Optical Media Recovery

Who hasn't experiencved it, the beloved audio CD suddenly stutters during playback or the video DVD from the last holiday only shows artefacts? As with all other storage media, data loss often occurs with the apparently robust optical storage media.

Physical causes - scratches, heat damage, broken discs

Scratches on the surfaces

The most common hardware defect is a scratched surface which may not be visible to the naked eye. In an unfavourable spot (e.g. from the outer to the inner edge) a scratch will cause immediate data loss. 

Heat damage

Optical media are extremely sensitive to solar radiation and unsteady temperature. Due to minimal chemical changes inside the coating data loss can be caused. Nevertheless, successful data rescue is still possible in most cases.

Blank discs are broken

We reiceive broken optical media regularly. Reconstructing these takes huge efforts and take up several months of work.

Chemical decomposition

Again and again we receive optical media which are affected by "disc rot". Significant discoloration on the data side of CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays is an indicator of a chemical reaction that is beginning or is already well advanced and that the recording layer of self-burned optical media is decomposing.

As the process progresses, the readability and further usability of the storage medium suffers. The different materials and composites react to each other in a harmful way and the stored data is gradually destroyed.

With burned CDs, such deterioration can occur after about 5 to 10 years. Burned DVDs, on the other hand, theoretically have a half-life of up to 30 years, and Blu-rays even up to 50 years.

Chemical degradation is favored by suboptimal storage, handling and contamination.

Experience has shown that writing on the top side with felt-tip pens (e.g. Edding) but also labels and the solvents they contain can damage the reflective layer of the burned media over time.

Environmental conditions such as high/low humidity, temperature and exposure to light can also accelerate decomposition. The same applies to contamination with skin fat (fingerprints) and sweat.