Just thought I'd pass this along....... I've been doing alot of reading recently for the BPG Nats Video Im putting together and I found this very interesting.....ou: It seems that the common practice of writing directly on a burnable CD-R/RW or DVD-R/RW witha Sharpie (or other permanent Marker) is NOT a good practice at all. The Oil in the ink has long-term affects that may not show up this year or next, but WILL render the disk unusable sometime in the future (depending on the quality of the disk it can take as much as 5 years or as little as under 1 year). There are two acceptable methods of labeling 1) A marker designed specifically for this use 2) Labels made for this purpose. The author of the article said he is in the process of re-copying over 700 CD's and DVD's that he created and used a Sharpie on .....luckily, I've ony got a couple hundered :spank: o No:
I'll believe it when I see it cuz. Word was, when CDs were first created they'd only last a couple of years until they turned in to tin foil. I bought a music CD in 1988, and by 1994 it was unreadable. Funny thing was, as it aged the music got softer and softer. Then finally petered out all together. It could just be the way that guy burns them. Or it could be the brand he uses. Or it could be the sharpies. I suppose I shouldn't tempt fate. What marker is meant just for this purpose. Oh, and I have CDs I burned several years ago with Sharpie writing on them that are still fine and have not lost a single one. Not sure why that guy's are crapping out in under a year. I've never had a problem. But I suppose I should switch markers. Oh, and remember when they claimed that using a green marker to paint the outer edge of a CD would make the sound "warmer"? Not sure what ever became of that. I wouldn't panic if I were you. I think you'll be fine.
This has to do with the difference between CD's and CDR(W)'s. They record the information on the underside of the label. The disc itself is just a piece of clear plastic, essentially. Things that can damage the label include solvents in ink, too much pressure from a ball point pen, pulling hard on the edges to get them to come off a center-mounted "peg," etc... I have a CDR that is only a few years old, and I can no longer access the majority of the photos on it. I've tried several computers, including the one used to burn the disc. This is a big issue in my job as digital images for evidentiary purpose are being used more and more. CD's are being found to not be reliable media for archival storage. Read more info here: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/pop/172049_discrot.html?searchpagefrom=1&searchdiff=114 Here's an example of what happened when fingerprint lifting tape was used to get a black-powdered print off of a CDR: http://onin.com/fp/wwwbd/messages/6/1516.html?
I can tell ya one thing, my albums and 45's...remember those, still can play just like they did some 30+ years ago . :laugh: THough I never tried to label them with a sharpe:eek2:
I bought my first CD in 1988, and hundreds of others since then. My CD from 1988 still sounds brand new, and has been listened to many, many, many times...I have never ever experienced a CD wearing out. This is the first time I have heard of thiso No:
FWIW if you buy the real cheap CDR , they can become unreadable after awhile. i have been using a sharpie on all my CDR, and havent noticed a problem yet. i backed up some data on 250+ CDR, over 3 years ago, and only 1 disc had some unreadable data.
Yep they are right. Though I have found the skinny tip / fine point markers has no effect. The big wide tip ones are awful. Even weeks after it has dried. The ink give off chemicals that will burn into another CD on top of it. I found the marker thing out the hard way myself. And mostly I use dry erase markers now.
Heat also seams to help the effect. Its the Cd's I keep in my car that would go bad very fast. The heat must make the chemicals leach. Some disc would get a ghost pattern on them and others would get a funny white spot that grows and then make the top part flake or scratch off easy. Like a fungus between the two layers. Ill get some pics.
You can see how the writing from 1 CD transfered to another across from it. The Cd's never touch but are across from each other label to label. You can see the whit funny mark starting to show up. The CD will work fine until I muck with it and the top film flakes off.
