Okay Greg, let's try diagnosing what is wrong with your LDs. First off, if you could provide me a picture of both sides of the discs that would be helpful. The reason I say this is that a lot of people claim fingerprints or scratches will not greatly effect playback on LDs like with DVDs; this has not been the case in my experience. I have several scratched LDs that freeze in the way you are describing. Also, 99.9% of the time you will not be able to physically see laser rot. Second, what player are you using? The reason I ask is that I have several, the best is a Pioneer LD-S9, I also have a CLD-D704 and a Panasonic LK-X670. LD players are very different than DVD players, there is a huge drop off in both image quality and the laser/ability to read discs between models. I have many scratched LDs that freeze or show line distortion on the Panasonic, but not at all on the LD-S9 and not badly (or even not at all when it feels like acting right) on the CLD-D704. Also, laser rot tends to happen slowly over time, and create a snow effect, not a freezing one like you are describing.
Here's a good description:
Media defects that affect a single pit, or a small cluster of pits will result in either dramatic excursions of the luminance signal (too white) on B&W titles, or trashing of the color subcarrier, with resulting mis-decoding of the color at that point in the scan line. The visual result is white or color snow, respectively.
An increase in snow over calendar time is the hallmark of laser rot, however, brand-new production can also have snow problems. Suspected causes of snow in freshly minted discs include: pressing discs with a worn or damaged stamper, pressing when the acrylic is not at the correct temperature, peeling the stamper and acrylic apart too soon or too late, metallization layer too thin, and contaminants in the production environment.
If all the dots are white on a color program, chances are they are film damage and not a disc defect. NTSC noise dots tend to be random colors. If the dots are over one scan line high on a CLV disc, then they are not a disc defect, since adjacent screen pixels are not adjacent on CLV (they are on CAV). If the dots have vertical "tails", they are almost certainly print or negative damage.
http://www.laserrot.com/info/techcorner ... dware.html
Do me a favor, and try to diagnose if the discs are warped also. That site has an excellent guide:
11.1.17 Warping
The focus and positioning servos of LD players can handle quite a bit of vertical and radial run-out, but there is no need to accept a warped disc and make your player work hard.
The general rule in the LD industry seems to be that a warp is a returnable defect if a US nickel (coin about .075 inch thick) can fit under the hub or outer disc edge at any point, when the disc is placed on a reliably flat surface.
On used or rare discs, be advised that warps are often correctable. See the "Care & Repair" article, LD#13.
So first off, do the nickel test. If the disc seems okay, I'll have you check a few more things. First, before the disc freezes, do you see distortion of any kind? Also, is there any noise coming from the player at the time when it freezes?
EDIT: One more thing Greg, I have been able to repair scratched LDs (as well as CDs, DVDs and even LCD monitors) with a compount called Novus. It is meant for auto use, but is very similar to the coating used on LDs if you use the finer grade. Here is an LD site that actually recommends it and gives detailed info:
http://www.laserdiscarchive.co.uk/laser ... rdiscs.htm It is fairly reasonable on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Novus-Plastic-Pol ... s=novus+ld I would warn you about trying this yourself, if you don't have much experience with hand tools. I use a Dremel tool to apply it, and actually wrote a guide on fixing LCDs this way years ago. To my surprise (and horror) I got tons of angry feedback from people who had little experience with tools, and pressed much too hard, permanently damaging their LCD monitor. But, it is definitely possible and affordable to repair a scratched LD.
2nd: One more thing I forgot to ask/mention: Have you tried cleaning these discs before? You absolutely should NOT use any ammonia or high % alcohol based cleaner on LDs; ammonia will eat the coating in no time. A common way people ruin them is by using Windex, this is a horrible idea. Also, you are better to not clean LDs when possible, the outside edges are where the coating is most likely to damage and begin peeling. Even if a disc is smudged, if it is playing fine, leave it alone. If you see large smudges, the disc is playing incorrectly, and you must clean it, the best option I have found is to use cleaners made for eyeglasses (including the individual wipes) that are a low alchohol concentration and anti-static. Look for ones that are guaranteed safe for use with anti-glare and water resistant eyeglass coatings, those coatings are very similar to the ones on LDs/CDs and if something is safe for them, it should be fine for cleaing your LDs if it must be done. Also, wipe from the center out, NOT in a circular motion. Wiping in a circular motion will ruin any disc format, not just LDs.
3rd edit: This is just a tip (well, and a question
), do any of your LDs have the old "Elephant Condom" sleeves? As in, the pure plastic ones that are clear? These are known to damage the coating on LDs over time, you should replace them with higher quality sleeves. Here is an example of the good ones (they don't have to be black, the white ones are fine too):
http://www.amazon.com/100-Laser-Disc-Sl ... sc+sleeves
Here are the Elephant Condoms you should NOT buy:
http://www.amazon.com/sleeves-fridge-ma ... sc+sleeves
4th Edit: Okay Greg, I am researching this. Future Boy Conan was a Vap release, I should have mentioned this earlier, Vap was one of the companies known to have had some bad pressings. This is the first I have heard of it though with their anime, they produced quite a few rock concert LDs that were known for having issues. Here's an example:
http://www.discogs.com/David-Sylvian-An ... se/2644327
Check out the quote at the bottom:
I bought this new on release and it had laser rot within an 18 month period. Most dishonorable for a Japanese LD pressing.
Now, I can tell you I have a lot of Vap LDs, and no issues with them. But, they are the one Japanese company I am aware of that had pressing issues, moreso with their rock concerts as I had said. In general, those Japanese rock concert LDs (not by Vap) are big collectors items among audiophiles and known for their quality, something that commenter also makes mention of. I still would trust Japanese LDs in general. Also, one thing to keep in mind, there is a difference between a bad pressing and what people traditionally refer to as laser rot. Vap was known for bad pressings, not traditional laser rot. That rock concert LD I linked (bad within 18 months) was the victim of a bad pressing, from earlier:
brand-new production can also have snow problems. Suspected causes of snow in freshly minted discs include: pressing discs with a worn or damaged stamper, pressing when the acrylic is not at the correct temperature, peeling the stamper and acrylic apart too soon or too late, metallization layer too thin, and contaminants in the production environment.
Traditional laser rot is a slow degradation caused by inferior quality glue. It is very possible you got a defective Future Boy Conan LD that was never returned by the original purchaser.
5th (Sorry!) Edit; I am looking into your Star Wars LDs Greg, can you see which ones you have? This site breaks it down, some of them had bad pressings apparently:
http://www.lddb.com/_misc/webarchive.or ... -flaws.htm
Also, that same database lists the Star Wars LDs rot status as high probability:
http://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/05091/069 ... Collection
6th (hopefully final) Edit: I took a step back and thought about this based on what you said, in regard to Future Boy Conan, Greg. If your LD is competely free of scratches, smudges and dust, it is probably either warped or the victim of rot. Since you said it used to work properly and then started freezing, but is clean/scratch free, those are really the only two options outside of an issue with your player. So make sure you do that nickel test, and look it over VERY carefully; also go ahead and try cleaning it with the wipes I mentioned earlier. Also, I know this is a long shot, but do you know anyone who has an LD player as well? Before I touch any of my LDs, I try them in all three of my players, for whatever reason one player may not like a disc or could even haven have a laser that is beginning to malfunction. LD players are really delicate, much moreso than DVD players, just bumping one hard can knock the laser out of alignment. Playing warped discs repeatedly can also wear out your laser, by the way. The thing throwing me for a loop here is that I've had American discs that were legitimate laser rot cases, but they developed snow to the point of being unwatchable, never an issue with freezing. Warped discs are also notorious for freezing. Now, I've got some badly scratched discs that will freeze, but I also make a point of researching my LDs before I buy, so maybe I just haven't encountered enough variety of rot.
Star Wars I am betting is the victim of rot based on what the LDDB listing said, but go ahead and look it over and try cleaning it if you have time. Also, if we do figure out that Future Boy Conan is definitely rotted, it would be a good idea to add it to the LDDB database, it is really lacking in anime titles (I would add some but I've been lucky so far). It's also a good idea to check that site before buying a new LD, pretty much every American movie is in it already with detailed listings.
I am also very jealous of greg's Falshback 2012 LD in the OP.
