The reliability of dual layer...

[ahhaa]

Just wondering, with all the new options coming out, what people think about the reliability of dual layer vs standard for collections in the archival sense. Is dual layer as reliable? Will future Blu 2 (or whatever) players support it for sure?

[jman98]

Most of us don't trust dual layer for anything we couldn't live without. Single layer discs, if properly cared for and if top notch media is used, should easily last 15 years and perhaps even reach 100 years of usability in some cases. Dual layer is just too new for us to know long terms how it will last and what they had to do to make it work doesn't give some of us (including me) a lot of confidence that it will last as long as single layer DVDs. It might last as long as them, but we just don't know. It's a question of "Do you feel lucky, punk?" I don't. I have some stuff I'd like to keep on dual layer discs and a few years down the road they all seem OK, but I do realize that's possible that 10 years from now they might not be OK. Maybe they will. But I do expect my single layer DVDs to be OK 10 years from now.

Future players most likely will continue to support existing DVD media. Do note that many reports are very poor about current BluRay player support for any burnable DVD media, so if you are really interested in BluRay, I wouldn't count on a current player being able to read a burned DL disc right now, let alone worry about what they might do in the future.

[JohnnyBob]

I agree, nevertheless for convenience sake I chose to use DL discs. I'm starting to quality-scan those burns with Nero CD-DVD Speed and some of them appear as good or better than my single layer disc burns. Exception: I'm not so confident about the layer break, which often returns a big PIE spike, sometimes a big PIF spike too. Bottom line, if the burn is done right, I think there's a fair chance the DL discs will survive for a long time too. By "done right", I don't necessarily mean "burnt slow". Sometimes faster burning speeds give better quality, so you have to test/scan your burns with something like Nero CD-DVD Speed. Also you would want to use the best quality blanks, which currently are Verbatim DVD+R DL (MKM001 and MKM003) made in Singapore (avoid made in India). Call me up in 20 years and I'll probably know more, if I'm still around...