14 Mar
2005
14 Mar
'05
1:52 p.m.
Richard wrote:
My first conclusion, including
from crude accelerated life and torture tests I made myself, is
that the "100 year" claims we have all seen are baloney.
The only claim of 100 years I've seen from a reputable vendor was
Kodak for their gold CD-R media (not the later gold/silver alloy stuff),
and it was backed up by real laboratory testing including accelerated
aging. The 100 years was actually fairly conservative.
The silver crap can't possibly last anywhere near 100 years; it only
takes a few years for oxygen to seep through and oxidizie it enough
for a measurably higher error rate. Eventually the entire disk will
oxidize enough to be unreadable. Doesn't happen to gold media.
Unfortunately gold CD-Rs have gotten really expensive, and gold DVD
media doesn't seem to be available in speeds faster than 2x.
Taiyo-Yuden claimed that the slightly lower reflectivity of gold
(vs. unoxidized silver) together with the lower reflectivity of the
dyes used for 4x and faster media made use of gold unworkable.
Eric