If you are recording to DVD media to back up your photographs or to make videos you need to be aware that some brands may record the data ok, however you may not be able to play it back properly or obtain the data off the disks once they are on.
If you have ever burnt a DVD and had glitchy issues with playback…this will explain it:
DVDs have different “grade” qualities, but they are not mentioned on their boxes, and are sold as equals. Thats right, even many brand names you buy in the stores are considered by experts to be low quality. While you may or may not be able to get this data off with the same burner you used to make the copy, you may not be able to with different burners, or equally scary the disk may go “bad” faster than the higher quality disks. YIKES!! This is freaking me out the more I think about it…..
The easiest thing to do here is to list the most reliable:
The Top Tier Disks (95%-100% reliability) are:
Pioneer
Verbatim
Sony
TDK
Maxell
Taiyo Yuden
Everything else has a lower reliability. Memorex disks, especially their Dual Layered models are worthless. Those stinkin NexxTech disks I posted about 2 days ago were made by the second to absolute WORST manufacturers for DVDs. I am including this incredibly useful link for your reference, please check this list. There is also a link there that will allow you to download a diagnostic program for you to determine who the manufacturer is.
Many brands are considered “For Landfill Purposes only” with a reliability of 0-50%. I am in absolute awe there is no quality regulation standards for DVDs.
Scary stuff…..what this all means is, there is a possibility that you are burning disks to archive your files, and you may or may not be able to retrieve them.
Thanks for the info. Guess I should file my memorex disks under "G" for garbage and buy some new ones tomorrow.
yeah me too…its unfortunate, they are one of the most well distributed disks- thats nearly all you can find around here. I have stacks of them. 🙁
Thanks for the info Mike, I’ll check my back up disks I just made to archive my photos.
I ran into this problem head on… I literaly had disks lose information in less than a month… The disk I burned and checked prior to mailing came back and my computer read it as blank!!! Unreal I had no idea a disc could lose data. Could you imagine how angry our customers would be when they put the disk in a year or two later and their wedding photos were no longer registering on the disk. Insane. I have order "official" Taiyo Yuden disks as they are the highest rated disks for archival quality storage. Be careful Verbatim has been caught selling another manufacturer’s disks under their label. And Taiyo Yuden disks can have blank faces… there is only one retailer that guarntees what they ship is from Taiyo Yuden. The extra 10-15 cents a disk is well worth the investment.