This site will tell you about an exciting new approach to home video.  Video CDs (VCDs) can hold up to 80 minutes of VHS-quality video and stereo sound on a standard CD-R that you can play in your DVD player and your computer.  Like DVDs, VCDs use digital video compression and encoding techniques to produce a digital version of your video that can last for your entire life and beyond.  As a result of changes in the market since I first created this site, DVDs have become a more cost-effective approach to preservation of home video.  I've updated the site to reflect this, and to add some information about DVD transfers as well.  Most of the material about CD-R life applies equally to DVD-R media.

Video tapes are not forever...

Do you have important events in your life stored on video tape (VHS, 8mm, VHS-C, etc)?  Unfortunately those videos are fading away with every passing year.  Your precious video records of weddings, births, graduations and other significant events are losing their signal, even if you keep them sitting on the shelf under ideal conditions!

Of course, few of us keep our tapes at the constant temperature and humidity required to maximize their life.  To make matters worse, every time we play a tape, it wears out a little bit because it's pulled under tension against parts inside your VCR.  As time passes, the plastic in the tape itself begins to break down.  And many tapes are rendered useless when the case fails,  making the tape inside unplayable.

Even making copies of your tapes regularly can't fully protect your video from loss.  Every time an analog tape is copied, a bit of the signal is lost - forever!  (Unless you have a Digital-8 or Mini-DV camcorder, your home video tapes are probably analog).  Experts say that at best, your videos will show noticeable signs of deterioration within 10 years.  There may be even less of your videos left for future generations than the yellowing photos of your grandparents you saw as a child!

Can anything be done?

What you need is a way to make an exact copy of your video today, and a way to store it that will last for considerably longer than 10 years.  Thanks to modern technology, you can capture a digital version of your video today at a reasonable cost, and enjoy the comfort of knowing that it will suffer no further loss over the next 70 to 200 years.  

You can have your video transferred to DVD or Video CD.  DVD video is stored on DVD-R discs, while VCDs store digital videos on CD-R discs.  Each can be played over and over without damage because the player never touches the recording surface.  They're sealed to protect the information stored on them, and have no moving parts to fail.  DVDs and VCDs can be copied repeatedly without losing a single bit of information.  They make great low-cost gifts for friends & family.

Though VCDs used to cost much less than DVDs, the price difference is rapidly disappearing.  VCDs can contain many of the same features as DVDs.  They contain VHS-quality video and CD-quality audio, and can be played in your computer's CD player, while DVDs require a DVD-ROM drive or set-top DVD player.  Some companies will break your video into tracks accessible directly from a menu.  Some will even add professional transitions and background music to your video.

See the Tape Life and CD-R Life pages for information about media lifetimes; see the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page for more VCD information, and the Links page for links to sites with more VCD information and VCD transfer service.  The DVD page contains links to a series of pages about DVD encoding technology and what to look for in a DVD transfer.

You are visitor to this page

Copyright 2001, 2002.  All Rights Reserved.

Please direct comments or questions about this web site to: webmaster