CD rot

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CD rot (or DVD rot) is a phrase describing the tendency of CD or DVD disks to become unreadable due to physical or chemical deterioration. The causes of this effect vary from oxidation of the reflective layer to ultra-violet light damage and de-bonding of the adhesive used to stick the layers of the disc together.

Contents 1 Types 2 See also 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Types

On CDs, the rot becomes visually noticeable in two ways:

1. When the CD is held up to a strong light, light shines through several pin-prick sized holes.^[1]
2. Discoloration of the disc, which looks like a coffee stain on the disc (see also CD bronzing).^[1]

In audio CDs, the rot leads to decreased audio quality, chatter, scrambled audio, and static.

A Philips press officer has declared CD rot to be an isolated problem affecting only an "absolute minority" of cases. PDO has offered to replace any discs affected by CD bronzing if supplied with the defective disk and proof of purchase. However, according to the website of one of the affected record companies, Hyperion, PDO's helpline was discontinued in 2006 after a change of ownership, and defective CDs are now no longer replaced by the manufacturer, even though some of the affected record labels continue to offer replacements.^[2]

[edit] See also

• Laser rot
• CD bronzing

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Mac Observer article
• "CD Bronzing" article, with PDO replacement information, at Classical.net - How a manufacturing problem can cause disk quality degradation.
• "Using CDs for Data Storage" article, with extensive footnoting. Much of the information contained here contradicts central tenets in this wiki entry.
• A bad case of DVD rot eats into movie collections
• Blu-ray rot on copies of "The Prestige" - AVS Forums