ogden2k

I have a fairly large collection of DVD's that I've purchased over the years like many of you hear and thought to myself how long will the media hold up? I keep them vertical in their cases out of the sun, etc.

CaptainPiracy

Supposedly BURNED DVD's Last over 100 Years... soo... Pressed DVDs are only really susceptable to the Abuse of the owner... Hell.. You could always buy a TON of hard drive space and start Backing them all up.. Then if they go South you can replace them... Or.. Use the Backups and not the originals... It's gonna be interesting that's for sure... But.. We know they last longer than VHS... ... I think You're best bet though... if you wanna be REALLLLLLLLLY particular... build or buy a Humidor .... That'll keep them in a controlled environment.. No Drying out or anything... But still gotta worry about Disc Rot..
Here is a HUGE article about it.. LINKY!!!!


Hope this helps... DVD should be around for a while... I don't see HD DVD being anything but a novelty really... It's too expensive, and the average person.. just can't get it... but....... Regular ol' DVD's are EVERYWHERE and players are CHEAP!.. so.. VIVA LA DVD!

~CaptainPiracy

ogden2k

But what about DVDs you BUY from the store? I don't burn my movies, I have legal copies.

pmreed

ogden2k, those are what the Captain called Pressed DVDs. They should outlast you whatever your current age is.

CaptainPiracy

Read that article.. It discusses both burned and retail.. DVD Rot is when the Metalic Layer Corrodes and/or the layers seperate from the Discs.. This is due to SEVERAL issues and depends on the manufactuerer of the DVD's... it's a super interesting read... and it makes you look twice at your discs....

Retail is really no different from Burned except the added problem of possible DYE deteriation.

~ CaptainPiracy

ogden2k

Ah- I'll read the article in a bit, I should have re-read his post before replying in haste.

Looks like I'm getting mixed comments on how long they'll last. I just don't want to dump money into movies if they are not going to workin 10+ years down the road.

CaptainPiracy

http://www.foray.com/CDandDVDCareandHandlingGuide.pdf

That is from the NIST.. National Institute for Standards and Technology.. It was a document they posted for preservation of CD Media for Government institutions.. So.. That's the best way to handle your discs... at present.. you might find a better/more recent article on the NIST website, but I wasn't gonna go trudging through it...

~CaptainPiracy

Nebiroth

Commercial pressed discs - the sort you buy movies on - should last a long time. Most of the stories about discs failing can be traced back to a problem with the manufacture.

Consider the gigantic number of discs there are. If there was a widespread problem, we'd have heard a lot more about it by now.

These discs are very tough and resistant and are designed to last for a long, long time. Of course, anything is going to break if you abuse it, but treat them well and they'll be with you a long time.

I have working VHS tapes that are way over the predicted lifespan - because I treated them well.

Dr. Henry Jones, Jr.

mine have lasted for 10 years

critterdvd

I've read that commercial DVD have something like a 200 year lifespan (vs. 25 years like VHS tapes), but some of the older DVDs (like "Contact" and "Lost in Space") have already stopped working for mysterious reasons.

Nebiroth

Most of those are down to a manufacture error - a lot of the early discs were manufactured by WAMO (Warner Advanced Media Operations). Many studios used them to make their discs. The problem is known, and is limited to dual-layer discs.

Even so, only a minority of them are affected.

matome

cultshock

I have DVDs that are nearly 10 years old (and CDs that are over 20 years old, VHS tapes that are over 25 years old) and they still play fine. As mentioned, the only issues should be with those dual layer discs that had a manufacturing error that caused the discs to degrade over time (eg. my AB "Frankenstein Created Woman" is toast).

Someone mentioned that burned DVDs should last over 100 years. Now that I find hard to believe (but I won't be here at that point, so it doesn't really matter ). Then again, in 100 years, how many machines will exist that can even play DVDs? (not many people have something that can play the old music cylinders from 100 or so years ago. And technology is moving at ever faster rates, so who knows what will be around 100 years from now).

gutwrencher

Damn....I HATE when people use this fucking word, rot. Nothing is rotting. This has confused many over the years and whomever came up with the term is a jackass.

Ginwen

I have one of those, it's pretty cool.

I'm 44. Most of my records still play fine (and they are not even as robust as DVDs). Same with my videos and CDs. I don't see any reason most of my DVDs won't outlast me.