Two-sided discs prompt complaints
DVD 18 problems include skipping, failure to play
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 12/2/2005
DEC. 2 | Double-sided DVDs help studios pack the same amount of content in half the amount of discs, but the innovation isn’t without its downside.
A number of consumers are grumbling about glitches with the DVD 18 format, of which each disc holds content on each side. DVD enthusiast Web sites such as TVShowsOnDVD.com and Home Theater Forum are full of posts describing DVD 18 sets skipping or failing to play. Universal Studios Home Entertainment titles are drawing the bulk of the complaints, including TV DVD sets of The A-Team, American Gothic, Miami Vice and Las Vegas. Not coincidentally, Universal also releases a lot of DVD 18 sets.
It’s proving tough to pinpoint the exact source of the problems, according to industry sources.
One possible problem involves a paucity of DVD 18 manufacturing plants to handle the current demand, with just a handful scattered throughout North America.
DVD 18 sets makeup just 0.52% of all titles released so far in 2005, according to the Nov. 18 edition of the DVD Release Report. But as the TV DVD category explodes, space-saving DVD 18s are becoming more widespread. The number of DVD 18 titles out in 2005 year-to-date has doubled over the comparable year-to-date 2004 period.
“There has been talk about opening [more facilities],” said Luis Guerrero, sales and customer service manager of one DVD 18-capable plant, Mexico-based Vigobyte. “But with the creation of new technologies like HD DVD and Blu-ray, there are not a lot of people who want to invest in something that may become obsolete.”
Simply by virtue of holding more material, the surfaces of double-sided discs also are more likely to get nicked.
During shipment, discs often become dislodged from the packaging and sometimes scratched. Some consumers are discovering that a DVD 18 might get stuck in one DVD player but work fine in another.
“I’ve gotten hundreds of complaints,” said TVShowsOnDVD.com creator Gord Lacey. “It skips around. It doesn’t work in their player. Some people have returned the same [title] three or four times. Personally, what I think is happening is that these plants are running above capacity. Quality control is going out the window.”
There are signs that studios are acknowledging DVD 18 trouble.
Houston-based anime supplier ADV Films has switched from DVD 18 to DVD 9 on all of its releases, starting with Farscape Starburst Edition Vol. 3.1 on Dec. 13. ADV also will gradually replenish earlier DVD 18 Farscape volumes as DVD 9s.
“[DVD 18] attracted us because it could hold so much data,” ADV spokesman Chris Oarr said. “We could put two discs into a simple Amaray case. We thought it was cool too, as our consumers are tech savvy and attracted to bright new shiny things. … But we had an unusual amount of problems with DVD 18.”
ADV’s latest Farscape set will come out as four discs in slightly wider packaging than earlier releases.
Warner Home Video has recently switched from DVD 18 to DVD 9 on certain TV DVD titles.
Dukes of Hazzard was released on DVD 18s for season sets one through three and DVD 9s for seasons four (out Aug. 2) and five (coming Dec. 13). Similarly, The West Wing was DVD 18 for seasons two and three and DVD 9 for seasons four (released April 5) and five (coming Dec. 6).
Universal declined comment on format decisions.
“We have not received any consumer or retailer complaints for the titles we have released using DVD 18 discs,” a Warner spokeswoman said. “We continue to sell a handful of TV DVD titles in this format, although the vast majority continues to be released in single-sided discs. The change in disc format on West Wing and Dukes of Hazzard was not related to specific consumer complaints but rather to operational capacity constraints on the manufacturing of these discs.”
As the amount of DVD 18 product in the market is small, complaints still seem out of earshot for major retailers. Best Buy spokesman Brian Lucas said the chain was not aware of problems with the format.
Yet National Entertainment Buying Group president Todd Zaganiacz has dealt with upset customers. Suspect discs are first tested in a variety of players at stores, and those deemed totally unplayable are sent back to NEBG distributors.
Some consumers also are calling studios directly to get replacement copies.
“I think with TV product [suppliers] are trying to cram more and more on there,” Zaganiacz said. “But single-sided discs we know will have more durability.”E-mail Susanne Ault
