Are blu-rays really 'scratch proof'? (4 year old thread)

I seem to remember that blu-ray discs were said to be scratch proof or unscratchable back around when the PS3 came out. Is this remotely true? have any of you ever had a blu-ray disc become unreadable because of scratches?

Basically I want to know because I am really bad about putting my PS3 games back into their cases. I tend to just have a stack of discs for games that I am actively playing.

A stack of discs is fine, you have to really dig into a Blu-Ray with something sharp to scratch it. They're not scratch proof though, just scratch resistant.

They are more resistant to unreadable disks due to scratches compared to dvd's and CD's. You obviously could get a really deep scratch and it would screw it up, but you would have to put effort to get to that point.  
 
If I remember correctly there is a special coat on blu rays as well as the way the laser reads information that combines to make scratches harder to hinder the readability of your disks. 

I've heard they're more resistant to scratches than DVDs, but no disc is "scratch-proof". 

Revving up the chainsaw NOW!

I had one blu ray scratched where it skips. Someone gave me a blu ray disc of resident evil apocolypes. But I think there is like a special coating where it won't scratch to a point where it's not readable.

That is unthinkable to me. If a game is not in the machine it's in the box. I could not imagine ever taking such shitty care of something of mine, let alone something that costs as much as video games do.

@HitmanAgent47 said:

I had one blu ray scratched where it skips. Someone gave me a blu ray disc of resident evil apocolypes. But I think there is like a special coating where it won't scratch to a point where it's not readable.

There is a scratch-resistant coating and that's all...Blu-Ray Discs are far more scratch resistant than any previous disc-based media we've ever seen before such as DVD, CD, and Laserdisc, but they can still be scratched to the point where they are no longer usable.

At one point in the development cycle of Blu-Ray, they were going to come in cartridges, sort of like Sony's ill-fated MiniDisc. This was because the discs themselves at that point were so vulnerable to damage because the data layer is much closer to the surface of the disc than a DVD. This cartridge method proved to be extremely cost-ineffective, so the entire cartridge idea was scrapped and now each Blu-Ray manufacturer has their own proprietary hard surface coating.

The coating is only a polymer, so anything with a higher hardness of a polymer and applied with enough force can scratch your Blu-Rays. This includes your keys, almost anything metal, rocks, etc.

@Eaxis said:

I put my games in an old cd storage folder instead of taking them in and out of their box.

I do the EXACT same thing....takes up way less space, and I toss the game boxes and instruction manuals out at the first opportunity.

I started that practice when I cracked a brand new Xbox 360 game trying to get it out of it's case...cracked it right down the middle from the spindle outward. Never again!

@Eaxis said:

I put my games in an old cd storage folder instead of taking them in and out of their box.

I do the EXACT same thing....takes up way less space, and I toss the game boxes and instruction manuals out at the first opportunity.

I started that practice when I cracked a brand new Xbox 360 game trying to get it out of it's case...cracked it right down the middle from the spindle outward. Never again!

@TheGreatGuero: I'm buying the games, not the boxes and manuals which I never look at, read, or need in any way. I'm not a collector...I play games and this is the best way to play them. AND I have a live-in girlfriend now who would NOT appreciate hundreds of video game boxes on shelves all over the place. It works out all around.

That is unthinkable to me. If a game is not in the machine it's in the box. I could not imagine ever taking such shitty care of something of mine, let alone something that costs as much as video games do.

But they're so pretty! :( 
You know, I did do that same thing with all my PS1 games, but only my PS1 games. CD cases belong in the garbage. All they do is crack and break! And dude, PS1 games had black and white manuals, which was just not cool. 
 
Yeah, I have a whole lot of game cases stacked up, but I'm kind of a collector and typically love to keep the cases.

Well, before too long we won't have boxes or discs to worry about.

This thread is making me nauseous...

Well, before too long we won't have boxes or discs to worry about.

@TheGreatGuero: I'm thinking it will be the generation after next that we will see consoles without disc drives. Sony, Microsoft, et al have to wait until the majority of the population has broadband connections robust enough to support downloading and streaming of games and movies many gigabytes in size. We're nowhere near that point yet, even if the next two major consoles (Nintendo not included) come out in two or three years.