Re: OT -- good DVD/R for storing movies

On Thu, 31 May 2007 18:35:16 +0000 (UTC), stan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <stan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Ignoramus17636 <ignoramus17636@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
: We have about a dozen Hi-8 video cassettes that I would like to
: digitize and save on DVDs (using dvgrab or kino). I will hate a
: possibility that due to data corruption/degradation of the media, I
: would lose those films.

: So, I am looking for suggestions for particularly reliable DVD media,
: or some pointers to discussions about long term reliability
: thereof. Thanks

A major and very interesting issue. First writeable DVD's
are NOT archival quality. But it really depends upon how
important your data is and how long you need to keep it.

I would say, I would take about $100 or $200 in exchange for losing
any one of them. They are not great, just homemade films, mostly of
our kids. We have plenty of photos also, archived separately.

I'd guess that your videos aren't valuable enough for you to
invest in archival-quality storage, so would suggest that
you take the practical approach:

2 or more rotating generations of media, refreshed semi-regularly
like maybe every 3-5 years

If using writeable DVD's be sure to store them in relatively
cool and dry conditions and -importantly- in the dark
and they should last fairly long.

A second issue with any digital media though is longterm
access. If you look out 20 years it may be very challenging
to find a means of accessing your DVD's. How much work
would it take you- for instance- to read an 8" floppy?

Yes, though I expect DVDs to last a long time.

Rotating them every so many years is acceptable.

That's one of the reasons for media refresh.

Obviously make sure that as you do the refresh the
data isn't corrupted.

And- keep those tapes stored carefully so that someday you could
digitize them again if you lose your digital media.

For me- well- I tend to preserve my digital video content as
editable files like MPEG's rather than written DVD's-- and
then just treat them like any other data. One can always author
DVD's or there successors at some time in the future given
the MPEG.

My plan was to write MPEGs to DVDs, not to create DVD disks like with
commercial movies.

i
.

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