How Stable Is Today's Media?

[videodummy]

I am well into converting my vast VHS library to DVD. I've authored about 50 movies thus far.

My question is; how stable, industry wise, is the media I am using? I am using DVD -R.

What about tomorrow? Will the -R be phased out and +R become the rage? Will the next generation of players recognize the -R as opposed to the +R?

Has anyone asked this question before?

I really would be an unhappy camper if, in a couple of years, I go to purchase a new player and they no longer recognize the media I have used.

[porphyra]

I doubt anyone can answer that question with certainty. It is very hard to predict which way the market will turn. As we speak, Blu-ray and HD-DVD are about to take off. So there is no telling where 10 years will lead.

One thing seems to be certain. At least for a while, newer technology will be backward compatible, giving you enough time to update yourself with the latest technology.

Dont fret about it too much right now. Your DVD-R will stick around for awhile.

Cheers.

[Magua]

I believe Blu-Ray is DVD Compatible...

[spiderman2k1]

DVD RW is better then DVD R for storing things on DVD RW is metal and DVD R is die base

[aggies11]

Lets put it this way:

If your media can't be played on "new players" sometime in the future (+R, -R, whatever) then that means that everyone's store bought DVD's won't play either.

The goal of all types of DVDR is to "fake" being a pressed retail DVD-ROM Disc. They are made to appear as "close as possible" to these regular discs in terms of "being read by a player".

So that if any format is phased on (not in terms of burners, but in terms of players) then the entire DVD standard will have to be phased out too.

And will so many DVD's out there, that is not going to happen for quite some time.

The morale of the story: The goal of DVDR discs is to be as much like DVD (retail, pressed) discs as possible. So the only way they will stop working, is if plain DVD's are phased out also. And *that* will not be happening for quite some time...

Aggies

[Hawseman]

I wouldn't lose any sleep over it....the question is asked every second in this evolving, high tech world of ours.

The answer can easily be found in history....you buy a new 3 1/2" floppy disk, you copy your 5 1/4" files to it. You buy a new 100mb zip drive, you move your 20 or so 3 1/2" floppies to it. You buy a cd burner, you move your 3 or 4 zip disks to it. etc.etc.etc.

Waiting only brings you closer to the inevitable.....media failure.

I prefer my porn on BetaMax

[gmatov]

DVR-RW is metal, phase change, whatever that means..

DVD-R is metal spattered with dyes of different characteristics, so some are supposed to be good, some bad.

However they both have a metal layer, else the laser could not affect the dye.

The silver color at the top of a CD-R, RW is the aluminum with a laquer layer.

Read a little,don't pay too much attention to what posters have told you.

Cheers,
George

[offline]

Waiting only brings you closer to the inevitable.....media failure.

@ Hawseman

Lol! Was that the writing media you were refering to or the human media?

@ videodummy

DVDR is not going to be around forever. Look at each major invention
in this industry and the time it has taken to overtake or at least push
the previous technology into a niche market. Each time the take over
is faster. At least by backing up your tapes to DVDR you are
preserving the quality until the time comes to copy them to the replacement media format. Do not expect DVDR + or - to be the
standard in 2010.

[glockjs]

8 track to tape to cd... think how long that gap took same with vhs to dvd. you can still buy or rent vhs on the market. it takes quite some time to convert over because of the fact that they will only put out there what people will buy. not everybody has the money or even cares to jump into the next best thing.

[jet757f]

quote="porphyra"]The life of RW media is much shorter than R media. Also accidental erases, and loss of rewriting ability after x number of rewrites is always a concern.

For long term archiving, nobody will ever recommend RW.[/quote

I'm really getting confused about the media. I had asked in a previous post "why not use RW media since the price is almost the same as R media." I was given the above answer. Now I am seeing in this thread the complete opposite.

[offline]

Now I am seeing in this thread the complete opposite.

That is because you are asking the kind of question where there are
no hard and fast facts.. maybe educated opinions at most.

[Guest]

DVD RW is better then DVD R for storing things on DVD RW is metal and DVD R is die base

I don't know if dvd rw is different than cd rw, but I will neverbackup important files on cd rw. I had several that became corrupt and unreadable with normal care.

[porphyra]

That statement is not at all accurate. The phase change compound in RW deteriorates faster than dye bases of R.

Also, what is very important (perhaps more than R v/s RW) is the quality of discs and burns.

A good quality RW disc may outlast a very poor R. Its all relative. A good quality R disc may last several decades (note: "MAY") and a poor Princo sometimes wont play the very next day.

[Sam Ontario]

A good quality R disc may last several decades (note: "MAY") and a poor Princo sometimes wont play the very next day.

Prico disks if you burn today OK, it doesn't burn OK tomorrow. It dies naturally with in a very short time, DVD-RW or DVD-R.

[Tom81]

I wouldn't bother converting an entire library to dvd-r.....vhs will be around just as long, maybe even longer. And it might just last longer as well.

[indolikaa]

My media is perfectly stable. It just sits there on the shelf and does absolutely nothing. Can you ask for anything more stable than that?