Message-Id: <199912091915.MAA15584@dns.ccit.arizona.edu> Date: Thu, 9 Dec 1999 12:11:57 -0700 From: Tim Au Yeung <mailto:ytau@UCALGARY.CA> Subject: Re: DVD To: mailto:IMAGELIB@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
Hi Eileen,I've had some experience with DVD-R and what not (although not in the current context).
One of the primary difficulties I had with the volatile DVD situation was the proliferation of standards. If the entire intention is strictly long term archival storage, the overall cost per megabyte is similar between CD-R and the various rewritable DVD types. Currently, it costs $1 - $1.50 per CD-R for 650 mb. Rewritable DVD media generally is running between $20 - $30 for between 2.6 gb and 4.3 gb. In otherwords, while the DVD-RAM (and others) can store about 4 to 6 times the capacity of the CD-R, the cost can be 15-20 times greater. While the difference isn't signficant, it can mount up over the long term.
The problem is more substantial when you move to the DVD-R. Drives run for $10,000 - $15,000 (last time I checked) and the media $40 - $60.
One of the biggest problems is that if you have to change something on a disc, the cost of change is higher with the DVD-R; this is somewhat mitigated by the DVD-RAM solutions but even then, the time it takes to change something is higher (since you're dealing with a larger quantity of data).
The silver lining in the situation appears when you start thinking of the various solutions in terms of access as opposed to storage. In this case, DVD-RAM and other similar formats should be ruled out right away as they are not compatible with DVD-ROM drives. When comparing the CD-R to the DVD-R in terms of storage, the advantage of the higher capacity DVD-R becomes more apparent. Primarily, this comes in the form of the various CD jukeboxes available. For the majority of these, the mechanisms need not be changed significantly to accomodate the DVD-R. This means that $20,000 CD jukeboxes often translate to $22,000 DVD jukeboxes (as the cost of a bare DVD-ROM drive is not much greater than a bare CD-ROM drive). This means that you get 6 times the capacity for little extra money, which adds up significantly when you factor in that it would take 6 $20,000 CD jukeboxes ($120,000) to equal a single $22,000 DVD jukebox.
Hope this helps.
Tim
-------- Tim Au Yeung Manager of Digitization Initiatives Information Resources (Press) University of Calgary voice: 403.220.8975 email: ytau (at) ucalgary.ca
----- Original Message ----- From: Eileen Mathias <mailto:mathias@ACNATSCI.ORG> To: <mailto:IMAGELIB@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU> Sent: Thursday, December 09, 1999 11:29 AM Subject: DVD
>
>
> Hello.
>
> I haven't heard a peep from the list serve, so I guess everyone is still
burning to CD. Is anyone out there? >
> Eileen
>
>
> Eileen C. Mathias
> Information Services Librarian &
> Coordinator, Alfred M Greenfield Digital
> Imaging Center for Collections
> Ewell Sale Stewart Library
> The Academy of Natural Sciences
> 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
> Philadelphia, PA 19103
> 215-299-1140
> 215-299-1144 FAX
> mailto:mathias@acnatsci.org
>