In the last couple of weeks, we've been talking about whether or not it's time to upgrade your media to HD, and taken a look at the technical comparison between Blu-Ray and standard DVD. This week, let's worry less about the future, and a bit more about preserving the past.

Many of us have old tapes, CDs, DVDs, cassettes and media that we'd like to preserve. No matter whether these are cherished home movies or your big sales pitch to clients, these things are valuable, and potentially irreplaceable if damaged, lost or stolen.

Were you aware that even if never used, media can deteriorate over time? Even DVD can deteriorate. The dyes used in it are photosensitive, and over time, this can cause data or video loss. VHS and cassette tapes can wear out from overuse or oxide shedding, and are also photosensitive. This can be seen on a lot of older tapes, when "dropouts" and/or fuzziness in the picture occurs.

The amount of time deterioration can take varies with a lot of factors: The media, usage, age, storage environment, exposure to the elements, and more.

If you've got valuable media, take proper precaution to ensure the longevity of it. Just a few simple steps anyone can take are:

1. Always make backups.
   It can be nearly impossible to restore media if you only have one copy of it, and that copy becomes damaged. Duplicate all of your valuable media. More than one backup is not a bad thing.


2. Only play your backups when possible.
   Take the backups that you've made, and only use them whenever you can. This protects your original from overuse.


3. Check your equipment.
   More tapes are damaged by faulty players than many other factors. Always test the equipment with a less valuable media.


4. Store your media in a safe place.
   The precautions you need to take can vary depending on the media, but make sure that it's stored in a safe dry place, and try to limit the exposure to light.


5. If possible, store your backups separately from the masters.
   Crazy things happen. Fires, burglary, floods, and other things can damage your media. If you can keep your originals and backups in different locations, you reduce and virtually eliminate any chance of something like a house fire destroying all your tapes. If it is a family tape, when converted to DVD, make several copies of the DVD and pass them around the family - this also passes the responsibility of protecting family members to others as well.

There are certainly more options for storing your masters. Contact us today to discuss proper media storage and to have any media replicated that you may need.

Labels: blur-ray, cassette tape preservation, cd, digital media, dvd, hd, vhs