Archival Grade DVDs (that actually last)

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Archival Grade DVDs (that actually last)

Concern has been expressed in these forums about the longevity of DVD storage. Many of us have spent considerable time converting our old VHS and 8mm family tapes to DVD for posterity (= so our grandchildren can see how we were. This is supposed to be a good thing).

I am attracted to a recent offering from Verbatim: Archival Grade DVD. Whilst they don't say so on their website:

http://www.verbatim.com/optical/archival/

the outlets that sell them market them as 'able to last 100 years'. None of us will be able to put that to the test, but clearly these DVDs are intended for long term secure storage. Note that they are for max 8x burn speed.

Here in the UK, where they have only recently appeared, they cost about 3-4 times as much as the standard Verbatim DVD-R, but if their claims are true, well worth it, at around £1 ($2) a disk.

I have nothing to do with Verbatim, will not receive any reward for bringing this to your attention, and no animals were hurt in the making of this post.

But I just thought you would like to know!

20" 2.1GHz iSight iMac G5, 250GB HD, 1.5GB RAM, Mac OS X (10.4.8), iLife 6.0.3, Toast 7.1.2, iTunes 7.0.2, QTPro 7.1.3

Posted on Feb 25, 2007 3:48 PM

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Answer 1

SDMacuser

Level 6

13,585 points

Feb 25, 2007 4:05 PM in response to Klaus1

they cost about 3-4 times as much as the standard Verbatim DVD-R ....

And worth every cent!

Thank you for this info.

(3) G4 PM's/(3) S-Drives/Sony TRV900/Nikons/6FWHD's/PS7/iLife06/FCPHD/DVDSP/etc. Mac OS X (10.4.8) My ichatav AIM account is: SDMacuser1 (Please use Text chat prior to video)

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Answer 2

F Shippey

Level 7

21,500 points

Feb 25, 2007 6:27 PM in response to Klaus1

Delkin ( http://www.delkin.com or http://www.archivalgold.com ) sells Archival Gold eFilm DVD-R discs as 'The 100 Year Disc'. They are rated at 4x. (They also offer a 'Scratch Armor' anti-scratch coating vesion.)

Note that of course there is no guarantee that in 100 years anyone will have a reader for such discs. See Image Archiving - digital imaging's 'dirty little secret'.

F Shippey

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Answer 3

Feb 25, 2007 10:42 PM in response to F Shippey

@Klaus: thanks for that info...

@Fred: have you any 'inside' info aside the usual marketing lingo of these companies...?
I've read your website, nice read 😉, some historians go even further, claiming, we are living in a Dark Age, 'cause future generations will not find a 'bit' of info of this period... (clay boards, pergament, linen paper, now 'delete key'... )... Stephen King made a gift to some university with his 'floppies', so they store a 'manuscriptum' ... unreadable yet...

... how do these companies test '100 years'? do I have to store such disks in plain dark (it is a basicly 'fotografic' process, in my humble understanding..) ?

... besides: nice pics on your website... (<<bad, internal joke.. scnr) ;))

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Answer 4

Feb 25, 2007 11:27 PM in response to Klaus1

Why would anyone want to keep something for a hundred years? My mom just turned 80 last year and she's seen things change from living in a house with no electricity, no running water, no TV, movies being played on a large sheet hung between two trees to 8 tracks, cassettes, VHS vs Beta, LPs, 45s, CDs, MP3 players, TV programs broadcast in black and white and now color, eetc. In another 80s years, who's to say that there will be anything that will play a DVD? OUr children will probabaly have to convert the DVDs to something new, just as we have to convert film footage and VHS footage to digital formats.

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Answer 5

Klaus1 Author

Level 9

52,879 points

Feb 26, 2007 3:16 AM in response to F Shippey

Note that of course there is no guarantee that in 100 years anyone will have a reader for such discs

A very valid point Fred, but my theory is that once it's digital it can be converted into whatever is used in the future. Holograms? 🙂

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Answer 6

Feb 26, 2007 5:29 AM in response to Sunny's mommy

Why would anyone want to keep something for a hundred years?

Mom,

I mostly recommend to read Fred's article about 'Image Archiving' ....
I can 'read' the fotos of my Grandma from Shanghai... with my own eyes, and older then a 100 years... we definitely live in a future 'lost aera' ... just google a little about the topic NASA's datas form the very first Mars explorations... zillions of bits, nobody can decypher... storage on disks (floppies, 3.5", cd-r, dvd-r, BR, ...) is a dilemma ... and my very first, homebrewn dvd-rs got 'broken' due to simply sunlight.. gone forever....- (that why I keep the tapes...)

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Answer 7

F Shippey

Level 7

21,500 points

Feb 26, 2007 7:53 AM in response to Karsten Schlüter

.. how do these companies test '100 years'? do I have to store such disks in plain dark (it is a basicly 'fotografic' process, in my humble understanding..) ?

They do accelerated testing at elevated temperatures and then use an Arrhenius law extrapolation to estimate the storage life at lower temperatures.

F Shippey

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Answer 8

SDMacuser

Level 6

13,585 points

Feb 26, 2007 9:16 AM in response to Klaus1

theory is that once it's digital it can be converted into whatever is used in the future. Holograms?

Klaus,

I agree with you 100%. In the future we will be able to use this digital data provided the data remains intact to start with. There are many factors that can influence the readability of a DVD-R over time. A few of us have already experienced what low levels of organic dyes do to a standard disc. Essentially the lack of these dyes can make the disc unreadable in as little time as a few months. Been there, done that. That's why it's imperative to use high quality archival media as you pointed out above. I will gladly pay this price for preserving these memories, and once again thank you for providing us with the above information.

(3) G4 PM's/(3) S-Drives/Sony TRV900/Nikons/6FWHD's/PS7/iLife06/FCPHD/DVDSP/etc. Mac OS X (10.4.8) My ichatav AIM account is: SDMacuser1 (Please use Text chat prior to video)

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Answer 9

Klaus1 Author

Level 9

52,879 points

Feb 26, 2007 9:40 AM in response to SDMacuser

SD

And I agree with you 100%, to the extent that I am now tempted to copy the 40 odd DVDs I made covering 20 years of family videos onto this new archival media.

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Answer 10

F Shippey

Level 7

21,500 points

Feb 26, 2007 9:52 AM in response to F Shippey

Over the past several years I've been working with the I3A (International Imaging Industry Association) on the issue of digital image archiving. One of the things the I3A has done to try and educate consumers about digital imaging archiving issues is establish a new website at http://www.savemymemories.org/

Check it out.

F Shippey

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Answer 11

Feb 26, 2007 10:42 AM in response to Klaus1

When I started to make DVDs about 5 years ago, I made a few using a cheap brand DVD. Recently, I found that my Apple or home DVD players would no longer play the cheap brand DVD. BUT, I was able to make a copy of it and burn it to a name brand DVD from which I can now watch the movie.

So, if you continue to copy your DVD to brand name DVDs every couple of years, you'll always have a good copy. Plus, as technology advances, you can upgrade your digital copy to the newest standard.

I still have documents I created in 1986 with my Atari 1040 computer because I kept importing the documents to the current technology.

Just some food for thought.

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Answer 12

SDIllini

Level 6

16,675 points

Feb 26, 2007 10:52 AM in response to F Shippey

Fred:

Ah, the old "Arrhenius law extrapolation"...should have known..

;)Sue

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Answer 13

Klaus1 Author

Level 9

52,879 points

Feb 26, 2007 2:19 PM in response to Milton Laughland

Thanks Milton, that's useful to know. 🙂

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Answer 14

Kjolner

Level 2

354 points

Feb 26, 2007 5:39 PM in response to Milton Laughland

When I started to make DVDs about 5 years ago, I made
a few using a cheap brand DVD. Recently, I found
that my Apple or home DVD players would no longer
play the cheap brand DVD. BUT, I was able to make a
copy of it and burn it to a name brand DVD from which
I can now watch the movie.

So, if you continue to copy your DVD to brand name
DVDs every couple of years, you'll always have a good
copy. Plus, as technology advances, you can upgrade
your digital copy to the newest standard.

I still have documents I created in 1986 with my
Atari 1040 computer because I kept importing the
documents to the current technology.

Just some food for thought.

Is it not better to save to a harddisc as a -img? the new tec of new hardiscs is a constant as a archival medium and then burn with whatever media avilbel in 100 years! Imagine the tehc, Redpanda OSX vers 50.5.0 holodeck Cristmas eve 2007! guests>yourself hosts <your great grandkids Things can only get cooler...The one who lives will see!
For now go with tiger soon leopard!
Ivar....

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Answer 15

Feb 26, 2007 6:41 PM in response to Kjolner

Making an image file is another way to archive and is probably the easiest. We must make sure, however, that we have current technology to transfer to new technology.

For example, I needed my Atari computer to export my text files to WordPerfect 15 years ago.

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