For archivists, librarians and individuals with a need to restore, remaster and transfer collections of older tape
M&M Video Systems can help you plan and
implement the preservation of your
collections. We know the proper procedure for handling delicate tape, cleaning, lubricating and splicing it in preparation for making a new digital master.
Unfortunately, as an information storage medium, videotape was not designed with longevity in mind. Videotape is a fragile medium subject to damage and deterioration from exposure to poor environmental conditions and inadequate handling practices. Even if properly cared for, magnetic tape may last only for a decade or two.
As videotape ages, it begins to break
down chemically until it
reaches a point where it is no longer
capable of being tracked
for satisfactory playback and transfer to
another format. How
and when this occurs depend on several
factors, the most
important being time in storage and exposure
to heat,
atmospheric moisture, and pollutant gases. The earliest
videotapes, lacking protective cassette
housings, are the most
vulnerable to damage and deterioration.
Over time (about 10-25 years), video tapes
lose the magnetic signal that was recorded
onto them. For tapes that are precious and
irreplaceable, we strongly recommend that
they be converted to DVD. Video recorded
onto a DVD is expected to last for 100+
years with no loss in quality.
We transfer video
tapes from obsolete formats to formats which
are either analog or digital. We also
perform NTSC, PAL, and Secam Format
transfers. Not all aging tapes need
necessarily be transferred, but it's best to
know which tapes in your collection are in
danger of being immediately lost, and which
tapes can be transferred in a gradual,
timely and cost-effective manner.
M&M Video Systems can implement an archive
retrieval system for video tape libraries that
is cost effective. We thoroughly inspect both
the tape conditions and the conditions under
which they are stored.
Many institutions such as hospitals,
schools, colleges, and government agencies
have libraries or archives of recorded
magnetic media such as reel-to-reel tapes,
cassettes, and other obsolete formats of
video (and audio) recordings from decades ago. These
types of recording mediums tend to
deteriorate over time.
A secondary problem is that as technology
progresses, the hardware that produced this
information becomes obsolete, and the
material recorded becomes difficult, if not
impossible, to reproduce in-house.
The problems of aging audio and video
tapes
Even under optimal storage conditions,
magnetic media has a shelf life measured in
a relatively brief decade, or two at most.
Audio and video tapes consist of an acetate,
polyester or mylar base coated with an
oxide, sealed and coated with a lubricant to
help minimize friction through the tape
path. Typically, the lubricant either
evaporates or undergoes a chemical change
rendering it useless. This may cause an
otherwise good tape to come to a complete
halt in the machine due to friction when a
playback is attempted.
Once the lubricant is gone, as the tape
passes through the machine, oxide containing
the recorded information begins to flake
off. Valuable information gets lost and the
tape heads become clogged.
Depending on the composition of the
substrate and the binder
(glue that holds the the oxide to the base),
the tape may actually develop clear spots
where oxide no longer exists. This may cause
the machine to shut down and recorded
material to get lost.
If the substrate becomes brittle it may be
too delicate to make the bends necessary to
complete threading in the machine without
disintegrating.
For material that has been stored for many
years, another consideration is availability
of machinery to play back the recorded
material. This is especially important for
material that may have been recorded on such
obsolete formats as reel-to-reel audio and
reel-to-real video and a variety of
incompatible proprietary formats, all popular
in the '70's, and '80's.
We have experience with many obsolete and unique format
devices. We have developed conservation
techniques to recover and transfer these
endangered recordings to current viable
formats.
