What is best format and medium for backing up home videos for future generations?

Question

-- Which file formats will be most likely to be useable in the future?
-- Which file formats will give the best combination of preserving quality and saving storage space?
-- Which storage media will be most likely to be useable in the future and will best protect the files?

Answer 1

I think the guy above me is slightly illiterate. DNG, RAW, JPEG all refer to types of image formats, not video formats.

Currently a company called Delkin produces a product called "Archival Gold DVD-R / CD-R" that are able to last 100 years. These also both have scratch resistant coating called Scratch Armour which is supose to work very well.
http://www.delkin.com/products/archivalgold/scratcharmor.html

However, some people believe that 50 years from now the only stable technolgy (for lack of a better term) will be beta tapes and tapes.

But again, as you are asking a question about the future, only speculations are available.

Answer 2

No one knows
No one knows
No one knows

Right now, I'm betting on DNG format for RAW files and jpgs for non raw. they seem to have the most 'universality' and are reasonably compact. But who knows for sure what the future holds?

As far as storage media, I'm betting on CDs and DVDs The problem is, there are some reports of CDs in particular 'going bad' as they age. Probably the safest thing is to stay vigilant, examine the viability of each your existing media discs every year or so, and when technology invents something new that catches on, move your archives to that media ASAP

Answer 3

as far as archiving is going, i might want to represent archiving the uncompressed video that got here out of the digicam. i anticipate you'll burn it onto a DVD or sparkling Blu Ray disc so it gained't soak up area on your hardchronic. i think there'll be no consider archiving something in a compressed format, because through compressing the files you'll lose an excellent form of innovations that could be manipulated in case you settle on to artwork on it back. positive the MP4 version would seem tremendous yet you may no longer regularly do something to it anymore once compressed that way. an same aspect with photos. I shoot uncooked and archive in uncooked, that way I easily have each and each of the unique innovations to artwork with might want to I ever want to artwork on a particular image back. it is going to fee more desirable (in words of media) yet i think it really is the basically thanks to bypass

Answer 4

Since microsoft is running the show I bet .wmv is not going anywhere any time soon.

Answer 5

digi betta

well its industry standard and they archive on it

so follow the pros. they always know what to archive on so if they are on digi betta then so will i

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