Hi,
I have worked in TV for the past 12 years, on the technical side.
I don't think there are definitive answers for you on the shelf-life of tape
stock, or the durability of formats.
There are several issues to consider;
1 You must certainly consider the availability of video players in the
future.
For instance, when I started, 2" was the master standard, then 1" then
betacam then digi-beta, D1-D5. There are probably no 2" machines left
anywhere (BBC may have 1 but I doubt it), so even if the masters have been
kept properly, they may now be redundant.Because there are no machines to
play them on. And fewer engineers who know how to fix'em.
2. Storage conditions for digital tape.
The usual parametres will apply ;(not too warm, no humidity, free from
magnetic influence. Tapes should be rewound and stored heavy spool down, on
end.
3. Tape stock degradation, i.e. the coating of the tape itself will
deteriorate over time, I suspect there are no definitives, but 10 years is
my guess. Buy the best tape-stock available.
4. Error correction.
Different formats have different levels of error correction. At my present
TV company (big US media mogul) they have used data tapes rather than any
video format for their archive. These are the same tapes as banks use to
backup their info. They have (apparently) 3 layers of error correction.
I would avoid D1 for the first reason. My suggestion would be to explore
data tape possibilities, but if no joy there, then go for digital betacam,
because it is very widespread as a tape format and has undergone years of
development.
Best regards,
Angus
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