VideoPreservation Website

The major reason video needs to be preserved is because it fails as a storage medium. Since the day the tape was manufactured, the binder used to hold the magnetic particles (pigment) began to degrade. The process is called Sticky Shed Syndrome. There is some fundamental research on this topic but most to the valuable information was proprietary, and was thus destroyed when manufacture's libraries were moved into the dumpster, as tape manufacturers were sold to larger concerns.

videotape is both the linear record of the images being presented, but is ia also the storage medium. Because it is a storage medium that is in the process of becoming unrecoverable, emphsis is often placed on moving the content onto a new videotape. Separaing the content int a digital format remove the problem of the storage medium.

Magnetic tape is projected to have an average life of about 30 years. This figure varies based on physical storage condition, and assumes average good conditions. Standard storage condition are 40%RH and 68-72°F (plus or minus 5-10 degress or percent humidity).

If the videotape had excessive use, or was stored in a humid (>40% RH) or hot (>75°F) location, even a hot car in the summer (120-150°F) for a few days, it will fail before its predicted lifetime. The electronic video information on the magnetic tape will generally maintain its integrity as long as the magnetic layer on the tape remains intact; there are limitation and they will be address below. The magnetic storage media, therefore, influences the longevity of the video element. The better its storage the longer the video element last before it need to be migrated to a different storage media. Traditionally, magnetic tape media has been migrated to new magnetic tape, commonly in a more modern video format. The migration process must be done because the magnetic tape will fail, but with each migration, changes can be introduced into the video image stream. Some changes can't be avoided, but many can.

The unwelcomed changes are

• Excessive passes over the magnetic heads
• Unnecessary surface cleaning
• Noise reduction (excessive)
• Color saturation or desaturation (chroma adjustments)
• Conformation to "Broadcast Legal" criteria (compress or expand to 7.5 to 100 IRE; luma adjustments)
• Time-based correction errors

Analog video is video waveform direct from a source that is laid onto the magnetic media, i.e., videotape. The source can be (a) direct from a video-imaging tube in a video camera, (b) an RF feed from an antenna or cable or (c) analog outputs from a videotape recorder, a VTR, (either an analog or digital type).

Videotape fails after 15-30 years due to inherent faults. Cool or cold storage is the only method to prolong its lifetime, but the diminishing availability of playback equipment limits the effectiveness of this strategy. At best, cold storage will help you hold an aged videotape in is current state as you work through the process of migration.

Migrating to new videotape will bring a temporary new life to historic videotape, becasue the video will be on a new storage media, but it will be one generation removed from the original.

The highest quality analog video format is Betacam SP. Migrating to this Best Analog Format on new videotape will turn the clock back on the historic artifact, but that tape only has a lifetime of 30 years, the new problem will be that the playback equipment is now considered threatened.

The major reason video needs to be preserved is because its storage media is failing, or will begin to fail soon. That is, the magnetic tape the video information is stored on shows sign of having a limited life. Magnetic tape is projected to have an average life of about 30 years. This figure varies based on physical storage condition, and assumes average good conditions.

Analog video is video waveform direct from a source that is laid onto the magnetic media, i.e., videotape. The source can be (a) direct from a video-imaging tube in a video camera, (b) an RF feed from an antenna or cable or (c) analog outputs from a videotape recorder, a VTR, (either an analog or digital type).