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CD-R Lifespan - Is It The Label?

Posted by timothy on from the it-is-the-taste dept.

sysadmn writes "Slashdot has discussed archival lifespan of CD-R media before. Fred Langa revisits the issue with a new twist: Are glue-on labels causing premature failure? Much more common than rain forest fungus! From Fred's informative LangaList newsletter."

3 of 402 comments (clear)

  1. I used to label my cds... by Jarlsberg · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...but I've stopped doing that. For one thing, humidity causes the clue to come off, leaving you with a bubbly cd that doesn't fit in many slot cd players (esp. car players). Dragging the label off at this point will damage the cd.

  2. Re:How about normal CDs? by temojen · · Score: 5, Insightful
    What kind of protection do normal music CDs have to avoid this kind of rapid degradation? Is there any?

    Commercial manufacturers silkscreen their CDs, they don't use adhesive labels.

    What is an acceptable digital archival media?

    All media degrades. The trick is to use redundant data, and re-copy it before the media is expected to fail.

  3. Different Technology by Maddog+Batty · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Large batch produced CDs (such as music CDs, AOL CDs etc) are manufactured by stamping the CD pits into a thin layer of aluminium. This is then covered in plastic to protect it on the bottom and a layer of ink on the top. There is no dye layer to degrade with time.

    CDRs have a blank die layer into which the CD writer burns the pits. This dye layer is what is causing the problems for long lifetime.

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