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Old 03-06-2008, 01:15 PM
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old_tv_nut old_tv_nut is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Rancho Sahuarita
Posts: 7,184
order of longevity, as I recall from what I have read:

chiseled stone (if not subject to weathering)
ink on papyrus/rag paper (if kept dry, cool, dark)
chiseled stone (subject to weathering)
pressed commercial DVDs (with physical pits) (maybe)
black and white photos
high quality recordable optical dye DVDs (maybe)
video tape, low quality optical dye DVDs

Video tape has the problem of deterioration causing the coating to flake off; recordable DVDs can suffer from gradual dye deterioration (not so terrible for the good ones) or worse, delamination of the layers (disastrous). Life estimates for DVDs are just that, based on accelerated tests, since they haven't been around for 100 years.
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