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Interested in Archiving on DVD
Having recently started getting into the whole arena of DVD production and duplication, we are looking to find a definitive answer regarding the archival quality of the DVD masters we are creating. I have searched up and down on the net, and I have found a variety of answers, ranging from 3 years to 100 years. So my question is basically twofold. One, do you need to ‘gold master’ or ‘glass master’ a dvd for the best archival quality, or will ordinary DVD-R’s suffice? Secondly, is there a brand or type (+R, -R, RW, etc.) that provides the best lasting quality for keeping these things around for a little while. I understand of course that hard drive backup is the most desireable, but I hoping that all these DVD masters I have created have at least a little time on the shelf before they all begin rotting. Any help, or websites that people can point me two would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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2 Replies
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I’m sure that someone will advise you with regard to your DVD query soon. In the meantime, FYI I had the good fortune to talk to a long time employee from Technicolor
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I don’t understand what you mean by gold or glass mastering for archival storage. A glass master is the mother master used to create the stampers for DVD replication. They are quite expensive to manufacture (we charge around $1,000 per layer), and they don’t fit into your DVD drive/player. They are used in a variety of industrial molding and stamping equipment.
The Llibrary of Congress is doing archival storage using MAM archival quality DVD-R stock, and these are generally thought to be good for 100 years. (I have no idea how they figure out the life of the storage medium!)
It’s also important to store DVDs where they will not be affected by temperature & humidity extremes.
Bill Stephan
Senior Editor/DVD Author
USA Studios
New York City
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