titles all at once (and if you don't see any physical signs on the discs themselves), that could point to a hardware problem with your player, as others have suggested.

 

[roxy1927]

Not much to be done about it except replace it.

And if that one goes bad?

Is this turning into a major problem, the one we worried about decades ago with cds?

 

[JoshZ]

And if that one goes bad?

Is this turning into a major problem, the one we worried about decades ago with cds?

How many CDs did you really have go bad?

 

[Kaskade1309]

I thought it was identifed four years ago that you have a faulty player and chose not to return / replace it. Presumably, you're experiencing the continued problems of a malfunctioning player, and not a sudden onset of all your discs failing.

A few words about…™ HDR and the new Panasonic 9000 — in 4k UHD Blu-ray

Lol, glad I didn’t call Panasonic

www.hometheaterforum.com

Yes, that was years ago. I have since sent the unit in for repair and had a new drive put in -- I even stated this in my original post.

 

[Kaskade1309]

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions; oddly enough, the Conjuring disc played back last night with no issues, straight through.

Is it possible the latest firmware update "stabilized" playback of older 1080p discs like this?

At any rate, it doesn't make sense -- and this is in response to the suggestions that it's a hardware issue on the Panasonic end -- that the unit is showing signs of issues, yet again, after the drive was supposedly replaced when I sent it in for the (very expensive) service just months back. Why would it pick and choose random Blu-rays and DVDs to "fail" on?

Plus, I DID run the previous discs we had issues with -- the Selena and American History X DVDs -- on the Panasonic BD player upstairs in the bedroom, and the same problem spots occurred at the same moments...it HAD to be those discs, though, and I suspect it's the same with The Conjuring.

Still, as I said, it played last night after the player was turned off all evening following the firmware update...

 

[Kaskade1309]

@Kaskade1309:
As others have said get another player to make sure the discs are fine. You obviously have discs that you know do not play so it is a very simple test.

Is the player in a dedicated room with clean air or is somebody smoking in the same room, a fireplace or a kitchen?
In a dedicated clean room I would advise against preventive cleaning of the laser as it can do more harm than good.

Hey Oliver,

Just wanted to reply to you because you mentioned the environmental factor -- the player is in our living room that's cleaned regularly, and there are no smokers in the house. No fireplace is on, but the kitchen is just off a step up from the living room (kind of a sunken-in room) not too far away (but still enough to be deemed its "own room").

I am also concerned about what you said regarding the preventive cleaning of the laser -- are you suggesting that I shouldn't use the laser lens cleaning discs on the player? Because the one I do use doesn't utilize brushes to clean the lens; it is more of a "wind funnel" system that supposedly just blows whatever dust is around there out of the area.

It looks like this:

 

[OliverK]

Hey Oliver,

Just wanted to reply to you because you mentioned the environmental factor -- the player is in our living room that's cleaned regularly, and there are no smokers in the house. No fireplace is on, but the kitchen is just off a step up from the living room (kind of a sunken-in room) not too far away (but still enough to be deemed its "own room").

I am also concerned about what you said regarding the preventive cleaning of the laser -- are you suggesting that I shouldn't use the laser lens cleaning discs on the player? Because the one I do use doesn't utilize brushes to clean the lens; it is more of a "wind funnel" system that supposedly just blows whatever dust is around there out of the area.

It looks like this:

View attachment 225401

Looks like your room is clean, I would not use it.
Also the UHD discs spin extremely fast and should be good enough for creating a wind funnel.

As for Selena and American History X just get the Blu-rays - they will be a nice improvement over the DVDs:

American History X • NL Blu-ray vs. US DVD

caps-a-holic.com

 

[willyTass]

my panasonic 9000 was a pita from week 1 : bought it new and 1 in 5 discs would freeze, or pixelate . Ive got 3 oppo 205's and they are a dream. With a noctua fan , i havent had 1 disc freeze or pixelate in 2 years . Nothing i tried would help with Panasonic . Id say ur problem as others have said is the player