Electronic Media has a Lifespan
VHS/VHSC Tapes – 10-25 years
Research generally indicates that magnetic tapes like VHS, stored well, will experience 10-20% signal loss, purely from magnetic decay, after 10-25 years. Given how long VHS has been obsolete, chances are that your old tapes have already reached, if not exceeded, this time frame.
I’m currently trying to rescue a vhs video for my husband of his dad’s final flight for American Airlines. Sadly, the video tape is very old and has deterioated over the years. Don’t let your memories disappear forever! Get them digitized so they will last for generations to come!
DVD+RW (erasable DVD) 20 to 50 years
BD-R (non-dye, gold metal layer) 10 to 20 years
DVD-R (silver alloy metal layer) 10 to 20 years
DVD and BD (read-only, such as a DVD or Blu-ray movie) 10 to 20 years
Even though DVD’s have a longer lifespan, if not stored correctly they can get scratches and become unreadable. Also, there might come a time when DVD players will be a thing of the past. Why not get them transferred so they are protected now before they have issues?
