Mitsubishi develops corrosion-resistant DVD-Rs for the long haul

Yeah, companies have been trumpeting their ability to crank out discs that will last long after Martians come and evaporate our minds here on Earth for some time, but for archive junkies out there, more is always better. On deck today is Mitsubishi's ARLEDIA DVD-Rs, which reportedly feature corrosion-resistant coatings made from gold and silver. 'Course, you can only write to these at 8x, but they are expected to last about twice as long as traditional recordable discs. Not like you'll be around to prove 'em wrong, though.

[Via Impress]

[Oinquer @ Feb 29th 2008 11:57AM]

Prices Please ...
Maybe its better if i dont know it...

[coolbho3000 @ Feb 29th 2008 1:43PM]

Now to make a DVD player that lasts this long...

[Flashpoint @ Feb 29th 2008 12:01PM]

I hope these last longer than HDDVD did !!!!!

[fred @ Feb 29th 2008 12:18PM]

No one has yet to make a corrosion-resistant digital format.

[d @ Feb 29th 2008 2:05PM]

ZING!

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Mar 1st 2008 8:21PM]

Yes they have. Bar Code or Data Matrix engraved on stone/diamond.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Matrix

[dvdivx @ Feb 29th 2008 12:05PM]

MAM-A already makes archive DVDs that last just over 100 years and cds that last over 300 years in dry sunfree environments. Good luck finding something to play it on in 100 years though.

[Chuckles McGee @ Feb 29th 2008 12:11PM]

You mean they *should* last 100 years. You can run simulations all you like, but we really won't be sure until 100 years from now.

[primetime4 @ Feb 29th 2008 12:09PM]

I bought some gold archive discs from Kodak a few months back which sounds very similar. For some reason I had trouble writing to them on 2 separate drives and even had trouble getting it to eject from the slot drive of my MacBook Pro. I compared it to a regular DVD and it was just a bit thicker. Sounds like small think but it caused a huge headache.

[CB @ Feb 29th 2008 12:16PM]

Only twice as long? My current ones don't even last long since they're always getting scratched mysteriously.

[King Pin @ Feb 29th 2008 12:27PM]

Xbox 360, right?

[Ralph @ Feb 29th 2008 1:01PM]

One thing I was always a bit sorry for was that, when the CD standard was being created, they eschewed the whole "like a floppy disk" thing. That is, it was the disc as you know it, but with an outer shell like an old 3.5" floppy had -- anyone remember Fuji's magneto optical discs? -- thus protecting the disc and giving built-on space for artwork.

Dumped for two reasons, prob'ly: (a) to keep costs down and (b) to build-in obsoleteness (or, more approp, have-to-buy-again-because-I-scratched-it).

[coolbho3000 @ Feb 29th 2008 12:18PM]

Hmm, strange, Mitsubishi usually uses the Verbatim brand with recordable media.

[shiba @ Feb 29th 2008 12:37PM]

yeah thats what I was thinking. They are probably just making the announcement as Mitsubishi and when the final product comes out it will say Verbatim on it, since most of the people who would care about this sort of thing know they are one in the same.

[Wwhat @ Feb 29th 2008 12:53PM]

Excuse me but it's not the coating that limit the life but the decay of the organic dye that is used to burn the data.

Looking at the translation they do mention they use very solid dye called 'AZO-DYN (Dine azo)' that's suppose to last extra long, so that's the pivotal thing then.

[John Johnson @ Feb 29th 2008 12:55PM]

"you can only write to these at 8x"

Damn, usually when I have critical data that I want to last for a really long time, I crank my burner up as fast as it'll go.

[Rob @ Feb 29th 2008 12:57PM]

I won't trust these companies' claims anymore. At the risk of being made fun of, I'd share my experience about their claims for "long lasting" discs. I pretty much own the entire Motley Crue catalog on CDs. However, the "Dr. Feelgood" disc has a few spots that actually show all the way through the painted side. As a result, it has playback issues. I bought it at "The Wiz" in NYC back in 91-92. Then my "Theater of Pain" disc, which I got through one of the CD clubs, either BMG or Columbia House, has the same problem as well. So my question is WTF? I take good care of my CDs and keep them in their respective case. There are no scratches on them. So obviously there is a corrosion issue on discs that manufacturers, and record labels, don't want to talk about. Laserdiscs suffered from the same problem as well. Therefore, people should be allowed to make backups of their CDs, DVDs, and HD media because we can't trust commercially release content to the discs they're being printed on.

[Jack @ Feb 29th 2008 1:07PM]

Long lived disks are great, but what happens when you go to Best Buy in 2058 looking to play the contents of the disk and the 19 year clerk starts laughing at you? "Wot the HECK is THAT?"

[Jonathan-DBOSS @ Feb 29th 2008 4:00PM]

Nice! 100 years from now, we can all enjoy some classic modern pr0n.

[Clark H. @ Feb 29th 2008 7:22PM]

So... if I was to, say, use one of these as a (really expensive) frisbee... I could play it after a fun day at the park? o_O

[Arthur Nonamiss @ Mar 1st 2008 10:01AM]

I think that media degradation is a more serious concern than we all give it credit for. Just look at the comments. Everyone thinks this is a joke. When my grandfather died, we were able to go through his things and we found all of his old pictures. Despite some of them being 100 years old, and despite the fact that there has been multiple generations of media that have come and gone since they were taken, we were all surprisingly still able to process this archaic format of photographic print.

When my great-grandkids unearth my CDs of family pictures in 100 years, will they still be able to read them? Will the CDs (or DVDs) still be readable? Will there be devices to read them?

Personally, I believe that until the fall of mankind, there will ALWAYS be a device that is capable of reading CD/DVD. Those who archived on Jaz drives and SuperDisks might be screwed, but CD/DVD have been standard media for 20+ years. In the future, it might not be a mainstream device that is every computer, but there is just too much media out there to EVER completely stop making some sort of reader. Now, the real question is, how long will YOUR discs last? Will YOUR great-grandkids be able to see our wedding photos, or the pictures of you puking your guts out on your 21st birthday?

[larry @ May 22nd 2008 8:08PM]

You know the nice thing about digital is that it doesn't have to last forever silly boys! Every copy is a clone. Just dupe on a regular basis to whatever is current. As technology marches on this will just get easier.