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Long-Term Storage for Digital Memories

Apr 17, 2019 | Magnetic to Digital, Tech, Uncategorized

You’ve scanned all your photos and videos to digital format, but what is the best long-term storage for your digital memories?  Photo scanning and transferring vhs to dvd or a hard drive are good options, but when it comes to ensuring your files are safe for the long-term, here is what we recommend:

1. Duplicate – Create a back-up (or two)

  • If you are storing your digital memories on a disc (CD, DVD, or Blu-Ray), make sure you have more than one copy of the disc(s). A DVD stored under optimal conditions can last 25 years or more. However, discs are easy to scratch and improper handling can cause the DVD to deteriorate sooner.
  • Consider purchasing a copy of your disc(s) on gold archival media or M-Discs. The reflective layer on a gold disc is made out of 24-karat gold making these discs more stable and scratch-resistant than everyday discs. Creating the M-Discs with a special burner etches the data into a rock-like material. Gold archival discs last 100-300 years guaranteed and M-Discs can last up to 1000 years. Both are used widely by professional archivists for long-term storage.
  • You can further back-up the data on your disc(s) by copying the files from the disc to your computer. That way, if you need to make a replacement disc, you have the data.
  • If your digital memories are on a drive and not a disc, copy the files to your computer and to at least one additional external drive. External hard-drives are more stable than flash drives for long-term storage. The main purpose for flash drives is to transfer files rather than to store them. Flash drives do not usually come with a warranty, they are easy to lose, and degrade due to frequent usage. The more you add and replace data, the quicker the memory on the drive starts to degrade. Hard drives can be warrantied for 1-5 years, are more stable and hardy, but can likewise get damaged, lost or become corrupted from improper use.  Both are easily corrupted if not “ejected” or “safely removed” from the computer before physically removing them. The key to drive storage is to back-up your digital memories on two or more drives.

 2. Separate – Store in more than one location

  • Store the backup of your digital files in a different location than your original digital copy (e.g. with a family member, in a safety deposit box, etc).
  • Should you backup to the cloud? There are several excellent cloud storage services. They are an option as you look for a way to store a copy of your digital memories in a separate location. However, we recommend using the cloud only in conjunction with a second, local backup of your digital files. Using the cloud as your only storage location is risky because cloud storage services can be discontinued. Many services do not allow you to easily download data. Some only allow you to download a lower resolution version of the cloud files. You also have to consider the recurring fees associated with cloud storage services.

3. Migrate – Check & update every 5 years

Archivists recommend checking your data every 5 years to see whether you need to migrate the digital files to new storage media or convert to a more contemporary file format.

No matter how you decide to save your memories, visit Memories to Digital for all of your preservation needs!  Whether it’s 8mm to DVD, slides to digital, photo scanning or film transfer, Memories to Digital can help with whatever you need!  Visit your nearest location today!

Here are the reasons to consider capturing your film in 2K or HD instead of SD:

  • Film predates pixels and lines of resolution. The image on film is generated when one or more layers of a random pattern of silver halide crystals react to light, and are retained or washed away and replaced by dyes in the developing process.The image detail generated by this process can appear anywhere on the surface of the film.
  • The more lines of resolution we scan with, the more of this random placement of image detail is captured and converted to pixels. Standard definition (SD) captures 720x480 pixels of detail, high-definition (HD) captures 1920x1080 pixels of detail, and 2K captures 2560x1440 pixels of detail.
  • Sometimes, scanning with more lines captures more of the “grain” of the film, or the crystals that remain on the surface of the film. The grain is more obvious in film that was produced with larger crystals (R8), and less obvious in film that was produced with smaller crystals (S8, 16mm). For some R8 film, scanning in SD softens the detail of the grain making it less disruptive to the image.
  • These days, with HD, 2K and 4K viewing environments - and larger and larger screens - more, smaller pixels is always better because the smaller pixels provide more detail and a smoother image as the image is enlarged to a big-screen.

SD can never reproduce the full image detail on a film frame because SD video has a fixed pixel pattern with a density of 720x480 pixels, and the pixels that make up the image are always in the same place from one video frame to the next. But film has a random grain pattern, and the image created by the grains of crystals is in a totally different place from one film frame to the next. These random grains each carry a bit of the detail that make up the complete picture and, at running speed, the random grains overlap each other on the retina of your eye to significantly increase the amount of apparent detail. This is called “accumulative resolution”. If you transfer your 8mm home movies to SD video, even with the very best SD camera, your detail will be limited by the coarse, fixed pixel pattern inherent in SD video. Of course, HD and 2K have a fixed pixel pattern, too, but the number of pixels are so great and the pattern is so insignificant, that HD and 2K are like a fine silk stocking compared to the burlap weave of SD. 

Our high definition (HD) film capture offers resolution gains of 667% over a standard definition (SD) capture (more than 6 times better). Our HD capture is not a mere up-conversion from an SD source. Our HD film capture equipment uses a high definition image sensor to take in 5 times the square pixels per frame of film that our SD machine is not capable of picking up. For 8mm films the HD image sensor generates greater than 4000 pixels per inch. Thus, the accumulative resolution effect found in film can be more readily seen in an HD transfer than in an SD transfer.