What is Laser Rot?

[bactor]

I have a question, as I have recently purchased The Magnificent Ambersons on LD. I read a bit about "Laser Rot" and just wanted to know what it is, whether it can be prevented or treated, etc.
Thanks.

[Welles Fan]

It is not really "rot", but it refers to a gradual deterioration of the disc. I was heavily into laserdiscs during their heyday, and lost quite a few to the dreaded rot. Luckily, Pioneer replaced a good many of them, and Ken Crane's (now DVD Planet) replaced a few for me.

It usually manifests itself as a lot of "sparklies" in the video, and sometimes you can hear them in the audio as noise. Once it starts, it only gets worse. Supposedly, it had something to do with contamination during the gluing process. Laserdiscs are really two sides glued together. Sometimes, you can feel some stickiness at the edge, though this will not necessarily lead to rot.

Columbia Tri-Star was notorious for leading the way with laser rot. One plant in particular had that problem. Aside from Lawrence of Arabia, I do not think I have any remaining Columbia Tri-Star releases in the collection. I even lost a few Criterions, too.

There is even talk of DVD rot. Apparently, certain dual-layer DVDs have been known to "go bad". It is probably due to something other than the condition that plagued certain laserdiscs, but the end is the same. I have lost two DVDs to something like rot. They would skip, and sieze and not play past certain points.

[atcolomb]

I have close to 200 laserdiscs and have not experienced
laser rot but some of my laserdiscs have glue on the edge
of the disc which can be wiped away. I have all the Orson
Welles laserdiscs that were on the Criterion Collection and
all of them are in fine shape. I am still keeping my discs
as long as i have a player to play them!!

[R Kadin]

And here I thought Laser Rot was just a latter day punk rock act. Another charming misconception dashed against the banal rocks of reality. ???