<font color='#8D38C9'>Highlander won't crap out you, you fool, it's
immortal!
Sorry, couldn't resist. I dunno about DVDs- the pits are much smaller, so on one hand it would take less of a scratch to damage them. But on the other hand, their error correction system is much more powerful and robust. And since pit size aside a CD & DVD utilize a very similar technology, I have to think the CD years have taught the disc makers enough about the problems & their solutions that they don't have to reinvent the wheel.
So far all of my 400 disc DVD collection works perfectly, but the DVD has a lot easier time of it than a typical CD. How many times will you watch a movie per year (okay, one that isn't "Highlander"
)? Sure a Disney one might get spun twice a day for awhile, but inevitably the kiddies will tire of it and move on to the next. Many movies in my collection have been watched only once (and a few not at all). Contrast this with a CD- you might play you favorite disc a couple times a day, especially when you first get it and are getting to know it. I shudder to think how many times the true classics in my collection get played (Priest, Maiden, XTC, Rush, Chris Isaak, Beach Boys, Johnny Cash). Of course, I have a lot of CD-Rs of my favorite songs, too. That probably saves some handling.
Likewise, back before I had a burner my CDs got played in the car a lot, and they got lent out and went to parties. Lots of people didn't handle them as carefully as I did- and back when I bought my first player I was a junior in HS and I didn't really treat the discs with the care I could have. In contrast, my movies never see a car or a disc changer. I very rarely lend one out, and then only to one or two guys I trust with them.
Have you gone thru a sampling of your older discs, A. Vivaldi? Maybe it's just my bad luck or the result of my youthful ignorance of proper disc care, but I have a fair number of pinholed discs. Now that I'm aware of this problems, I'm seeing it routinely in CDs I get at the used disc stores, too. A disc can be handled carefully, have no scratches, the art can be immaculate, yet you can hold it up to the sunlight and still see pinholes. I'm not sure how serious this is or how long it will take to render a disc unplayable, but I'm convinced it's a problem.
I'm curious to know if anyone else has seen much of this. Once you know to start looking for it you often find it a lot more than you'd think.</font>