Are really pinholes signs of disc rot? + Possible delamination?
I have found one pinhole in some of my discs, from Xbox 360 to Wii U to PS4 games, they are visible from label side and reflective side.
The strange case it's that the last 2 games that I have beat (Mario 3D World and Bloodborne) have them, and I haven't noticed anything during the gameplay.
Can it get worse at a point to make them not readable or it's just a myth?
Edit: Some photos of strange cases
Can anyone confirm if they have disc rot or early signs?
Mass Effect 2
Horizon Zero Dawn
Bayonetta Wii U pinhole
Bloodborne pinhole
Best Answer
I don't believe that is "rot" like that, unless you live in a zone with extreme temperatures. Those little holes are more like some impacts or damage on the top of the disk, (not the reflective side). De-lamination sounds more accurate.
But depending where is the damage it may not have any consequence on your disks:
As example: your "Mass Effect 2" or your "Horizon Zero Dawn" will be fine as the damage is in the internal part of the disk and the laser didn't read that section.
Your "Bayonetta Wii U" it's a different story... As you can see the hole is in the writable sector of the disk, so when the laser passes for that hole It will find no data written, only the acrylic.
In the last case you may start the game and get some progress, but at some point the game will freeze or crash as there is some "lost code" in that hole.
Even though the life cycle of any disk is not eternal, it could be up to 15 years or more if you take care of them. The recommendation for that is to store your disks always on the case, free of dust, never clean it with any aggressive cleaner, and keep it in a fresh and dry zone.
Pictures about "Are really pinholes signs of disc rot? + Possible delamination?"
How do you check for disc rot?
Signs of disc rot On CDs, the rot becomes visually noticeable in two ways: When the CD is held up to a strong light, light shines through several pin-prick-sized holes. Discoloration of the disc, which looks like a coffee stain on the disc. See also CD bronzing.Is disc rot preventable?
Can I Prevent Disc Rot? Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a surefire way to prevent disc rot due to many instances appearing due to manufacturing faults. However, proper care will help from exacerbating the problem, and it's a timely reminder that your discs are by no means indestructible.See-through holes in CDs are NOT \
More answers regarding are really pinholes signs of disc rot? + Possible delamination?
Answer 2
It could be, as Wikipedia states:
On CDs, the rot becomes visually noticeable in two ways:
When the CD is held up to a strong light, light shines through several pin-prick-sized holes.
Discoloration of the disc, which looks like a coffee stain on the disc. See also CD bronzing.
Anyway, it's not always a sign of aluminium corrosion, according to this thread:
Pinholes were there as they left the manufacturing plant. They don't appear later.
So it could be just something production-related, this was true for most early 90's CDs:
The electo-plating wasn't very consistent in the production methods of the early 90's, so it was actually possible to purchase a brand new CD/CD-ROM and find pin-holes visible through the metallic layer where the disc authoring/"printing" laser literally vaporized parts of the metallic layer during production, which of course meant there was no data where those pinholes were for your CD player/PC/game system to be able to read
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