Yes, there are large differences with potentially huge implications for records preservation.

Many, if not most, blank CDs and DVDs are made in SE Asia or Western China of unknown materials.  They are shipped (for China, first by rail to Shanghai/Hong Kong) across the Pacific to a West Coast Port, transported across the country, warehoused for delivery to a retail outlet, where they sit on the shelf for who-knows-how-long.

Budget-minded consumers buy a spindle of 100.  By the time they get to the bottom, how old are the organic dyes that record the data?  Nonetheless, they trust their precious family photos to these disks.  How likely is it that these pics will be readable by grandchildren, even if issues of hardware, OS, app software, file format, etc. can be overcome.  ...Oh, yes, and if the materials in the substrate don't deteriorate?

However, there are blank disks available that are dated at manufacture.  Some claim to be made according to ISO standards.  JVC claims 25 years viability for theirs in a controlled environment.

An LG peripheral I recently opened contained a flyer for a blank DVD that brazenly claimed to safely save data for 1000 years -- yes, a millenium!  I laughed.

The point is, there is a difference in disk quality and trustworthiness.  I suggest some research for the current state of affairs.  Caveat emptor.

As always, the capability of the medium should match the retention requirement for the record.


Best of luck,

Gordy
Gordon E.J. Hoke, CRM
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Waukegan, IL USA

-----Original Message-----
>From: Alice Young <[log in to unmask]>


Gordon E.J. Hoke, CRM

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