4 ms·

What is the shelf life of a modern CD/DVD? I might consider using them more

JohnFen 3y ago
At room temperature, about 25 years -- but there are a lot of variables that can affect this in both directions. https://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub121/sec4/ https://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub121/sec4/
- dml2135 3y ago
  Maybe for commercial-grade optical media, but last time I burned a lot of consumer media , I found a decent amount of failures even just a few years out. Admittedly this was almost 20 years ago at this point so maybe some things have improved since then but my understanding is that consumer media uses a different, ink-based technology to write data to disk, and that ink can degrade pretty quickly. This is in contrast to commercial optical media in which the data is stamped into the disk in a manner more akin to a vinyl record.
  - JohnFen 3y ago
    All CD-Rs use a dye layer, yes. The life expectancy the link I provided is talking about is for writeable media, not for read-only media that is stamped. Some forms of writeable disc media don't use dyes and can last for over 100 years. Check out the link. But, to your point, one of the variables that affect longevity is the quality of the manufacturing. If you're buying the least expensive media you can find, then the lifespan is indeed shorter. For my cheapo CD-Rs, I've found that they last 5-10 years. You can also make them last longer by storing them in better conditions (vertically, not laying flat, in an airtight container in the freezer). I tend to go with cheap media, so my personal habit is to burn new copies of my storage discs every 5 years.
    - jstarfish 3y ago
      Yeah they sell archival-grade CD-Rs. CD-RWs are way more unstable; would not recommend. One variable I'm recently able to validate (wow, 20 years later!) is write speed. Discs written (for archival) at slower speeds still work. Discs I wrote as fast as possible on my way out the door have mostly failed by now.
    - dml2135 3y ago
      Ah interesting, I will check it out. Yea I was definitely buying relatively-cheap media back in the day -- I remember getting large spindles of Verbatim DVD-Rs for about $1/disc.
    - kevin_thibedeau 3y ago
      BD-R and Mdisc DVD-R are not dye based.
waynesonfire 3y ago
They make archival grade dvds, I just got some, Verbatim DVD-R UltraLife Gold Archival Grade 95355

At room temperature, about 25 years -- but there are a lot of variables that can affect this in both directions. https://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub121/sec4/ https://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub121/sec4/

dml2135 3y ago
Maybe for commercial-grade optical media, but last time I burned a lot of consumer media , I found a decent amount of failures even just a few years out. Admittedly this was almost 20 years ago at this point so maybe some things have improved since then but my understanding is that consumer media uses a different, ink-based technology to write data to disk, and that ink can degrade pretty quickly. This is in contrast to commercial optical media in which the data is stamped into the disk in a manner more akin to a vinyl record.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  All CD-Rs use a dye layer, yes. The life expectancy the link I provided is talking about is for writeable media, not for read-only media that is stamped. Some forms of writeable disc media don't use dyes and can last for over 100 years. Check out the link. But, to your point, one of the variables that affect longevity is the quality of the manufacturing. If you're buying the least expensive media you can find, then the lifespan is indeed shorter. For my cheapo CD-Rs, I've found that they last 5-10 years. You can also make them last longer by storing them in better conditions (vertically, not laying flat, in an airtight container in the freezer). I tend to go with cheap media, so my personal habit is to burn new copies of my storage discs every 5 years.
  - jstarfish 3y ago
    Yeah they sell archival-grade CD-Rs. CD-RWs are way more unstable; would not recommend. One variable I'm recently able to validate (wow, 20 years later!) is write speed. Discs written (for archival) at slower speeds still work. Discs I wrote as fast as possible on my way out the door have mostly failed by now.
  - dml2135 3y ago
    Ah interesting, I will check it out. Yea I was definitely buying relatively-cheap media back in the day -- I remember getting large spindles of Verbatim DVD-Rs for about $1/disc.
  - kevin_thibedeau 3y ago
    BD-R and Mdisc DVD-R are not dye based.

waynesonfire 3y ago

They make archival grade dvds, I just got some, Verbatim DVD-R UltraLife Gold Archival Grade 95355