Vhs To Dvd - - Digital Transfers Made Easy!

So many of us have beautiful family memories saved on some kind of magnetic tape

. How many of us already know that these tapes have a limited shelf life of about eight to ten years? The formats in question would be such examples as VHS, S-VHS, VHS-C, Betamax, Video8, Hi8, Digital8, and mini DV. All of these are on magnetic tape. Only Digital 8 and mini DV are actually digital and not analog. But even these two have a limited life span because of the magnetic tape media.

Magnetic tape is made of tiny particles that are held on the tape with a special chemical binder. The binder adheres the magnetic molecules to the film backing as well as creating a smooth surface to facilitate the tape's transportation through a tape machine. Additional lubricants, cleaning materials, etc. are added to prevent excessive tension, tape drop-outs, and static charges that attract dust and dirt. Since magnetic tape is actually a physical medium, there are many advantages in terms of short-term stability. The trouble is that this medium is very susceptible to decay over a specific length of time, depending on the environmental conditions.

The point of failure for mag tape is usually the binder. If the binder loses its softness and lubrication, the tape can become unreadable and will not perform. This degradation process is inevitable but there are quite a variety of preventative measures we can take to preserve our VHS tapes and other tapes just a little bit longer until we can transfer these precious memories to a digital format. Proper storage is foremost among these methods. All magnetic tapes should be placed on a shelf just like a book, standing on end. Never store them near any devices that produce magnetic fields. This would include audio speakers, video cabling, computers, and electric motors, anything that gives off a magnetic field. Stable and moderate temperatures with a minimum of humidity provide a very good environment for tape storage as well. Also, it is recommended that once in a while all tapes be fast-forwarded and rewound again to avoid uneven stretching.

This said there is no way to prevent magnetic tapes from expiring. Transfer your material to a digital format as soon as you can to prevent any more degradation to those images. As far as DVD goes, some of these may only have a twenty-five year life span. I recommend transferring any magnetic tape formats to digital files stored on computer hard drive. These files can be periodically copied to newer media as technology advances. Multiple back-ups can be made more easily with digital files. The rule of thumb should be to have a primary copy, a back-up copy, and a back-up copy in a second location.

Take action now - - before it is too late. Good luck!

by: Marty Holthaus

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