Talk:Flexplay

Does Flexplay comply with DVD standards?
I queried Flexplay directly on this. I asked specifically whether Flexplay discs are compliant with the DVD Forum specifications for DVDs, and noted that the absence of the registered DVD logo on their site suggests that they are not. I asked whether Flexplay discs can properly be called DVDs. I received this reply:


 * Thank you for your interest in Flexplay, the 48-Hour, No Return DVD?.


 * Flexplay DVDs are produced to be readable in DVD players adhering to DVD Forum specifications. You can identify a Flexplay DVD through the registered Flexplay logo on the disc and its packaging.


 * Again, thank you for your interest and please stay tuned to flexplay.com for the latest news and information.


 * Sincerely,
 * Kate Solley
 * Flexplay Business Development

This answer clearly _fails_ to say that the discs themselves are compliant with the DVD Forum specifications. And I read it to say that Flexplay discs contain a "registered Flexplay logo" rather than a DVD logo. Accordingly, I'm revising the article text to say "Flexplay says that its discs are produced to be fully readable in standard DVD players. However, technically they are not DVDs as they do not comply with the DVD Forum specifications for a DVD, and do not bear the registered DVD logo."

Maybe, maybe not...
In regard to the earlier comment, I'm concerned that the author would take the lack of an affirmative to therefore mean a negative. It's like saying that because my car doesn't actually have "C A R" stamped across it it's therefore not a car.

Without affirmative guidance that these discs do not comply with the DVD standards, I'm editing to remove that line from the text.


 * Wordsmithed and reinserted. This is an important point. The discs do not bear the DVD logo, and that was confirmed by the company. I now present the company's own words on this matter. Readers can decide for themselves whether or not "designed to be readable in DVD players adhering to DVD Forum standards" means the same thing as "adheres to DVD Forum standards." This is an important point. The industry sets standards so that consumers can be assured that CDs will play in CD players, DVDs will play in DVD players, and companies like Flexplay undermine this by producing products that only work in players that have enough tolerance to accommodate out-of-spec discs. Dpbsmith (talk) 13:39, 1 Apr 2005 (UTC)

What's the point?
If the discs can be read by any standard DVD player, then they can be copied by any standard DVD drive. Did they not make any attempt to prevent this? 65.95.157.80 22:43, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

I use only Verbatim media that's rated for 100 years and find these purposely fragile disks deeply amoral. But so is also Wikipedia with the policy for extemely poor quality pictures for which the fair use rationale take up more space than the graphic itself. --  J7n (talk) 23:49, 11 June 2008 (UTC)


 * I think you're missing the point. These things are targeted at people who don't want to mess with taking movies back or dealing with the lengthy hassle it is to join a movie club (for example...lacking a credit card). Granted $4.99 is a bit more than the average movie rental, for the fact you can watch it and just toss it, it's worth the extra dollar convience. As far as copying them...yes, they can be copied by a standard DVD-R drive with the same applications you do for a retail disc. Now, there technically isn't much they could do to prevent this. The disc, while it itself doesn't comply with DVD specs becuase it's red and not of the exact construction to fit standards...however, the data on the disc itself complies to dvd-specifications..because it's designed to be played in DVD players. There really wasn't much they could do to prevent disc copying...the disc has to be physically read by a standard DVD player and can't break the format much more than it has with the physical disc. Attempts were made to prevent copying of DVd's in general, with things like encryption..but the encryption was broken. It should also be noted FlexPlay discs are not just time limited copies of retail discs...they are reauthored by flexplay and generally contain just the movie with subtitles and all the audio options, no special features or extras, but a huge amount of trailers. In the case of SemiPro, the disc was authored with DVDAfterEdit. It reads like a standard DVD, therefore, it's copyable. Dewdude (talk) 00:13, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Freezer Burn?
Effects of freezing the disc to prolong it?

effects of a hot dvd player degrading it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mix Bouda-Lycaon (talk • contribs) 19:05, 30 March 2008 (UTC)


 * I'm not sure about the effects of temperature on the disc...I bought one on Saturday, June 28th. I opened it at around 0130 EST Sunday morning and stuck it in my DVD-Rom to extract the data. The disc was exposed to about 30 minutes of spin and then was placed back in the original plastic wrapper and back in the carboard sleeve because, I didn't need the disc anymore really. It's currently around 2017EST on July 1st and the disc is playable, a bit beyond it's 48-hour limit. The next disc I buy I will expose it to temperature extremes and examine it's behavior...but I do believe it's not just the oxygen..there's something that accelerates it. Dewdude (talk) 00:19, 2 July 2008 (UTC)


 * I'm back with more odd FlexPlay noticings. I recently picked up Tropic Thunder and, after opening it and having it out for about an hour, I placed it back in it's case but stuck it in the freezer. I forgot about it for a little over a week. I removed the disc from the freezer and after a 10 minute warm up period, put it in my player which had no problem playing it. I will say that this disc did not have the same red coating my other disc did. I suspect that either freezing slows the chemical process or I may have gotten a "defective" disc that doesn't have the self destructing layer. Dewdude (talk) 23:50, 5 January 2009 (UTC)


 * My copy of Tropic Thunder was "defective", if you want to call it that. Technically, the disc is supposed to self-destruct after two days, but it did not, which makes it "defective", but defective in a way that works to my advantage. I can keep that disc. I picked up 4 other movies that have been chilling in my freezer for the last few months. I'm about to go on a trip so, I will likely rip them to my laptop and stick them back in the freezer, finding out how they survive. Dewdude (talk) 22:48, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

Environmental Impact
There should be a section on what the environmental impact would be if these things actually catch on. It seems to me that adding a disc created primarily out of polymerized bisphenol-A to the environment every single time someone views a movie might eventually pose a problem.Zaphraud (talk) 19:08, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

What movies?
How about a section that lists all the movies/programs that were released on Flexplay DVDs and when they were released?

Other than the few titles mentioned in this Talk section, I only know of four other titles - - -
 * Open Range (which I have)
 * Undisputed {listed on the back of my Open Range packaging}
 * Cold Creek Manor {also listed on the back of the packaging}
 * Under The Tuscan Sun {also listed on the back}

So, what do all of you think about including a section or list of the movies released in this format? 2600:8800:786:A300:C23F:D5FF:FEC4:D51D (talk) 04:34, 18 February 2018 (UTC)

using blue lasers
The claim in order to protect the expired discs from being read in next-generation players using blue lasers, for which the oxidized blue-color layer is essentially transparent is, to the best of my knowledge technically wrong, and obviously not covered by the source given. In https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_disc#Physical_details (... "that the part of the light reflected from its peak is 1/2 wavelength out of phase with the light reflected from the land around it. This causes partial cancellation of the laser's reflection from the surface") obviously only works with the correct laser wavelength matching the pit depth of the disc being read, and here's a refence (http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/Blu-ray/site1/diode.html) showing 3 different diodes integrated in a blu ray player, so that the player can read CDs and DVDs at all.

Does anyone have any evidence at all that specifically using blue dye was intended to prevent reading in a blu ray player? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.78.231.251 (talk) 11:30, 20 October 2021 (UTC)