Are there any ways of limiting disc rott?
Posted: April 23rd, 2019, 2:38 pm
Are there any ways of limiting disc rott?
Independent reviews since 1999.
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dzikos80 wrote:Those tiny pin holes in the 90% of the cases are minor manufacturing defects that existed there since day one. A checksum with dedicated software will show no errors existing on those discs.
Collectors who go back and check their discs after reading horror stories and thereafter finding those tiny pin holes do not realize that these pin holes most probably have been existing on their discs forever since the manufacturing date. Many of my PC Engine CD games have a tiny pin hole somewhere. A checksum reveals no errors other than the sector 3440 copy protection error which is prevalent on the same sector for many different PC Engine CD disks that I tested. I also played through and completed one of those discs: CD Denjin- no lags, shutters, or loading issues. The hole was a tiny one, and will be the same tiny one in five years from now: I will come back here to report in 2022!
If a real disc rolthole is in existence then you do not need very strong light to see through the disc. Strong light sources will reveal imperfections which are due to the pressing procedure.
Discs end up playing worse and worse because our console lasers turn weaker and weaker in older systems. PC Engine CD lasers are notorious for breaking up.
dzikos80 wrote:Disc rot exists but it is often confused/miscommunicated as it being either
(i) the existence of pressing-procedure pinholes (these even exist on some ps3/wii u games) or
(ii) the label side scratch damage on cd's.
When checking some of my sega cd games with pinholes, I could see the scratch on that same spot on the label side. As a rule of thump, well taken care of discs are fine. Loose discs or heavily scratched discs have pin holes. Not because of scratches alone on the data side; But because scratches indicate careless handling in general and thus often a scratched label side too.
Matchstick wrote:Earlier CDs from the late 70s and early 80s, in particular, I believe will last for centuries. Most of what I've heard about disc rot falls in line with what has already been mentioned, with discs manufactured during the 90s.
Stalvern wrote:(Also, there are no CDs from the late '70s. Commercial production began in 1982.)
VideoGameCritic wrote:Good point about the floppies Retro!
I remember I was buying 5 1/4 floppies in a Babbages (if I recall) in the early 80s and asked the guy working there how long they would hold data for. He said about five years. Of course he was just pulling that number out of his ass. How would he know? Needless to say, I still play games on floppies and no problems so far.