# Bluray "bronzing"



## Guest (Dec 16, 2020)

It is well known that some early CDs were subject to "bronzing" where a defective plastic coating caused the discs to deteriorate after a few years. I have a few Blu-ray Discs purchased some years ago which now don't play (Eugene Oregon with Gerviev on Decca, Handle Orlando with Christie on Arthaus, La Traviata with Rizzi (and Netrebko) on DG). I have found some reference to Blu-ray "bronzing" by googling, a similar thing where a defective resin causes the discs to become unreadable. Anyone else had this problem. Of course it is basically impossible to find a way to contact the record label by searching their web sites.


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## bluto32 (Apr 25, 2015)

That's rotten news - I'm sorry to hear you've lost some Blu-rays due to this. I too thought this issue was restricted to certain brands of CDs manufactured in the 80s/90s. Please could you post a pic or two showing the damage? Does it mainly affect the rim of the disc?


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## Guest (Dec 17, 2020)

The discs look normal, maybe a barely perceptible haziness which would probably not show up on a photo. I looked back and two of the discs that failed were purchased in 2010 or 2011, the other in 2008.

The Criterion collection fesses up, but no other manufacturers seem to acknowledge the problem.

https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/3317-exchanging-defective-discs

I found it mentioned on a forum for Blu-ray issues.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=249210

I discovered the problem while ripping the discs. Now I see that it is indeed important to rip discs and keep backups, because the optical media are not always as enduring as the manufacturers would have you believe.


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## AeolianStrains (Apr 4, 2018)

At least Criterion is offering replacements, which is actually very generous of them! Really shows that they do indeed care about the preservation of the classics.


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## NoCoPilot (Nov 9, 2020)

Baron Scarpia said:


> The discs look normal


Are you sure it's bronzing of the discs, and not some kind of alignment problem with your player? Got another player you can try?


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## Guest (Dec 18, 2020)

NoCoPilot said:


> Are you sure it's bronzing of the discs, and not some kind of alignment problem with your player? Got another player you can try?


Two different players spun the discs for about a minute, ejected with the message "disc not recognized." This is true of all three discs.

I should say, the discs do look a bit cloudy compared to the discs that play properly. But it is subtle and probably something that wouldn't be noticed until it is established that the discs don't play. There is no obvious discoloration as in the famous CD "bronzing" and I don't think it would show up in a photo. Seems to match what is described in various blu-ray forums.


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