CD-R Test No. 2 Survival to direct sunlight and moisture


A small number of CD-Rs were left outside a balcony for 8 months, from the beginning of June 2004 until the end of January 2005. They were positioned with the media resting on a leaf of paper, and with the label upside. A small stone was put approximately above the center hole to keep in position each CD.

In this way the CDs had been exposed to direct sunlight (summer '04 was quite hot), more on one side that on the other, as they were never turned (as we saw, central hole and opposite side were somewhat protected by a small stone which made some shadow). They also caught some rain and even some snow (in January).

They were submitted, as far as possible, to the very same conditions. However, as they lied outside, it is of course possible that some of them had been exposed to unexpected hazards. For instance, small pieces of wood carried by the wind may have hit some them and not some others. The test, in any case shows that often the same Brand/Type of CDs suffered consistent degrees of damage.

BRAND

TYPE

MANUF.

ATIP

MEDIA

YR

CNT

S

DATA READING

MEDIA CONDITION

LABEL CONDITION

EMTEC CD-R 80 1x-24x Computer Support Italy 97.24.26 Short 04 A 1x EAC no errors @ 3,0x - quality 99,5% No visible alteration Several small scratches
EMTEC CD-R 80 1x-24x Computer Support Italy 97.24.26 Short 04 A 1x EAC no errors @ 3,3x - quality 99,8% No visible alteration Few small scratches
EMTEC CD-R 80 1x-24x Computer Support Italy 97.24.26 Short 04 A 1x EAC no errors @ 3,0x - quality 99,7% No visible alteration Few small scratches
EMTEC CD-R 80 1x-24x Moser Baer India 97.17.06 Short 04 D 8x Can copy most files @ high speed (slowing down towards the end), no errors No visible alteration Few small scratches near the external border
EMTEC CD-R 80 1x-48x Computer Support Italy 97.24.26 Short 04 D 8x Copy OK @ high speed No visible alteration Few small scratches
Nortek 650Mb - 74 Min. Hitachi Maxell, Ltd. 97.25.22 Long 00 D 2x Copy OK, but rather slow (18 min. ca. for 650Mb) Media slightly altered near the external border (color is almost brown instead of azure-green) Label can be easily scratched. Once scratched, if comes off in piccole scaglie
Princo CD-R74 (2x-4x-6x-8x) Princo Co. 97.27.28 Short 00 D 2x Can't read contents, prompt> dir d: gives "drive not ready" Media altered (exp. near external border)
Prostore Multispeed Moser Baer India 97.17.08 Short 04 D 8x Copy OK @ high speed No visible alteration
Prostore Multispeed Moser Baer India 97.17.08 Short 04 D 8x Copy OK @ high speed No visible alteration
Sony CD-R CDQ-74CN Sony Corp. 97.24.11 Long 00 D 2x Can copy only some files, many others give "Error reading from file" External part of media is altered (yellow-golden instead of azure)
TDK CD-R80 Reflex-Ultra-x Ritek Co. 97.15.12 Short 01 D 8x Files & folders an be viewed from explorer, copy is impossible (copies just some files @ very slow speed, then stops with "Error reading from file"). Prompt> dir d: gives "drive not ready" External part of media is altered (yellow-golden instead of azure). In one place the black ink used to write on the label has filtered through the media (possibly because of a small surface defect)
Unkn. Unkn. (Silver) Moser Baer India 97.17.06 Short 04 A 1x EAC works very slowly (1,0x), stops after 3 tracks and system must be restarted No visible alteration Several small scratches
Unkn. Unkn. (Silver) Moser Baer India 97.17.06 Short 04 A 1x EAC works very slowly (1,1x), can extract 3 tracks out of the first 6, stops at track 7 and system must be restarted No visible alteration Few small scratches, expecially near the external border
Unkn. Unkn. (Silver) Moser Baer India 97.17.06 Short 04 A 1x EAC very slow (1,2x), but can be completed succesfully (quality 98,5%) No visible alteration Few small scratches
Unkn. Unkn. (White lbl) Multi Media Masters _Machinery SA 97.28.26 Short 04 D 8x Copy OK @ quite high speed No visible alteration Label unblemished
Unkn. Unkn. (White lbl) Multi Media Masters _Machinery SA 97.28.26 Short 04 D 8x Copy OK @ reasonable speed No visible alteration Label unblemished
Unkn. Unkn. (White lbl) Multi Media Masters _Machinery SA 97.28.26 Short 04 A 1x EAC correct @ 2,1x - quality 98% No visible alteration Slightly damaged, si stacca a scaglie in prossimità dei bordi
Unkn. Unkn. (White lbl) Multi Media Masters _Machinery SA 97.28.26 Short 04 A 1x EAC correct @ 2,5x - quality 98,9% No visible alteration Etichetta parzialmente danneggiata, si stacca a scaglie in prossimità dei bordi
Unkn. Unkn. (White lbl) Multi Media Masters _Machinery SA 97.28.26 Short 04 A 1x EAC correct @ 2,5x - quality 99,8% No visible alteration Etichetta parzialmente danneggiata, si stacca a scaglie in prossimità dei bordi
Unkn. Unkn. (White lbl) Multi Media Masters _Machinery SA 97.28.26 Short 04 A 1x EAC correct @ 2,8x - quality 99,8% No visible alteration Label unblemished
Verbatim CD-R 32x Pastel Disc Taiyo Yuden Co. Ltd. 97.24.01   02 D 2x Copy OK @ quite high speed External part of media is altered (yellow-golden instead of azure)
Verbatim SuperAZO Crystal CD-R 48x Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. 97.34.23 Long 04 A 1x EAC OK but quite slow (1,2x - overall quality 98,9%), last tracks very slow (0,1x - quality 95,1%). Media slightly altered near the external border (color is getting brown instead of azure-green)
Verbatim SuperAZO Crystal CD-R 48x Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. 97.34.23 Long 04 A 1x EAC track 1 OK, track 2 very slow (0,0x, quality 92,9%), then hangs. Causes system instability - PC must be restarted Media slightly altered near the external border (color is getting brown instead of azure-green) A marking made with a "Staedtler Permanent Lumocolor" red pencil (supposedly suitable for CD/DVD) filtered through the label to damage media (it can be clearly seen from below)

Notes:
CNT - A = Audio, D = Data
S - Recording Speed (all have been burned with an L.G. CED-8080B CD-RW Drive)
Manufacturer, ATIP and Media type have been identified by CDR Identifier v. 1.63.

COMMENTS

This test shows that not necessarily well-known branded CD-Rs survive better to atmospheric hazards.

Disks can be subdivided into three groups:

GOOD - No problems

QUITE GOOD - All files/tracks could be retrieved, but either media and/or label show clear signs of alteration, or data was difficult to extract

BAD - Extraction was unsuccesful and resulted in a loss of data

If we classify each disk this way, we may build the following rankings (best before, worst after):

EMTEC CD-R 80 1x-24x Computer Support Italy 97.24.26 4 Good
Prostore Multispeed Moser Baer India 97.17.08 2 Good
Unkn. Unkn. (White lbl) Multi Media Masters _Machinery SA 97.28.26 3 Good, 3 Quite Good
Verbatim CD-R 32x Pastel Disc Taiyo Yuden Co. Ltd. 97.24.01 1 Quite Good
EMTEC CD-R 80 1x-24x Moser Baer India 97.17.06 1 Quite Good
Nortek 650Mb - 74 Min. Hitachi Maxell, Ltd. 97.25.22 1 Quite Good
Verbatim SuperAZO Crystal CD-R 48x Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. 97.34.23 1 Quite Good, 1 Bad
Unkn. Unkn. (Silver) Moser Baer India 97.17.06 1 Quite Good, 2 Bad
Sony CD-R CDQ-74CN Sony Corp. 97.24.11 1 Bad
TDK CD-R80 Reflex-Ultra-x Ritek Co. 97.15.12 1 Bad
Princo CD-R74 (2x-4x-6x-8x) Princo Co. 97.27.28 1 Bad

Please note that these results are by no means definitive, as the number of tested CDs was quite small. I am carrying out a newer, similar test, involving more than 200 CD-Rs. Note also that, in the case of the TDK disk, it is just possible that it was hit by something which caused a serious surface damage making the disk unreadable. Alternately, the disk must have had some serious surface defect.


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First published on the web on Feb. 16, 2006