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Also see our DVD Compatibility page.
What is DVD?
DVD stands for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc. Using a modern MPG-2 compression format, these discs can hold a great deal of data - over seven times that of a CD! That means upwards of two hours of high quality video!
Already over 20% of households watch their movies on high quality DVD media, and the number is growing extremely rapidly. Just as with CD's, DVD's are easy to manage and store. And just like you can with audio CD's, you can go directly to the parts (scenes) you want without the need to rewind or fast forward.
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Why is DVD so good for long term storage?
Life expectancy of the DVD media is rated at over 100 years! Also, DVD's can hold a great deal of information, including hundreds of pictures or up to two hours of high quality motion picture and CD quality sound. That's over seven times more space than an audio CD.
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What type of stuff should be put on DVD?
Anything you want to preserve! DVD is perfect for business or personal material that should stand the test of time.
- Annual programs or special events an organization may want to archive (graduations/musicals/state championship games/church programs)
- 8mm film footage, slides, or even photographs from years gone by
- All of that video you took thinking it would be around when "the kids are grown." And video that you want to last!
- Long-term, warranty monitoring footage for business (environmental baselines, well monitoring, etc.)
Again, videotape is probably the worst way you can store precious material. It simply will not stand the test of time, and the quality is worse with every copy made ("generational loss").
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Will this DVD disc play on my set-top DVD player?
Despite what others may tell you, there ARE compatibility issues you should know about. Please visit our compatibility page.
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What if I don't have a DVD player?
We'll provide a VHS tape copy, though we still recommend a DVD because it won't slowly erase itself over time the way videotapes do. You can enjoy the tape now, and rest assured that you have a version that will preserve your images and programs. It also can be copied in the future without any of the normal quality loss associated with copying tapes.
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How much do DVD players cost & where should I get one?
Set-top DVD players are amazingly affordable now, usually starting well under $125.00. See our compatibility page (near the bottom), for some additional thoughts, but you need to try to ensure that the unit is 100% compatible with all DVD standards, including "DVD-R" - which is the format we most commonly use. The vast majority of all units ARE.
While you can pay more for bells & whistles like multiple disc capability, the entry level units have all of the features most people want. The only other thing we recommend is that your DVD player at least have an "S-Video out" connection, which provides better picture to televisions with that capability. Many units also have "component" out, and all will have "composite out." You can purchase your DVD players virtually anywhere - from online to you favorite electronics store.
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What do you mean that, "other media erase themselves? Will the tape of my child's first steps survive the test of time?"
Unfortunately, the answer is no. It won't. The reality is that video tape begins degrading almost immediately, and noticeably within a few years of sitting in the typical home environment. In some cases, such as being left on or near sources of electromagnetic radiation, such as on top of a TV, the tape can be badly damaged in far less time. Ultimately, the life of a video tape is not expected to be more than 10 to 15 years. So unfortunately, all of those video collections, weddings, and footage of the grandkids are rapidly becoming a faded memory themselves.
8mm movie film - color photos - color slides
Just as Hollywood launched a massive film preservation initiative, your families 8mm movies are faded and brittle, and getting worse as well. And unfortunately, transferring them to video tape is not a preservation solution. At the same time, DVD is an excellent new option.
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DVD's can be copied in the future without any loss of quality?
Yes. Unlike traditional recordings that lose quality with each successive "generation," or copy, DVD masters do not. A copy made twenty years from now should be indistinguishable from the original.
This means that you can keep your treasured memories not only on a medium that will stand the test of time, but in multiple locations (such as at each of the homes of your grown children). Unlike the old days, where one broken water pipe or fire could destroy an entire family's historical documents - storing a DVD copy at multiple locations helps ensure the high quality preservation of your documents and photos.
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What is wrong with videotape?
Video tape is probably the worst medium for storage. Even while color photos and 8mm film fade and get brittle, they'll last many years. Life expectancy of video tape is under fifteen years, though most home environments further shorten that number. And the image quality begins fading almost immediately. Unfortunately, we have an entire generation now that has grown up using video, sometimes in place of photos. They thought they were capturing memories, but unless something is done fairly quickly, those images will be lost. We speak from experience. We were early on the Betacam bandwagon in the middle 1980's. My father passed away in 1985, and the images have deteriorated very badly. You can count on it.
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Should I keep my old films & slides after transferring them?
Absolutely YES! Once digitized, we always recommend you properly keep and maintain your original media! It is clear that high quality digitizing is a vital preservation step, as most indeed most media will continue to deteriorate, and capturing a high quality viewable image now will likely be your best bet in fifty years.
At the same time, you should ALWAYS try to maintain your originals in the best possible (cool & dry) environment and packaging. In addition to common sense, the reason is because video, even DVD, in North American video is viewed at an image depth (size) of only 640 x 480 pixels. So although we will provide the sharpest VIEWABLE image quality and depth - captured today and preserved at this highest level for essentially "forever", there is actually more "zoomable" depth of information in your film frames than any video can hold. Where very high resolution archival is desired, we can store your images on CD's or DVD's in an unviewable, super-high resolution, raw state. For the vast majority of uses, however, this is unnecessary and extremely costly (the human eye will never be able to see the difference in the display - essentially not beyond what we're putting on video for you today). However, if the FBI were to ask you for your "Zappruder Film" next year, to blow up the image beyond viewable scale for evidence in an old crime :-) (unlikely, eh.) you would still need to use the original unless we provide high resolution frame by frame archival (again - very costly & impractical). Again, this is because even the highest quality video does not hold the depth of image that film does (and also why the new video cameras that can take "still photographs" will never take still photos with the "zoomable depth and resolution" of a camera dedicated to stills!)
In summary, we're passionate that you need to digitize your old movies, slides, photos and videos to DVD NOW!. We are equally passionate that you should keep your originals.
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Can DVD's be damaged?
Yes, they can. Though very durable, the disks can indeed be scratched badly enough to cause problems. At the same time, keeping them properly stored in the case we provide should allow great odds of meeting or exceeding the 100 year expectancy of the media. As with any precious item, the more exact copies you have, and the more locations at which they are stored, the greater the certainty of long term survival.
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What if a new video format comes along someday and replaces DVD?
You will in all likelihood have a well preserved DIGITAL video that can be converted to a future format. For the first time, these video files are stored digital information on a disc, meaning that in all likelihood the would be convertible to any other future format. With that said, however, we believe that the the highly technical international standards of DVD will mean a long life for this medium - it has been designed with international cooperation and standards with longevity in mind.
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Also see our DVD Compatibility page.
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