Re: OT: CD/DVD Life Expectancy

Eric "Shubes" wrote:
> FWIW
> As I was reading the "Linux Cookbook" (O'Reilly), I was surprised to see
> the author state "I wouldn't count on home-burned CDs/DVDs for longer
> than two years". Not good news.
>
> I googled, and found this piece interesting:
> http://web.ukonline.co.uk/suttonelms/articles9.html
>

There is some Library of Congress PDF that details what media and how
these CDx/DVDx are to be prepared for archival purposes. I read it when
they released it and I can't seem to find it and the site seems to be
down for search at the moment.

It gets pretty technical but the just of it is :
A) Don't use adhesive labels - eats away at the media over time
B) When you write on a media, use the proper ink - same as above
C) Burn at the slowest speed - the dye will fade over time on faster burns
D) Keep out of extreme conditions - Well, duh


I also did some research on the DVDx media types to find out the
different types of media adn which ones are the best for what players
etc... and was pretty amazed to find out how these things are manufactured.

Pretty much, the media is manufactured in a layered format with the dye
laid on the center. The media is then spun to evenly spread out the
dye. The dye that doesn't make it to the end is either trashed or sold
to discount resellers (I'm sure you've seen those cheap media with no
name and no logo [the Compact DISC or DVD logo]. I bought 100 of them
for a buck a piece 7 years ago)

It's pretty neat stuff and amazing that it works at all especially with
dual layer DVD. Can't wait to see how holographic DVD goes (1+ TB of
storage).

Roxio has a page on the manufacturing process:
http://www.roxio.com/en/support/discs/cdrmfg.html
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