Since it is getting harder and harder to buy good quality media, if one buys a lot of media disks now, how long a self life does un-burnt media have(5 years , 10 years, etc.) ?
Would it help to keep Blank media in zip lock bags to prevent environmental deterioration?
Chances are that the media you buy has already been sitting in a warehouse for a while. Generally you’d want to store the blanks away from sunlight at a relatively stable temperature and humidity. This maybe as simple as locking them away in a dark cupboard for home use.
I’ve recently bought 50 Year Archive labeled disks and thought about the same question as yourself. Prior to purchasing I enquired about the shelf storage method the seller employed. Furthermore I pay attention to the packaging of the disks. Namely whether they’re enclosed in non-fully-transparent packaging.
I have never understood why Verbatim and TY have the habit of enclosing their disks in fully transparent spindles (they do this for non-retail packaging). I’ve always considered this error prone packaging as it heavily depends on the reseller storage method.
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[QUOTE=sengork;2778531]
I have never understood why Verbatim and TY have the habit of enclosing their disks in fully transparent spindles (they do this for non-retail packaging). I’ve always considered this error prone packaging as it heavily depends on the reseller storage method.[/QUOTE]
To answer my own question: The transparent packaging is there as these non-retail disks cape shipped in individually packaged cardboard boxes. Some retailers unpack them and leave them in their transparent spindles on the shelf where the sunlight damages them over long exposure time.
If this is of any indication, I have media that is 20 years old or more and still writes with better quality today than much of the media available on the market currently.
[QUOTE=sengork;2778762]To answer my own question: The transparent packaging is there as these non-retail disks cape shipped in individually packaged cardboard boxes. Some retailers unpack them and leave them in their transparent spindles on the shelf where the sunlight damages them over long exposure time.[/QUOTE]
Not generally true. Transparent cakebox spindles and shrink wrap packs are usually sold in cartons, usually 600 for 100-pack spindles and 300 for 50-pack spindles. Don’t forget that jewel cases also expose discs to sunlight too, as they are translucent or even completely transparent around the edges and around the inserts, etc.
I have blank DVDs that I purchased 5 - 8 years ago. Most of it is TY and some is MII when Memorex, Imaginiation(sp), office max, Office Depot had MB making their stuff. At that time the MII was very good media.Also have some Verbatim DL. They have been kept inside of the house with central heat and air. A lot of it is in file cabinets, some in my reloading room. All that I pull out to use seems to be of very good quality still. I have enough to last me the rest of my life and there will still be plenty to leave in my Will.
Here is an excerpt from Kodak’s FAQ pages for their Ultima CD-R media:
- [B]Kodak claims that the data lifetime on its CD-R Ultima media is 100+
years. How can this be when I have I read that unwritten CD-R media has a
shelf life of 5-10 years?[/B]Because that’s as long as unwritten CD-R media has been tested. There is no
reason to believe that unwritten media won’t last as long as written media.
Archival lifetime testing is typically performed on written media.
Source: http://www.kodak.com/global/en/service/faqs/faq1632.shtml
This was written in the early 2000’s. Today, by the same logic we can conclude that unwritten, high quality CD-R media has a shelf life of at least 25 years. Basically it doesn’t make a difference if the media is recorded or not, unwritten media lasts exactly as long as written media, or in other words there is no indication that the burning process suffers from degradation more than the process of reading the disc.
In my personal experience, with the notable exception of a few low quality cyanine CD-R’s made in late 1990s, CD-R degradation usually has been of the reflective layer and not the dye itself. In the burning process reflective layer matters a bit less than when reading the disc since you are altering the dye, which has not degraded in this hypothesis. That’s my rationale behind why burning an old disc, even with the usual signs of degradation, shouldn’t be a problem.