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  1. Member
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    Not sure what forum category this falls under but I was wondering what the benefits are to archiving DV and HDV footage to tapes? I am currently archiving the final video to DVD...

    Here is what I came up with so far:
    - Higher quality compared to DVD
    - Longer shelf life
    - Small storage size

    Any others???
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  2. Banned
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    Originally Posted by bdr13278
    - Longer shelf life
    I'm curious as to what your basis for this conclusion is. If you use the best quality DVDs and properly take care of them, they should outlast any tapes. Tapes are horrible choices for longevity.

    Do note that nobody really knows what the longevity of dual layer consumer burnable DVDs will be and while the best single layer DVDs properly cared for may last 80+ years (I've seen some claims about this), nobody really knows if dual layer discs will last that long or have significantly shorter life spans.

    Have you considered archiving your DV tapes as is to hard disks? That might be an excellent long term storage solution for you.
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    Thanks for responding jman98. I have also heard that if DVDs are taken care of they will last 80+ years. However, DVDs haven't even been around 20 years so how do we know if they will last that long? Besides, they are probably basing their claims in a sterile lab environment under their testing procedures right?

    I was doing some research and saw some people saying that MiniDV tapes will last around 15-20 years. Which is probably true because VHS tapes will most likely last that long too. Hard drives are another option but those could fail too... but might last longer than DVDs or Tapes... point well taken!
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  4. Member edDV's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by bdr13278
    I was doing some research and saw some people saying that MiniDV tapes will last around 15-20 years. Which is probably true because VHS tapes will most likely last that long too. Hard drives are another option but those could fail too... but might last longer than DVDs or Tapes... point well taken!
    Most gov't, libraries and businesses still rely on magnetic tape for long term backups but they also provide proper storage conditions. For home use, it is a good idea to backup your tape backups after 10-15 years. Digtal tapes will outlast analog since degraded signal to noise still can be recovered 100%. Downside is you need to maintan a playback deck.

    Nobody really knows how long die based CDR and DVDR will last.
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  5. Member
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    Originally Posted by bdr13278
    I was doing some research and saw some people saying that MiniDV tapes will last around 15-20 years. Which is probably true because VHS tapes will most likely last that long too.
    I have many VHS tapes (from camcorder) which are more 20 years old and still play without any problem using the VCR. If the Hi8 and minidv tapes are made 'similarly' as the VHS tapes, they could last as long. Problem is how long the players for these tapes will last. I already threw away one VHS, two Hi8 and one minidv camcorders because fixing them will cost me a fortune. At least, VCRs still exists. But Hi8 and minidv players?
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  6. Have to agree with edDV (as ever!)

    I have MiniDV tapes that I recorded in 1998. They play just fine. One of them is a series of clips edited down from about 8 tapes. I must have played that tape at least 30 times (I use it for testing software) and have yet to see one dropout.

    I have VHS tapes that are at least a quarter of a century old and some audio ones, too. No problems with either. My Video8 and Hi8 tapes have no problems.

    Regarding archiving, to me it should be an *exact* copy. All of my tapes will fit on a 1TB hard drive. I keep all the original tapes.
    John Miller
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  7. Member vhelp's Avatar
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    Personally, I don't see anything wrong with keeping the tapes, whatever format..VHS included. I've seen in many passages here on this board where members would say .. "after I copied them to dvd, I threw out tapes" .. for whatever the reasons. Wrong, wrong, wrong. But then again, some people don't care and/or just don't realize the quality hit they were getting back then. By "then" , I mean a few years ago or more, when VCD, SVCD, and DVD -to- VHS transfer or conversion to (whatever (loose) terms for this people used back then) were in the spotlight.

    Now, those that threw out their tapes are stuck with their demise or louzy conversions. Oh well..its just as well

    I have lots of vhs tapes everywhere..from closets to scattered around my living room and tv area. And many were recorded to tape and never played, yet. I suppose some day I will get to those, but I'm in no rush. This trend moves so quickly that its sort of hard to enjoy your labours works. Anyway.

    I think that the problem that many people faced (during their attempts at transfering or vhs->dvd) have to do with the vcr it was originally recorded from and whether or not they still have that vcr, else, the problems they tipically have been faced with are those issues that often plauged this forum board over the years. That, plus the careless storage of these tapes.

    The other issue has to do with how many vcr's implayed damange to the tapes while they play: the heads were prob dirty all the time or faulty in their various ways. So all these were partly the cause of the vhs->dvd "quality" failures or issues that cause the parts of the transfer (the analog capturing) to faulter, also, in their various ways: drop outs; curling; taring; color fading or shifting; etc.

    The other issue with maintaining tape quality (at the capture level) has to do with how the vcr inflicts damage to the tapes. This can be from tape stretch to head scratching to magnetic influences to gosh knows how many other phenomina issues there are in this medium. Even a high quality vcr can still inflict damage or tape ware, even at the picture level: where you see a glitch in the picture: ie, the picture jumps up or down or something to that effect. All these things and more can be inflicted upon the tapes in any vcr, bad or good.

    So, in closure, the common statements that aproximate the "tapes don't last" is actually false: always has been as many of us who still own our originals (our oldies) can attest to this. Gosh, now that I think of it, I hope I wasn't one of those who made such statements back then. Otherwise, I stand corrected.

    -vhelp 5039
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  8. Member
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    I archived 83.5Gb of standard definition (720x576) PAL DV tape footage captured to hard drive, on to 20+ DVD-R/DVD+Rs.
    I then archived the footage to two dual layer Blu-ray recordables, BD-R DLs, 50Gb capacity each.

    http://superuser.com/questions/92139/better-approach-to-archiving-large-amounts-of-ori...e-using-optica
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