Protect optical discs from light damage?

[gamemaniaco]

What are the harmful effects of light on the optical media CD / DVD? the difference between direct sunlight and indirect sunlight? my home during the day receives brightness and clarity of sunlight but is not a light focused sun> DVD, this sunlight that comes into my house will damage the optical disc CD / DVD in the long term?

[lordsmurf]

Light alters dye. Keep discs in dark non-moist areas.

Yes, it will be damaged if kept in light. Put discs inside cupboards, closets, dark cases, etc. Ever think about why DVDs come in black cases from the store, and not transparent ones? That's why.

[gamemaniaco]

What kind of light is harmful to the CD / DVD?
Store the disk in a slim case CD with cover in front protects the disc from the light? see the photo

[lordsmurf]

All of it is bad.

True, some cases are completely clear. But companies make all kinds of stupid things. For example, "DVD safe" markers (nonsense). But most CDs and DVDs come in packaging that blots out light. And again, that's for a reason, not because it's the fashion.

[gamemaniaco]

My dvd and cd disk this unprotected light that case slim cd with front cover? light passes through and damage dye? behind the case slim black color

[latreche34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordsmurf

Ever think about why DVDs come in black cases from the store, and not transparent ones? That's why.

I wonder why they switched to semi transparent blue cases for blu-ray? I guess they realized their mistake and they switched back now to black cases for UHD Blu-ray discs.

[M Berson]

Direct sunlight to discs is harmful for two reasons:
The sunlight's ultraviolet photons (the higher frequency of the sunlight spectrum) have enough energy to produce a photochemical reaction, altering the optical properties of the dye (recording layer) molecules.
The broad spectrum of unfiltered sunlight, infrared to ultraviolet (low frequency to high), can impart heat to the disc. The increased temperature generated by sunlight will accelerate the degradation or breakdown of the dye layer (recording layer) of the disc. The combination of high temperature and high relative humidity will further accelerate that degradation.

[gamemaniaco]

indirect sunlight and fluorescent lamps destroy the CD / DVD?

[lordsmurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gamemaniaco

indirect sunlight and fluorescent lamps destroy the CD / DVD?

All light.

[gamemaniaco]

indirect sunlight and light from the fluorescent lamp takes how long to damage the optical disc?

[lordsmurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gamemaniaco

indirect sunlight and light from the fluorescent lamp takes how long to damage the optical disc?

Why does it matter?

That like asking: "How long can I stick my finger in an electric socket before I die?"
It's bad, don't do it, the end. 'How long' is immaterial.

From a purely academic stance, "it depends". The type of dye will determine this more than anything else, with anything cyanine-based croaking first. Perhaps M-Disc will fair better here, but light absorbance is the least of its issues.

[gamemaniaco]

All kinds of light damage the CD / DVD?

My dvd and cd disk this unprotected light that case slim cd with front cover? light passes through and damage dye? behind the case slim black color

[lordsmurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gamemaniaco

All kinds of light damage the CD / DVD?

Optical = CD, DVD, Blu-ray, a pancake you write with a DVD burner, etc

Quote:

behind the case slim black color

The dye layer of the disc matters, not the top. Black on bottom = fine.

[gamemaniaco]

see another photo CD slim case, this case will protect the disk of light? behind is black in front is transparent (or cover) case slim cd protect light in CD/DVD?

[lordsmurf]

Black = fine. It's black.

[gamemaniaco]

Black avoids light on the disc?


the front up of disc CD/DVD may receive light without damaging the dye?

[lordsmurf]

"Yes" to both questions.

[gamemaniaco]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordsmurf

"Yes" to both questions.

1 what is your assessment of this case CD/DVD?

2 the front layer of the CD / DVD disc which is the barrier that prevents the light from having contact with the dye?

3 the arrows will go enter light on the dye disc?

white paper case CD/DVD protects the disc from the light? paper is not transparent on the behind

[dpalomaki]

Bottom line:

Any light (and probably including "light" the human eye can not sense) can, over time, damage recordable optical media such as DVD-R/+R, BD-R, CD, etc. There is no way to reliably predict how much and how fast without a lot of instrumentation and test results for the specific media involved. Storing media in a light tight container (or even a dark closet with no windows) can mitigate this.

Thermal cycling (changes in temperature) cause stresses to the physical media that will accelerate deterioration over time, especially at bonds/joints. Think of it as a bit like bending a wire repeatedly - eventually it will break. Storing media to avoid wide temperature swings will mitigate this; e.g., in an insulated closet that keeps a relatively constant temperature, with perhaps for air conditioning to avoid high temperatures if your ambient temperatures average above the manufacturers specified conditions.

Holding humidity constant, at the manufacturers specification will mitigate the potential for accelerated damage due to high humidity and swings. Installing a dehumidifier for your storage space can help with this.

Museums and professional archives do this - they control their environment and access to minimize deterioration of the artifacts they store due to radiation (including light), temperature, humidity, and handling. Of course, if you want to display your collection, all bets are off.

No one can predict what will happen to your media or the recordings you have beyond that they will deteriorate over time. They can only suggest what may make things some what better, or worse, and it is up to you to do what every you feel is necessary to protect your recordings. The bottom line is the only reasonably assured way to preserve the recordings is to have off-site backups, and to test, and to rerecord before you start to get uncorrectable errors. And that means periodic assessment of you recordings.

How much longer do you plan to live? Is there anyone who will be interested in your recording after you pass (i.e., an "interested third party"? You may want to manage the recordings to last your lifetime, and let the "interested third party" worry about them beyond then.

And realistically speaking, finding working media players for old media (78 RPM records, 45s, LPs, reel-to-reel tapes, 8-track tapes, minidisc, Beta, VHS, S-VHS, 8mm, Hi8, D8, laser disk, Beta, etc. is becoming problematic. Some of these formats go back less than 10 years old.

Be sure to consider your "next generation storage" plan to future-proof the important stuff, if there is any. The media giants are doing this today as they re-release old film, video tape, VHS and DVD stuff on Blu-ray and streaming formats. And they are, no doubt working on whats next.

What comes after Blu-ray? I do not know, but some argue for streaming content (yours or someone else's) from central data store over broadband - to any device anywhere.

[gamemaniaco]

Answer my questions above case paper