Disposable DVDs
Sunday night when I watched Cloverfield it wasn’t a movie I rented from Blockbuster or Netflix. It was on DVD that I picked up at work as a No-Return Rental. The disc is made by a company called FlexPlay.
The unopened disc.
They play just like a normal disc but come in a sealed air tight package. Once you open the package you’ll be able to play the DVD for 48 hrs after that the disc will stop working.
The red side
Unlike a normal DVD the discs are red instead of the usual silver. The red is a dye that is in the adhesive that FlexPlay uses to seal the two halves of the disc together. What happens is the dye starts to oxidizes and after a while the laser will not be able to penetrate the dye layer rendering the disc unplayable.
Disc after one day
Its been over 48 hours since I opened the pack and the disc plays fine. The 48 hour time is most likely a minimum guaranteed time as you really can’t precisely time oxidization rates, and the discs do have a shelf life of year. I would guess that if the disc is older that the oxidization rate would be quicker.
Disc after two days
Now the downside to a disposable disc is the disposable part. The last thing the landfills need is a bunch more plastic in them. To help with that problem FlexPlay will give you a prepaid return label to send them the disc back so that they can recycle it. The problem is that you have to go to their website and request it. Wouldn’t it been smarter to simply include a label in the package?
Overall it’s an interesting concept. I wonder if it will take off or go the way of the original DIVX.
Queen's Gate Books
Noyamano Ringo
Genki I Textbook
Canon Wordtank
Comment from The Geek
Time 2008, June 25 : at 7:22 pm
Well the disc was working fine when I left for work this morning but this evening is has stopped. So got closer to 60 hours then 48 so not bad. Just don’t know if there is a market for it.