Say hello to the 1000 year lifespan DVD disc

Utah-based company Millenniata has made a bold claim today, stating that their new M-DISC discs will last for the next millennium.

Millenniata says standard DVDs and Blu-ray Discs only last between 3-5 years before the dyes begin to degrade and data begins to get lost.

The M-DISC, on the other hand, has "actual pits are burned into the recording medium by a laser." M-DISCS are still readable by all DVD drives.

As you can tell from the picture above (via Register), M-DISCS have the same base but are less susceptible to corruption thanks to an "inorganic and synthetic material" data layer.

M-READY drives also engrave the pits in the surface of the disc, for a rock-like surface.

Furthermore, the discs will have somewhere in the 25-50GB range for capacity, well above standard DVDs. The company has partnered with LG, who will release a Super-Multi Drive that can read/write M-DISCS, Blu-ray and DVD. No word on price, yet.

You can read more the technical aspects of the disc here: Accelerated Life Cycle Comparison of Millenniata Archival DVD

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 13 Aug 2011 13:37

skeil909

"only last between 3-5 years"

Guess they don't make the newer media like they used to. I have Verbatim cd-r discs that are over 10 years old and they still work fine. Just pulled off an old WWIV BBS source code and compiler from one to check.

13.8.2011 13:50 #1

oappi

I remember hearing that someone actually stored a lot of dvd�s to check how long they would last..quite possibly it was afterdawn article/news. While there are of course crappy dvd discs, that doesn't mean that most will die after 5 years. Some will but i would like to see some evidence for their claim "standard DVDs and Blu-ray Discs only last between 3-5 years".

Imho this is big marketing scam, and lg fell for it. Unless these medias are a lot cheaper than blu-ray disks i don't really see the point. Most people use different backup medias than opticals anyway...

13.8.2011 14:13 #2

NeoandGeo

I've never had a DVD or CD just stop working except when they were thrashed on the bottom, or burnt media from 99-02 that wasn't stored properly. I would say the vast majority of well kept disc media will last as long as the owner.

13.8.2011 16:43 #3

ccwdude

What is this "DVD disc" thing you speak of?

What the F--k is Juice? I want some grape drink baby. Its purple. Sugar...Water...Purple

13.8.2011 18:37 #4

TreePro

Originally posted by oappi: I remember hearing that someone actually stored a lot of dvd�s to check how long they would last..quite possibly it was afterdawn article/news. While there are of course crappy dvd discs, that doesn't mean that most will die after 5 years. Some will but i would like to see some evidence for their claim "standard DVDs and Blu-ray Discs only last between 3-5 years".

Imho this is big marketing scam, and lg fell for it. Unless these medias are a lot cheaper than blu-ray disks i don't really see the point. Most people use different backup medias than opticals anyway...

These discs are meant for critical data and can be used in adverse conditions and no special storage is necessary. They can go from liquid nitrogen and then to boiling water and still be usable with no data loss. The military backs up this claim. There are videos of M-disc in liquid nitrogen and put in boiling water, and a guy beating these and other brands on the counter, others break these are shown in tack. The 4.7GB DVD are said to be 3 dollars each when they are produced. The special burner requiring a higher powered laser, I have not seen a price on yet.
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/M-Disc/Milleniata/Startup_Company_Milleniata_Boasts_an_Indestructible_Disc/7428

watch video of M-disc from liquid nitrogen to boiling water.
http://millenniata.com/

13.8.2011 19:09 #5

Smacks

no one will know what bluray is in a thousand years

13.8.2011 19:25 #6

Schmick

Originally posted by Smacks: no one will know what bluray is in a thousand years
I give it 30 before Bluray is a distant memory.

^ PEBKAC ^

13.8.2011 19:47 #7

DXR88

i guess this means vinyl records will last till the world explodes.

14.8.2011 03:24 #8

xboxdvl2

Originally posted by NeoandGeo: I've never had a DVD or CD just stop working except when they were thrashed on the bottom, or burnt media from 99-02 that wasn't stored properly. I would say the vast majority of well kept disc media will last as long as the owner. ive seen music cds from before 1999 still in working condition.they were originals.seen some ps1 games that are still in working condition that are more than 5 years old.the oldest cd i own is 2pac greatest hits which ive had since about 1999 and yes its a back up.some songs on it will play but the cd is very jumpy due to being badly scratched.

R.I.P. mr 1990 ford falcon.got myself a 1993 toyota corolla seems to run good.computers still going good.

14.8.2011 07:10 #9

KillerBug

This is great...I have been victim of CD-R decay; a lot of my old backups from the 1990's have degraded to the point that some tracks won't even rip. My early DVD backups have started to have the same issue. These are in an air conditioned house, out of direct sunlight at all times, and in cases.

I could certainly see the value of these to an archivist. It would also be great for time capsule projects and for the (many) long term survival shelters being built.

Granted, Bluray will be an outdated format before too long...but the content on the disks will be stable. Once there is a better way to store data in a stable way, the data can be transferred over without any data loss.

14.8.2011 07:51 #10

NeoandGeo

Just tested my 1993 311 debut album and it works like a charm despite it having microscratches all over the bottom, and has seen its share of heat/cold spikes from being left in my car cd-player for several years. :)

14.8.2011 08:18 #11

DXR88

the disk can outlast the machine used to read it. i doubt will still be using DVD's 60 years into the future let alone 1000. if looking to the past for the future is still valid, im sure me taking a shite on the crapper will be more entertaining than anything Hollywood could turn out...what the hell would people watch 1000 years into the future anyway....Die Hard 213 Mech'O-War, or did we do that one already.

14.8.2011 11:02 #12

LordRuss

Hell, in just over 100 years most spoken languages will have evolved into something completely different. Other than historical value, nothing will maintain in its original context whatsoever.

People will be "translating" or "interpreting" what they are viewing & try to incorporate it into their future thinking world. Think of it as what people are doing with religious scriptures today. Dead languages & cultural from 2000 years ago trying to be pertinent in today's society.

Moral context aside, people are just going to 'guess' what was being said or recorded & then fight over what the ideals were to mean by the 'guy' that did the actual documentation. I.e., everything is recorded with a bias. So basically, Die Hard may actually be seen as Shakespeare some 150 to 200 years down the road.

Now wouldn't that be a huge joke?

http://onlyinrussellsworld.blogspot.com

14.8.2011 14:23 #13

Virgil_B

I guess I have always purchased exceptional quality CD and DVD blanks (NOT, I usually bought the cheapest I could find) because I have too many to count that were written 10 years ago or older that are still going strong. I have had one or two go bad, but I was not able to pinpoint the reason for the failure. One or two failures out of the hundreds of discs I have burnt is inconsequential.

I have switched to using Blu-Ray blanks because they are less prone to scratching and store significantly more information.

I will have to agree to dis-agree with Millenniata.

19.8.2011 08:28 #14

Byron9

Where can I find the great “glossary of terms and acronyms” you used to have?

3.10.2011 03:53 #15

vurbal

Originally posted by Byron9: Where can I find the great “glossary of terms and acronyms” you used to have? You can find a link to it at the top of every page.

Rich Fiscus
@Vurbal on Twitter
AfterDawn Staff Writer

3.10.2011 08:16 #16

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