Check your PSONE discs now! CORROSION issues!

Yes I have few that are warped around the edges, ps1 discs also scratch very easily my WWF Attitude disc has a very slight scratch to it and it won't load the intro str on the weaker ps1 laser but reads fine on my ps2.

 

Are you talking about the top of the disks? because I don't see how the bottom can be oxidized from finger prints/oils?

Unless you just mean the bottom surface has been attacked from oils/etc? which would make more sense than oxidization from finger prints.

Its usually the reflective layer (metal) that gets oxidized, not the plastics

edit:
Just noticed you say corrosion later on, which makes more sense to me at least.


Is the plastic cloudy and is it just where the finger prints were?

 

Photos would be interesting?

 

I just read the other day that removal of fingerprint "data" is not 100% impossible from metallic surfaces due to minute changes in surface composition. Bunch of ionic level changes that allow you to detect fingerprint "data" after the surface has been cleaned.

Wouldn't be surprised if the composition change from transparent to black wouldn't eventually cause some problems. My Chrono Cross disc 1 has a ring scratch from a bloody SCPH-5501 and it has so angered me. This would be infuriating.

 

engineered to break down.

 

That is what I figured, good way to ruin resale value but at least its not as bad as LaserDisc laser rot.

Anyone know what makes the disc black? Wonder if it can be chemically altered over time.

 

The narrator states that "black ink is added" which unfortunately leads me to come up with the mental image of someone squirting a fountain pen into a batch of molten plastic. They show a handful of the transparent plastic that they melt to make the disc and then show a disc having some transparent viscous fluid being applied to the top. The inner hub is clearly a black plastic but the reflective metal layer is also clearly visible.

Unless they skipped the step for adding black in the video as per being a company secret or something. The narrator did say the black was to help prevent illegal copies from being made but I don't think I've ever heard that one before.

Given CD tech was pretty much mature by the time the Playstation came along I would place my bet on whatever Sony added to make the discs black (or allow the plastic to accept the coloring agent) is what caused the oxidation. Never have I seen a CD come out like that before, even the copy of MYST I've had since 1994 or so and abused heavily as a youngling. Looks like I tried to buff it with 80 grit sand paper but nothing like what your PS1 disc looks like.

Time to scour some patents for information.

 

I have a number discs that have clouded. Some are obliviously because of fingerprints I stupidly left but others have no apparent reason. I think the black color just fades over time for some reason and anything like fingerprints, dust particles, ect simply exacerbates it.

On the plus side it doesn't seem to affect them from playing since every game I've tested still plays just fine.

 

I thought they where black to reduce reflection due to the poor quality lasers :shrug: the reason why backups on none black cd-r tend to skip on large videos.

 

No, that's a myth that was introduced by SONY to try and discourage people from modding their machines and playing bent CD-R's. You have to bear in mind that the PlayStation because it used CD based media was often used by some as a standalone CD player, a laser that destroyed itself for playing anything other than black discs would have led to more class action suits than you could point a shitty stick at.

As for skippy FMV, shit media burnt at maximum speed is the problem there. I raped the living shit out of my first PSX for 3 years solid with either official discs, 'golds' or VCD's and she never once skipped a beat, in fact she was better than my Saturn which was meant to play VCD's.

 

Makes me glad that projects like redump.org exists. At the very least the game data can be saved (in cases where the actual disc can be endangered). But I can see this definitely sucking for collectors unless you some how have collected everything sealed.

 

sad but not overly surprising

 

Can you not just get it resurfaced?

 

Resurfaced looks even worse. I've got 1 or 2 resurfaced PS1 games and I will have to replace them someday because it's looks shitty.

By the way, I couldn't help laughing at the narrator of the PlayStation video at 1:07:

"Black ink is added to the plastic to give the CD its distinctive cool, PlayStation only look. This also helps protect the CD from illegal copies."

Lol