How Long Will DVD's Last?
 

I would think they would eventually breakdown like some laserdiscs. Any theories on longevity? This really applies to audio cd's as well. A friend told me a couple of his cd's broke down and oxidized. Thank's!!!

--Tom

I hope not.

<shrug>

I never had a laserdisc breakdown in all the years I owned them. I still have some of the first cd's I ever bought more than 20 years ago, they are fine. I have all the dvd's I have ever bought some of them are nearly 10 years old and are fine.

I think alot has to do with the way they are stored and where they are stored.

You have an excellent point about how it will depend on the care of your DVDs. I have switched over to closed cabinets to hopefully prolong life of my discs although it may not matter. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

Yeah, some LDs 'rotted', but it was largely due to poor manufacturing, and it usually surfaced within the first few years of purchase. The Sony plant in particular had a pretty notorious phase in the mid-90s where everything was failing. (After about a dozen tries, I gave up trying to find a working copy of Dolores Claborne with all 3 sides rot-free... the Sony plant was EVIL.)

I'm not aware of anyone having an LD rot in the past few years. Basically, if they've made it this far, they're fine. I have Discovision titles from 1978 that still play perfectly.

I'm sure that there is some upper limit to how long CD/DVD media will last. But I suspect that the timeframe is well beyond our lifetimes. You can feel comfortable leaving your collection to your grandchildren in your will. (Just pull out the porn.)