Dear All,
This is part of my effort to bring the issues of DVD recordable
disc degradation/deterioration to the knowledge of everyone in the
world.
I have started off the effort in April of 2005 and it has been
almost a year now. Since that date, I have amassed a considerable
amount of information, from results of my own testing, to reports
of DVD recordable disc failures by other end users, research
studies by independent laboratories, foreign magazines, press and
media. All of the information could be found in the following
Central Database:
http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?t=991675
There is so much information in it that you could practically call
it a database. I will post references/links here in this thread
whenever I update the database with new information.
Sadly, the majority of the DVD recordable discs on the market are
not very reliable or durable. The lifespan or longevity of these
discs after burning is typically 2-3 years. In fact, this problem
is so critical that it has warranted research studies by the
National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Library of
Congress. NIST has been working with the industry and the user
community to develop a standard methodology for determining
archival quality grade discs. Due to this effort by the NIST and
the Library of Congress, some manufacturers have released Archival
Grade DVD Recordable Discs recently, though such discs are still
unproven.
Hence, please think twice before entrusting any important data to
DVD recordable discs, and do have secondary backups if possible.
For more information, please read the above-mentioned
database.
The dominant cause of disc failures in Singapore is high humidity,
though many other facts can also affect the longevity of dvd
recordable discs.
