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| Videotape to DVD Transfer |
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Concerned about videotapes disintegrating? Videotape degrades with age. Eventually, recorded videotapes will no longer be playable. Videotape degrades over time. As tapes age, the likelihood increases they will be unplayable. And, it doesn't matter if playback takes place with a new videotape player or through the same camcorder or deck originally used to record. 
What happens to old videotape recordings? Two problems are associated with ageing videotape:
If old videotape is playable, noticeable and diminishing video quality normally results. Color shifts, reduced intensities, reduction in clarity or blurred outlines are typical. Remember the great clarity when tapes were new? Then, following storage for an extended period of time, was there an obvious reduction in playback quality? Camcorders and videotape players have precision moving parts. As internal parts wear, periodic alignment or replacement is required. Misaligned parts or old tape can trigger entanglement and cause tape to stretch, wrinkle and in some cases break. A combination of old videotape and a player needing service is a recipe for tape failure and permanent loss of content.
Tape formats do not matter. If video is recorded to tape using the latest digital video cameras -- such as DV or Mini-DV -- it doesn't matter. Older analog videotape formats such as VHS, 8mm, Hi-8 and other formats pose a greater risk because most recordings have already aged significantly. Price & Brands Don't Matter. It doesn’t matter if content was recorded with an expensive name-brand camcorder or one purchased at the flea-market. The price paid for recording tape is irrelevant. Videotape recordings will degrade and slowly fade away. How should Important Video Content be Preserved? Transfer videotape content to quality DVD recordable media. Doing so will eliminate tape issues. Video and audio recorded to DVD will remain stable, playable and viewable for decades, without degradation. How long will video last on DVD discs? Accelerated life testing performed by some manufacturers of DVD-R write-once media, indicate that discs should remain readable for many decades. As with any media containing important content, discs should be stored with care and common sense. What does "write-once" mean? It's physically impossible to record over existing content on
Which DVD write-once media should be used? At Lighthouse Digital Media, we use DVD-R discs for videotape transfer. DVD-R media has been around for many years and is used in commercial archive storage applications where preserving images and data are imperative. For example, DVD-R discs are used extensively in medical imaging. Is all DVD-R media the same? Treating various disc media brands as equal would be a mistake. Disc media quality can fluctuate considerably. Truth be told – there is much cheaply produced disc media circulating of marginal quality. Although name-brand media can be acceptable for video transfer, discs from recognizable company names will not necessarily ensure quality. For example: we have tested batches of optical media with notable and recognizable brand names that resulted in failed testing. In one instance, the specified speed at which discs should record was not possible. Other tests resulted in final disc yields at only 50%. For additional technical and archive details about disc media, visit to the Content Distribution section of our Web site:
What playback quality can be expected? We normally preset bit-rates for videotape transfer at the highest levels that will accommodate storage to one DVD-R disc. We prefer transferring a maximum of 60 minutes of digital content to a single DVD-R disc, in order to maintain optimum quality. A digital or analog tape exceeding 99 minutes should have content recorded across two separate discs instead of one. We use professional equipment to accomplish tape-to-DVD disc recording. Our transfer equipment can create DVD-R discs that produce the highest possible recording quality, while remaining compatible with DVD consumer playback specifications. We use fixed bit-rates to record DVD content – not variable ones. Fixed bit-rates are preferred by professionals. For most analog video tapes such as VHS, 8mm or High-8, transfers to DVD will result in playback quality equivalent to what exists on the tape itself. In most cases, the maximum playback quality from analog tapes will be transferred and preserved to discs. How compatible are DVD-R Discs DVD players that support the DVD-R media format should play DVD-R discs flawlessly. A survey conducted by a major computer corporation in 2001, concluded that DVD-R discs were compatible with 80% of new consumer DVD players. The percentage is greater today. For computer playback, DVD-R discs are compatible with most half-height DVD-ROM drives manufactured since 1999. If you own a DVD player manufactured more than 4 years ago, chances are still good it will playback DVD-R discs – but in some cases, they may not. And, some very early DVD players cannot play a DVD-R disc. Most new DVD players can playback multiple formats. When purchasing a new DVD player, it's prudent to check which formats are supported. Beware – a few manufacturers produce consumer DVD players that will playback alternative write-once discs only and will not playback DVD-R media. Can I accomplish videotape to DVD transfers on my own? Sure. Consumer-grade DVD recorders are available for around $250 and prices are bound to drop further. If you have the time, patience and some technical savvy, you can do it yourself. However, before allocating a few days or weeks to transfer videotape libraries, you might want to consider the following.
Why send important videotapes out of the area and risk loss, damage, poor service or delays? At Lighthouse, our expertise in archiving digital content to optical media is extensive. We can transfer most common videotape formats to DVD-R discs and spot-check playability – all with professional results. If you have questions, call us at: 919.552.5525 |
