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Broken BluRay Disc - What Caused This?

5K views 17 replies 11 participants last post by  captain_video 
#1 ·
So, I got "The Italian Job" BluRay from NetFlix the other day. I didn't really look at it before popping it into my PC to play. After about 30 minutes, TMT3 froze the screen and I had to use Task Manager to exit the program. Even after that, my BD drive was still, apparently, trying to read the disc. After removing the disc, I looked at the back and the attached image shows what I saw.


Question: What are those two long splotches (for lack of a better term)? I don't think that they were scratches, but I could be wrong. It kind of looks like the disc was de-laminated at those points. Is it likely that my drive caused the problem, or did I get a bad disc from NetFlix?


Thanks.
 
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#6 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by mayest /forum/post/19451168


Thanks guys. I was worried that my drive might have done it, so I was wary of putting any of my discs in. I'm pretty sure it wasn't cut, I would have felt that. Shipping damage might be it.

Actually, it does look like it might have been "scored" when inserted into a drive; but if it was your drive you'd have heard an awful scratching sound upon insertion/ejection.
 
#8 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by ES_Revenge /forum/post/19453926


Out of curiosity, what happens when something like this happens with a NetFlix disc? Do they try to charge you for it because "you broke it" or?

Nothing, unless it happens a lot to you, in which case I would guess they would cancel your account.


If you get a disc like that you can report it broken and they'll send you a new one of the same title immediately, but you still need to return the broken one. If you don't want the same title, a new disc won't ship until the one is returned.
 
#9 ·
Just FYI, if you go read up in a couple of the "netflix" threads (BR media forum maybe?) it is known to be a big problem with *some* people.


As in, *some* people get broken disc after broken disc from Netflix, while other people never get a bad one.


One theory is that it comes down to the equipment used at your local post office. Some POs have equipment that properly sorts discs, some POs have equipment that likes to eat them up. From what I have read anecdotally, Netflix is pretty lenient with people reporting broken discs.



I've never gotten a cracked BR from Netflix, my buddy across town gets them quite frequently.


-Suntan
 
#11 ·
Interesting Suntan. Looking at the picture again it kind of looks like some piece of machinery might have clamped down on the disc in those two places. This is the first bad disc that I have received in about 6 months of NetFlix membership, so I hope this was a fluke.
 
#14 ·
If memory serves, the issue with cracked discs is almost entirely related to BRs. People don't see the problem with DVDs shipped to them.


Of course, DVDs are more prone to scratching than BRs (BRs have a special coating on the read surface it minimize scratches) but people report having the cracked issues with BRs much more than with DVDs.


I've had one or two DVDs shipped to me with cracks around the inside diameter of the disc (I assume from people being un-careful when taking them out of those pop-up load DVD players) but I've never had a BR shipped to me cracked.


-Suntan
 
#15 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Suntan /forum/post/19454017


One theory is that it comes down to the equipment used at your local post office. Some POs have equipment that properly sorts discs, some POs have equipment that likes to eat them up. From what I have read anecdotally, Netflix is pretty lenient with people reporting broken discs.

Your local post office most likely does not have the sorting hardware that would do this. Mail carriers at your local P.O. generally still sort their own mail by hand. Chances are it occurred at one of their P&DC's (Processing and Distribution Centers) which are located in most metropolitan areas and also near main airports.


I spent two years installing mail sorting machines in P&DC's around the country. I don't work for the USPS but rather an independent contractor that built one of the machines. Frankly, I'm amazed that more mail isn't damaged, lost, or destroyed considering that a single P&DC processes millions of pieces of mail per day. Once you've seen what goes into delivering the mail you'll realize that stamp you buy to send a single letter is an absolute bargain.


Netflix doesn't charge anyone for damaged discs. There's no way to prove that it was done by the end user or during the shipping process. I've had several damaged discs from Netflix, but I've rented hundreds of discs from them over the years so the law of averages will intervene on occasion.
 
#16 ·
I'm one of those that it's been know to be a big problem, I actually quit using Netflix for a couple of years because of this, the 2 ch audio Netflix streaming and the fact I wasn't really getting my money's worth(either from not getting arround to watching the movies quick enough or have to wait for replacements). I recently decided to give them a try again. I don't remember having much trouble back in the DVD days as I also stopped using netflix for couple years before they started offering HD DVD and BD. I had the biggest problem w/ HD DVDs probably more than 50% wouldn't play mostly they were scratched, regular DVDs would be next and BD had the least problems. I've had cracked disc of each type BD seem to be the worst when it comes to cracks even a small crack on the edge will cause problems and I've had a few BDs that were crack and scratch free but had a wet/puddle look bellow the disc surface probably the same thing as to the OP's disc but to a lesser extend. I've only had 2 bad disc since I started using Netflix again, one that wouldn't play at all (small cracks on edge and center hole) and the other had a section in the middle of the movie that wouldn't play (disc look good, no cracks or scratches).


On a side note I bought a bunch of HD DVD from Fry's after BD won when they were really cheap only to have a few or so that had section w/ issues but I didn't watch them right away so it was too late to exchange and more than likely they would have replacements and these were brand new sealed in the box. From this and what I've seen w/ Netflix I'm glad BD won, not to mention the larger disc capacity.
 
#17 ·
I had a very high rate of broken disks in Phoenix area, perhaps 3%. Another 5% for disks that were unplayable and 1% that were wrong title.
 
#18 ·
While I have had my share of unplayable discs from NetFlix, they generally sent me a replacement right away that played just fine. I've never received two bad discs of the same title. The trick is to set them up in your queue so you stand a better chance of getting them when first released. As for timely viewing, there are ways to get around this as long as you only view them once. There's also Red Box if you don't need a constant barrage of movies and they're priced more reasonably than most other outlets. I'm tempted to drop NetFlix and just go with Red Box but RB just doesn't have the same depth of choices that NetFlix offers. I may just drop back to one disc at a time with NF and get the popular new releases from RB.
 
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