Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) has finally addressed growing concerns over the deterioration of some of its older DVDs. The studio admitted that discs produced from 2006 to 2008 have been experiencing premature deterioration, better known as disc rot.
Customers who discover rotting discs in their collection are told to replace them with new ones. In cases where the exact title is no longer available because it is out of print or having lost distribution rights, WBHE has included substitutes of equal value. This acknowledgment has sparked discussion among collectors, many of whom have suspected a widespread issue with Warner Bros. releases for a while.
What is disc rot?
Disc rot refers to the physical deterioration of optical discs that renders them unreadable over time. Such deterioration usually happens due to chemical degradation, production faults, or climatic conditions such as heat, humidity, and storage conditions.
The most common signs of disc rot are discoloration evident on the disc, small pinprick-sized holes when a light is shone upon them, and playback issues, as they may skip or not load at all. All DVDs and CDs may potentially rot, but some discs appear to rot faster due to flaws during manufacturing.
YouTubers hold Warner Bros. responsible for more rotting discs than others
While disc rot has affected DVDs from different manufacturers, Warner Bros. releases have been particularly criticized by collectors. Online forums like DVD Talk and Home Theater Forum have been filled with reports of failed discs from some collectors. YouTuber Damn Fool Idealistic Crusader also shed light on this issue in a video in 2021, as he mentioned that there may be more Warner Bros. titles affected than the company is admitting.
He noted that older films, box sets, and television shows appeared to be the most common victims of disc rot. To track the extent of the problem, Crusader compiled a list of confirmed cases, attributing the faulty discs to a Cinram plant in Olyphant, Pennsylvania. Another collector and YouTuber, RetroBlasting, documented the same problem in a March 2024 video, comparing the degrading discs to milk that had curdled.