Just thought I would make a quick post about this for those of you that are either wondering or where unaware about dvd-r media lifespan. Appologies if it is old news, which I am sure it will be for many. The main reason is that I have noticed that peoples main reason for making dvd's is to transfer video footage or camcorder footage presumably for archieving.
First of all dvd-r's use organic dye, which is burnt with the laser to to make patches of light and dark colour, this emulated the actual pits of a normal pressed dvd (retail dvd's). When they are read by a dvd laser it see's the dark patches in the same way it sees the pits in a dvd (which would obviously appear darker as they are in effect holes).
Since the dye is organic based it degrades. At what speed depends on three factors. The quality of the media, the quality of the burn and the conditions it is kept in. They should be kept out of sunlight and away from extremes in temperature and humidity.
Now cheap dvdr's can degrade to the point where they are unreadable within a matter of months! even when stored carefully and correctly. The life time of quality media such a verbatim should be much longer but the exact lifespan is still unknown, allthough I would expect it to be in line with the 100 years a good cd will get. The average media will probably only last 2 or 3 years.
So if you are making archiev footage DON'T skimp on the disks. The extra 50p will really be worth it! For the record I would say verbatim would be the safest bet at a reasonable price (about £1.80 each). And not the spindle verbatim which use a different dye from the single jewel case variety. Im not saying don't use cheap media at all, as it is really all i use, just if you want the recordings to last avoid it.
First of all dvd-r's use organic dye, which is burnt with the laser to to make patches of light and dark colour, this emulated the actual pits of a normal pressed dvd (retail dvd's). When they are read by a dvd laser it see's the dark patches in the same way it sees the pits in a dvd (which would obviously appear darker as they are in effect holes).
Since the dye is organic based it degrades. At what speed depends on three factors. The quality of the media, the quality of the burn and the conditions it is kept in. They should be kept out of sunlight and away from extremes in temperature and humidity.
Now cheap dvdr's can degrade to the point where they are unreadable within a matter of months! even when stored carefully and correctly. The life time of quality media such a verbatim should be much longer but the exact lifespan is still unknown, allthough I would expect it to be in line with the 100 years a good cd will get. The average media will probably only last 2 or 3 years.
So if you are making archiev footage DON'T skimp on the disks. The extra 50p will really be worth it! For the record I would say verbatim would be the safest bet at a reasonable price (about £1.80 each). And not the spindle verbatim which use a different dye from the single jewel case variety. Im not saying don't use cheap media at all, as it is really all i use, just if you want the recordings to last avoid it.