Does sunlight damage DVDs?

[c***@no.spam.com]

Does sunlight hurt DVDs? I'm talking about commercial DVD movies that you can
buy in stores, not DVD-Rs or any other recordable DVD medium.

If so, how much sunlight does it take to damage them? What if you left a DVD
in the sun for 60 seconds? Would that cut the life of a DVD from 10 years to
3 years? Or does the sun exposure have to be several hours?

[Paul Hyett]

Post by c***@no.spam.com
Does sunlight hurt DVDs? I'm talking about commercial DVD movies that you can
buy in stores, not DVD-Rs or any other recordable DVD medium.
If so, how much sunlight does it take to damage them? What if you left a DVD
in the sun for 60 seconds? Would that cut the life of a DVD from 10 years to
3 years? Or does the sun exposure have to be several hours?

Sounds like something for the Mythbusters (Discovery Channel). I liked
the show where they spun up CD's to incredible speeds to see what it
took to shatter them. :)

[Darkknight]

it's generally not recommended to leave DVD's in sunlight and their are
all sorts of stories about life expectancy, maybe try it.
I know one of the australian PC mags did some tests on writable media
with varying results. interestingly one brand showed less errors after
being exposed to direct sunlight for a determined time

Post by c***@no.spam.com
Does sunlight hurt DVDs? I'm talking about commercial DVD movies that you can
buy in stores, not DVD-Rs or any other recordable DVD medium.
If so, how much sunlight does it take to damage them? What if you left a DVD
in the sun for 60 seconds? Would that cut the life of a DVD from 10 years to
3 years? Or does the sun exposure have to be several hours?

[GMAN]

Post by c***@no.spam.com
Does sunlight hurt DVDs? I'm talking about commercial DVD movies that you can
buy in stores, not DVD-Rs or any other recordable DVD medium.
If so, how much sunlight does it take to damage them? What if you left a DVD
in the sun for 60 seconds? Would that cut the life of a DVD from 10 years to
3 years? Or does the sun exposure have to be several hours?

The only problem i see is if you were to leave them in a very hot car for a
long time they could possibly melt or warp.

The inside of a car can exeed 160F in the summer

[Rick Merrill]

Post by c***@no.spam.com
Does sunlight hurt DVDs? I'm talking about commercial DVD movies that you can
buy in stores, not DVD-Rs or any other recordable DVD medium.
If so, how much sunlight does it take to damage them? What if you left a DVD
in the sun for 60 seconds? Would that cut the life of a DVD from 10 years to
3 years? Or does the sun exposure have to be several hours?

mmmm, have you tried a microwave ?-)

[R Steenerson]

Previously, I had only been aware of the danger of melting cassette tapes or
VHS tapes. I suspect there is a similar problem with CDs but, so far have
never heard of anyone melting a CD of any kind. Sunlight per se on a DVD
does not on the surface sound like it would do anything as a DVD is not a
photosensitive medium. All, the same I would avoid putting any kind of CD
in say a car for a long time when I was out doing errands or something else.

Post by c***@no.spam.com
Does sunlight hurt DVDs? I'm talking about commercial DVD movies that you can
buy in stores, not DVD-Rs or any other recordable DVD medium.
If so, how much sunlight does it take to damage them? What if you left a DVD
in the sun for 60 seconds? Would that cut the life of a DVD from 10 years to
3 years? Or does the sun exposure have to be several hours?

[CJB]

But bacteria can get into the layers. I've heard that CDs (and
presumably DVDs) don't last long in countries where the humidity is
high. The metalic recording surface oxidises. This is the same as does
the glue holding magnetc particles onto the base of tapes. CJB.

[Geoff Wood]

Post by CJB
But bacteria can get into the layers. I've heard that CDs (and
presumably DVDs) don't last long in countries where the humidity is
high. The metalic recording surface oxidises. This is the same as does
the glue holding magnetc particles onto the base of tapes. CJB.

Fungas actually.

geoff

[Paul Hyett]

Post by Geoff Wood

Post by CJB
But bacteria can get into the layers. I've heard that CDs (and
presumably DVDs) don't last long in countries where the humidity is
high. The metalic recording surface oxidises. This is the same as does
the glue holding magnetc particles onto the base of tapes. CJB.

Fungas actually.

My Terminator 1 DVD seems to have died of this, or something similar.