apologies for any cross-posting
OSTA and Ecma International Announce Issuance of Optical Disc Archival Test Standard Needed to Promote Archival-Grade Media
The Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA) and Ecma International announced
yesterday the completion of their co-development work to issue an industry
standard for optical media archive life testing that targets recordable and
rewritable DVDs. This standard will enable the industry to offer reliable
archival-grade optical discs to help end-users select the media life
expectancy best suited to their application requirements. The new standard
was approved by the Ecma General Assembly on June 28, 2007, culminating an
effort initiated in June 2006 in Sapporo, Japan, when Ecma International's
Technical Committee 31 agreed to finalize a draft standard developed by
various industry participants working within OSTA.
The document has been assigned the number ECMA-379, and may be accessed
at the Ecma website for immediate review. Following this milestone, the
standard will be transferred to ISO/IEC JTC1 SC23 under an established
"fast track procedure." The earliest anticipated ISO/IEC version is
December 2007.
"We announced this collaboration a year ago. The rapid completion of
this program can be attributed to the sense of urgency within the optical
storage community," said David Bunzel, President of the Optical Storage
Technology Association. "End users need reliable media for secure,
removable, portable storage of their important documents. Industry wide
implementation of this standard will greatly assist them in their purchase
decisions."
"Ecma is very pleased to have facilitated this standard development
designed to assist the market in clarifying differences in optical media
quality," said Istvan Sebestyen, Ecma Secretary General. "The TC31
committee was formed in 1983 having its charter as the development of
'Optical Disk and Disk Cartridge' standards and has since been the
preferred venue for this activity. Virtually all of the CD and DVD read
only and recordable/rewritable standards have been developed in TC31. Its
members are the primary players in optical technology development and
therefore it was an ideal place for the development of this media archival
life test."
Manufacturers sponsoring and participating in the development of this
standard included Fujifilm, Hewlett-Packard, Imation, MAM-A, Panasonic,
Philips, Pioneer, Ricoh, Sony, Toshiba, and Verbatim. The committee
received strong support from related industry organizations, including
Japan's CDs21 Solutions and the Digital Content Association (DCAj).
Significant expert technical contributions were made by the editing team
that included Drs. Mitsuru Irie (Osaka Sangyo U) and Kunimaro Tanaka
(Teikyo Heisei U) under programs sponsored by CDs21 and DCAj, respectively.
"We at CDs21 Solutions feel fortunate that we were able to take part in
this effort, where we were able to contribute our resources to the Ecma
document with OSTA," said Takao Ihashi, Chairman of the Steering Committee
of CDs21 Solutions. "Media life expectancy was also a main project at
CDs21, where many active members were those who brought recordable optical
discs to market, and were determined to establish a standard for enhancing
the value of optical media for all end users, and therefore the timing of
our collaboration was perfect."
Fred Byers of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
had this to say: "As a long time proponent of this development and an early
contributor to the document, I am very pleased with the outcome. Optical
disc applications are increasingly oriented towards long-life storage of
computer and A/V data and this standard will help ensure that tested media
will meet expectations."
"I3A believes that archiving of digital images is an underestimated
issue for the global imaging industry," said I3A's President Lisa Walker.
"We are very supportive of this proposal for a joint OSTA-Ecma standard for
optical disc archive testing, which fulfills a critical consumer need to
identify archive quality media to store their precious memories for the
long term."
Victor McCrary, member of the National Digital Strategy Advisory Board
(NDSAB) for the Library of Congress and Business Executive for Science &
Technology at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
states, "this effort is an excellent example of government, industry, and
academia working together to address the need for archival standards for
optical media. Preservation of 'born digital' media is of the utmost
concern for many of the parties involved in the development of this
standard. I commend all involved for taking this important step in taking
seriously the emerging global issue of digital preservation as its affects
end-users at every level."
Since its formation in Sept. 2005, OSTA's Optical Disc Archival Testing
(ODAT) Committee has consisted of a multi-national group of industry
experts sharing this common goal. The ODAT Committee includes members of
global manufacturers and representatives of optical storage products,
university and government.
About the Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA)
The Optical Storage Technology Association (OSTA) was incorporated as
an international trade association in 1992 to promote the use of recordable
optical technologies and products. The organization's membership includes
optical product manufacturers and resellers from three continents,
representing more than 85 percent of worldwide writable optical product
shipments. They work to shape the future of the industry through regular
meetings of DVD Compatibility, Commercial Optical Storage Applications
(COSA), MPV, ODAT and UDF committees. Interested companies worldwide are
invited to join the organization and participate in its programs by
contacting an OSTA representative at (408) 253-3695, by fax at (408)
253-9938, or by addressing its Web site at http://www.osta.org.
About Ecma International
Since its inception in 1961, Ecma International (Ecma) has developed
standards for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Consumer
Electronics (CE). Ecma is a non-profit industry association of technology
developers, vendors and users. Experts from industry and other
organizations work together at Ecma to develop standards. Ecma submits its
work for approval as ISO, IEC, ISO/IEC and ETSI standards and is a main
practitioner of "fast tracking" of specifications through the
standardisation process in International Standards Organisations (ISOs)
such as the ISO and the IEC. Publications can be downloaded free of charge
from http://www.ecma-international.org/.
*************************************************************************************
Neil Beagrie FRSA publications: www.beagrie.com
The British Library, url: www.bl.uk
96 Euston Road, email: [log in to unmask]
London NW1 2DB Tel/Fax/Voicemail :+44 (0)709 2048179
*************************************************************************************