DVD Media Quality - Archival Grade?

[danacasto]

I've started doing some research on the quality of DVD media for long-term storage. Of the information that I have been able to find, there seems to be conflicting opinions about the validity of  media that is labeled "archival grade." Some folks are saying that there is a definite difference and others are saying the exact opposite. In all honesty, it's been hard to find a valid opinion by someone with known credibility in this area.

I am wondering if anyone on the forum could point me in the direction of a source for reliable (or is a source them self) and straightforward advice on the topic of DVD media quality and the validity of archival grade media.

Thanks.

[Ray]

I've started doing some research on the quality of DVD media for long-term storage. Of the information that I have been able to find, there seems to be conflicting opinions about the validity of  media that is labeled "archival grade." Some folks are saying that there is a definite difference and others are saying the exact opposite. In all honesty, it's been hard to find a valid opinion by someone with known credibility in this area.

I am wondering if anyone on the forum could point me in the direction of a source for reliable (or is a source them self) and straightforward advice on the topic of DVD media quality and the validity of archival grade media.

Thanks.
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I haven't got the link to a source on the laptop I'm currently on, but having done some research on this matter, it seems there are so many variables that may contribute to eventual loss of data on DVD discs, the effect of any additional claims of archival quality of the blank disc can be uncertain. Remember, the DVD format itself is supposed to be archival.

Logic would suggest that anything being sold as having additional archival qualities would be safer and at least have the potential to last longer and be more resistant to degradation. But manufacturers or the third party wholesalers of blank discs know that this is what you will think and it's very easy to stick a label on a disc that claims some super-protective coating or super-stable dyes.

It seems that everyone has a different experience regarding the longevity of recorded CDs and DVDs. Mine is very positive. The quality of my blank discs range from Kodak Gold to complete unknown brands where it's difficult to even tell one side of the disc from the other and one has to squint at the number around the centre hole to determine which side up.

All my problems with unreadable discs have all, without exception, been due to either a failure of initial recording or an incompatibility between one recorder and another or an inability of a drive to read a particular format. That's after 14 years of recording to optical media, although during the first couple of years my discs were recorded by Kodak on their PhotoCD system.

I wouldn't worry about it. Just make sure your disc is properly recorded and the data verified after recording. I've found it sometimes helps to record at a slower than maximum speed. The current blank DVDs I'm using with my laptop attempt to record at 8x. After getting a few failed recordings at this speed I made a point of dropping the speed down to 4x and have not had one failure since.

[laughfta]

I attended an Adobe conference a few years ago in which Seth Resnick was describing a Library of Congress study that found high rates of failure among their digital media. That study may still be ongoing, but here is another reference to the problem:
standards and longevity
And here is one of the Library of Congress links: Library of Congress study

I can't get the link to work on the longevity pdf, but there are many such links when searching  "longevity" and "Library of Congress".

[azmike]

I use "Gold DVD-R Archive Grade" from MAM-A in Colorado Springs (www.mam-a.com ) They are the (only?) manufacturers of gold reflective layer CDs and DVDs. Perhaps other brand gold dvds are MAM-A rebranded.

Not cheap, but do you really want low bid for your archived work?

Not only is MAM-A the manufacturer, their customer support is a real live, knowledgeable person that answers the phone (in my case, my original drive recorded poorly and Joe at MAM-A straightforwardly suggested a brand/model of DVD drive that worked flawlessly.....the kind of advice you need and appreciate).

Mike Coffey

[nubins]

I have been a DVD author for 10 years and been through all the major manufactures with various results. The most reliable brands I have found to be:

Taiyo Yuden: Recommended by Sonic Solutions (the DVD software company)

Verbatim

Taiyo Yuden is the best but a little know name. I have used this brand since 2002 and never had a DVD-R that was not readable on a DVD-player or computer DVD drive.

Just make sure to handle all your DVD's with care. Scratches or dirt ground into the disc can make parts of you DVD unrecoverable even after a though cleaning.