When someone talks about 'Beta Video' what are they talking about?

You may be interested to learn that there is no one video that can be called Beta video. In fact, the term Beta is used to describe a number of different tape formats.

Firstly there are the consumer formats: Betamax, Betacord, Beta Movie, and Beta Hi Fi. These are all basically the same tape format rebranded. Betamax (Sony) and Betacord (Sanyo) were the first tape. Sony introduced Beta Hi Fi as an upgrade to its initial Betamax. Betamovie was the term Sony used for its video cameras. The first ones recorded but did not play back. SuperBeta was an improved Betamax offering a higher quality. Beta I, II & III also refer to the quality setting on a Betamax in NTSC (American) format. Whereas Betamax had originally about 250 lines of resolution, Super Beta had about 300 and Beta ED had 500 lines of resolution.

However, there were also the variants of commercial formats. Betacam Oxide, Betacam SP, Betacam SX, Betacam IMX and Digital Betacam. Whilst the tape size was the same as the original Betamax, the internal mechanism for the commercial tapes was quite different, providing better transport and better quality images. Betacam SX, IMX and Digital Betacam were all digital. Betacam SP was the standard for the broadcast industry for many years until Digital Betacam took over. Betacam SX was mainly used by current affairs and news gathering sources.

Should I transfer my films to Standard Definition or High Definition?

This really depends on a number of factors:

• the size of the frame
• the lighting
• the ability of the original camera operator
• the type of film used
• how the footage has been stored

Whereas there is no doubt that 9.5mm and 16mm film will benefit from high definition scans as the resolution is above that of high definition, even Standard 8 and Super 8 film will benefit.

The reasons for this are simple. The film has more resolution than standard definition but less definition than high definition. However, there is also a cumulative effect as the grain is different size and shapes on different films and different frames. This actually increases the resolution further than the direct correlation from film to digital would give.

However, this additional quality/clarity comes at a cost as the amount of computing time and staff time is far greater for high definition that standard definition.

Where the film has been shot well in good light, it will provide much better detail and colour. Where the lighting was poor or the operator was not skilled, it may not be worth the extra cost associated with the transfer.

Many People Assume that all VHS to DVD transfers are created equal. In fact this is not the case.

DVD Infinity don't just copy VHS tapes to DVD. There are a number of differences between DVD Infinity's VHS to DVD transfer and other methods of transferring your VHS to DVD.

DVD Infinity does not just use the low quality consumer grade equipment you will find used elsewhere. Instead, Broadcast Playback and Optimisation Equipment is used. This results in better quality more stable images and images not lost due to dropouts or equipment being unable to read the signal. You would be surprised how often we receive at order where the customer has taken the tape elsewhere and they are told there is nothing there or it cannot be retrieved.

Whereas other operators use one deck, DVD Infinity have over 30 professional decks. Our operators select the best deck for each of your tapes. Different tapes will proviee better playback in different decks. It is important to get the very best out of your video signal.

Depending on the brand of tape & original recording device, the way it was recorded and the state of the tape, one deck will play your tape better than others.

Rather than using consumer equipment to make the analog conversion, DVD Infinity use Broadcast Quality analog to digital conversion. This, again, results in better quality images from your VHS tapes.

Whilst others leave eveything in, DVD Infinity removes footage that absolutely nobody wants (blanks and static, where camera cap was left on or the camera was facing the ground for long periods). Why renovate the kitchen only to leave garbage stains all over the walls?

Whilst others may add an exact number of chapters, add them every X minutes or not add them at all, DVD Infinity add event chapter markers (ie. at each change of event). It makes more sense doesn't it?

Rather than using consumer compression, DVD Infinity uses Hollywood grade compression. This results in truer colours, better lighting and contrast and better images especially in panning and zooming. It also means no freezing, jagged edges or ghosting that is sometimes seen in productions that use lower quality compression.

DVD Infinity use the highest quality professional thermal printers and professional designs. Not only does this result in a better finish that the inkjet printers, it will not stain when a liquid is dropped on it. Furthermore, these days some operators are using a varnish over the inkjet prints and this leads to cracked discs later on as the varnish and the disc contract and expand at different rates.

Whilst most operators use lower quality media (to keep price down), DVD Infinity use highest quality media resulting in better compatibility and longer life

Unfortunately, ensuring that the output that we produce is the best possible output takes more time and resources. When having material transferred, know what you are getting!

When looking for a way to scan your old negatives and slides onto digital (a CD, DVD or Blu-ray for instance), there is a great deal of difference between one scanner and another, one service and another.

One scanning service may say I can produce a file that is X MB in size. Immediately, you may think that this service provides a better service because logically a larger file will have better detail. NOT SO. It is quite easy to produce a large file with low quality. This is no indication of quality. Lower quality scanners will not pick up the same detail, especially in the dark areas and light areas.

One slide scanning service may say. We use a scanner that scans at 2000dpi whereas another scanning service will only scan at 3200dpi. Surely, the company who scans at 3200dpi will provide a better result. Incorrect again! A rating of 3200dpi is normally associated with a lower end scanner or an optically enhanced scan. An optically enhanced scanner is not actually identifying more detail. Instead it is rounding objects out to estimate what the detail would be. A good scanner will have settings of 4000dpi (around the size of the grain of the film). However, just because a scanner has these settings does not mean that it is a good scanner.

So what makes a good scanner? The optics and circuitry will determine the best scanners. The best optics will resolve detail in all lighting situations and provide more detail in the images. They will provide 48bit colour depth (some lower quality scanners try to do this). They will have some sort of dust and scratch removal (usually using 3D scanning techniques to resolve). They will have other tools for handling the idiosyncrasies for all types of slides and negatives. Professional scanners will handle most formats of slides and negatives including 35mm (135), 120, 126, 127, 220 negatives (also called medium format), 35mm, 110 (half frame and full frame), 126, 127 and medium format slides.

However, the scanner is not the only part of the equation. In order to operate these scanners effectively, the operator has to be skilled technician to get the best out of the slides or negatives.

DVD Infinity have been scanning slides negatives to CD, DVD & Blu-ray at highest quality since 2000.

Regardless of the cost, it is always better to do some homework before submitting your slides to us. Not only will you end up with a better result but it will cost less as well.

At the time the slides were taken, the person who took the slides may well have seen a majestic mountain and absolutely needed to take a photo of it. However, it now has no significance and is only a hill in the background. It is time to lose the hill photo.

Also, in many instances, 10 slides of exactly the same thing were taken to ensure that one good one came out. Now is the time to just keep the one good slide.

In preserving your slides, normally the things that are important are the people and the unique experiences that we have had along the way.

This is also the time to make sure that the slides are in sequence, as once they are on a CD, DVD or Blu-ray the sequence is set.

Whilst we have referred to 35mm slides, we also transfer 110, 120, 126 and 127 slides to CD, DVD & Blu-ray at highest quality.

There are effectively four options:
1. Optical Disk
2. Magnetic Tape
3. Hard Drive
4. Flash Memory

Of these options only Optical Disk and Magnetic Tapes allow for read only options. With Optical media we use DVD-R and with Blu-ray we use BD-R. This means that the content cannot be overwritten and lost.

Digital magnetic tapes are also good. However, as they are based on holding magnetic fields they will degrade over time. This means that over time you lose what you are trying to preserve.

Optical media can last a lot longer that other media if looked after. Film and LP records are examples of optical media. Manufacturers tell us that they can last over 100 years if looked after.

Magnetic media does degrade over time even without usage. We find even tapes that are less than 30 years old can sometimes be difficult to recover.

Magnetic hard drives have other problems associated with them. Apart from the possibility of being overwritten, they are not stable. They can suffer from physical faults. Dropping a hard drive from even 1 foot off the ground can lead to irreparable damage. Hardware can fail. A power surge when connected can cause problems. Software can cause problems. Viruses, etc can render the drive inoperable. Also, they have a limited number of read/write operations before they are rendered inoperable. Magnetic drives are great for storage for editing but not for long term. A hard drive is great for storing large uncompressed files but the very least a backup should be made on another form of media.

Flash Memory is becoming more popular. However, just as with hard drives, the media has a limited number of read/writes becoming inoperable. Lower quality media will have less than higher quality media. Whilst flash memory is yet unproven it is probably not a great idea to entrust your most precious memories onto media that will expire after a certain number of read / writes.

In conclusion, whilst no media will last forever, optical media still provide the best preservation options at present. Even gold and diamonds erode over time.

Moreover, It is important to have a backup.

In the early days of video, there were 3 competing broadcast standards depending on where in the world you were located. Namely, these were NTSC, PAL and SECAM.

NTSC (National Television Standards Committe) was the standard adopted in the USA for digital this was set to 640 x 480 pixels @ 29.97 frames per second (fps). VHS analog was normally 320 x 240 pixels @ 29.97fps. It was used throughout North America and most of South America.

Secam aka SÉCAM (Séquentiel couleur à mémoire, was French for "Sequential Color with Memory") and was yes you guessed it a French standard. It was analog only 360 x 288 pixels @ 25 fps. It was used throughout France and USSR mainly. Digital formats in SECAM countries use PAL digital formats.

PAL (Phase Alternating Line) was used throughout most of the rest of the world. Digital resolution is 720 x 576 pixels @ 25fps. Analogue is 360 x 288 pixels @ 25fps.

So back to the original question. NTSC DVD players do not play PAL DVDs. Hence, if you are sending a DVD to USA (or another NTSC country then it will need to be NTSC unless you want it to be watched on a computer only.

However, if an NTSC DVD is sent to a PAL country, the DVD will generally play in the PAL country DVD Player because it will support both NTSC and PAL.

So did you know that whilst a majority of Blockbuster films shown at our cinemas and shot in Hollywood, USA, the quality viewed on DVD in USA is less than what we see in Australia?

The reason for this is that the film is originally shot on 35mm film at 24fps. Now 35mm film has greater resolution than both American (NTSC) and Australian (PAL) DVDs. However, with Australian DVDs we downscale to 720 x 576 pixels at 25fps (frames per second), whereas in America it is downscaled to 640 x 480 pixels at 29.97 fps. This means that the degradation in the USA is worse in both resolution and frame interpolation or frame doubling.

When preserving memories, it is always best to preserve from the original (unless it has been damaged or is too worn).

For example, when transferring stills, often copies have been made along the way. The original negative or slide will contain substantially more information than a print. With a negative or slide, light passes through the film to a sensor whereas with a photo, light reflects back and some information is lost. A copy of a photograph will be even worse.

The same thing applies with respect to movie film. If we can scan from your original 8mm, 9.5mm or 16mm film, we will be able to get a substantially better quality than something that has already been transferred. The reason is that our scan will be at a quality that is above the quality used to transfer the footage previously. Many people have us transfer a VHS copy of their film. Unfortunately, it invariably suffers from lost colour, detail and often from artefacts like flicker, ghosting, frame blending, hot spots (where whites become overexposed) , etc.

With regards to analog audio or video tape, the original will always be the best. Any analog to analog conversion will suffer a loss of quality. Also, many operations will use (or will have used) cheaper of outdated equipment that provides a poorer signal than what DVD Infinity uses today.

The signal is clear. Always use the best (most original) version for transferring.

We get asked on numerous occasions if someone's films will catch on fire if not stored well. What they are referring to is the nitrate films of Cinema Paradiso fame that burnt down the cinema in the famous Italian film.

All 8mm and 9.5mm film is acetate or polyester based film, also called safety film. This also applies to 16mm (except some 16mm film that was shot in China and Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s and not known to have been exported to the West).

Only older 35mm film (pre 1951) may normally be nitrate film. 35mm film will rarely have been used for home movies due to the enormous expense of shooting on it. This is the film that you see projected at your local cinema. If it is nitrate film, it will normally have the word "nitrate" printed between the perforations and the edge.

So there is normally no reason to be alarmed at storing your family's old home movie films. They will not catch alight and burn your house down.

CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray disks can last a long time. In fact the manufacturers tell us that they will last between 100 and 200 years. However, they need to be cared for properly. There are a number of things that we can do to make sure that our disks last as long as possible.

1. Storage Your disks should be stored individually, usually in their own individual dust free container. Plastic containers are better than metal or paper based containers. Metal containers can oxidise over time and paper containers can absorb moisture - both are detrimental to the longevity of the disks. Store disks in a clean, dark, dry area away from heat.

2. Surface Contamination/Damage Surface contamination can cause disks to skip, freeze, no play or pixelate. So it is best to avoid it wherever possible. Only pick up a disk by the centre hub and the edge. Never touch the reflective surface of a disk. By doing so, you will transfer oils from your fingers. Fingerprints act like small oil slicks and make it difficult for the laser lens to read the contents.

Likewise, never leave a disk so that the reflective side is face down. If a disk is placed reflective side down it will gather dust and other contaminants that can cause difficulties in reading the contents.

Always ensure that there is nothing sharp where the disk is laid down. Even a pin prick or a scratch on the label side can render a disk unplayable. Whereas error correction can be used to overcome errors from scratches on the reflective side, the label side is a different kettle of fish. If the label side has even a pin prick sized hole and light shines through the reflective layer will not reflect and the disk may not be able to be played.

Disks should only ever be marked with felt tipped pets or printed with high quality thermal printers. Never apply paper labels or inkjet print on the disk surface. These produce inconsistency in the distribution of the weight on the surface of the disk leading to difficulties in playing over time. Paper labels have the added effect of becoming unglues over time and this exacerbates the problems. Make sure that the disk is sitting properly in the disk tray before closing the tray.

Keep away from heat (radiators, heaters, back of car etc), direct sunlight, moisture, children, animals, etc. Never play shaped DVDs

3. Disks not playing There can be a number of reasons why disks are not playing.

a) The disk surface has dirt, fingerprints on the surface. If this is the case, use a micro-fibre (optical cleaning) cloth to clean from the centre of the disk to the outside Do not apply liquids or solvents to the disk. In extreme cases, isopropyl alcohol may be used but is generally not recommended.

b) Dust on the lens Use a lens cleaner (a disk with little brushes) - cleans the disk.

c) Laser lens is out of alignment Normally you would need to send the player to a technician for repair.

d) Poor authoring, poor quality media or bad burn

e) Scratched disk Many video stores will have a disk cleaning machine. However, many of these machines actually grind a layer off and unless used by a skilled operator on recordable disks can render the disk unfixable.

Home movies were first brought to the masses by Pathe and Kodak in 1922 (9.5mm film) and 1923 (16mm film) respectfully. In 1935, Kodak produced one amazing product that positioned them above all else in the film arena - "Kodachrome". Not only did Kodachrome produce excellent vivid colour and detail, the developing process ensured that the film kept its colour better than any other film available.

At DVD Infinity we see Kodachrome that was shot back to 1935 on Standard 8, Super 8, 16mm & 35mm film and later slides and negatives that have held their colours so well that apart from the fashions, motor vehicles, hairstyles you would think it had been shot yesterday.

Kodachrome was the best product Kodak ever made; some would argue it represented the last excellent product that Kodak produced. However, in 2005, the death of Kodachrome was announced. No more Kodachrome was to be produced or sold after 2005 and the last Kodak processing plant closed in 2006. In some circles, photographers and cinefilm makers rushed to buy and refrigerate what stocks were available. Christmas 2010 marked the closure of the last independent lab capable of processing the complex Kodachrome films.

Since closing down this product line, Kodak has filed for bankruptcy, has sold off its intellectual property and is attempting to sell off its still film division.

As Christmas is now approaching and it represents the 2 year anniversary of the death of Kodachrome - lets take a minute to reflect - Lest We Forget.

Please note that whilst Kodachrome has died, DVD Infinity still sell, process and scan Standard 8 and Super 8 film in b/w and colour. Long live movie film!

We often have customers who call us and say they have one thing when in fact they have something else. This is not because they are intentionally trying to mislead. It is because the descriptions used are so common place that people don't know any different.

8mm video tape is a cartridge format about the same size as an audio cassette, It came in 3 varieties. Video8, Hi8 and Digital8. Some people refer to Video8 as Standard 8 or even Regular 8. This is deceptive, as Standard 8 (aka Regular 8), is actually a film format. Likewise, some people refer to Hi8 as Super 8. Again Super 8 is actually a film format.

8mm film (including Standard 8, Super 8 and Single 8) normally comes on reels. However, before it is chemically processed it comes in a square cartridge. Some 8mm film contains sound. However, most is silent.

8mm video tape is brown in colour and does not have any perforations in it. 8mm film has little images on it. In some rare cases, 8mm video tape could be perforated in order to record sound for later synchronisation onto a Super 8 film. Both 8mm film and 8mm video are 8mm wide.

Once upon a time (1928 to be exact), in a faraway land (USA), a mouse was born. His name was Mickey Mouse.

Since then he has been held captive by Disney using the dual shackles of Copyright and Trademark registration. From 1955, under Australian law, copyright exists in everything that one creates, and includes (lyrics for a song, music for a song, a publication, or video, still image, etc ). It was no longer necessary to register the copyright. It was automatic. The law automatically gave the owner of the copyright the sole right to copy (or allow to be copied) the work at his discretion for up to 50 years and later 70 years after his death.

However, even before 1955, it was possible in the USA to register the copyright for 75 years. In 1998, the copyright was extended to 95 years. All Disney and many other works were registered as copyrighted materials prior to this date.

Does this mean that when the registration expires, Mickey Mouse (currently worth about $3 billion) will be able to work for other masters? On the contrary, Mickey Mouse (and all other Disney characters) are also trademarked (which lasts for eternity) which means that they will never be produced by anybody apart from Disney (and its licensees).

What the article illustrates is the difficulty in trying to ascertain which works are in and out of the public domain. ie without a customer providing proof of the date a commercial work was produced, the name of the copyright owner, the date of death of the coyright owner and that no copyright or trademark registration exists, DVD Infinity cannot copy the footage.

Please note that the above is a simplified version of copyright. In reality, copyright law and trademark law is extremely complex and this article does not purport to give advice on the matter.

In the 1950s, an entrepreneurial Australian engineer by the name of Alan Kleeberg created an adapter that allowed the silent 1948 Pathe Gem projectors to play sound. The adapter became known as the Kleesound adapter. The remarkable thing is that this projector was made of all Australian parts.

It is hard to fathom these days that anything electronically in Australia would be made in Australia from all Australian parts. However, prior to the 1980s, Australia had a well respected manufacturing industry in the television arena.

Customers value company longevity. Many companies have audio visual records dating back quite some time. These archives hold great wealth.

Unfortunately, many old audio, video and film formats are becoming extinct as the equipment required to play them becomes increasingly difficult to obtain, maintain and repair. Formats like 2", DCT, Technicolor CVC, Video 2000, ¼" Video tape and PCM audio are very fast becoming impossible to transfer.

Many companies hold a great deal of footage on a variety of footage on a number of different formats. This is a precious asset of immense value if transported to the digital domain. It can be used in marketing, promotion, training, occupational health and safety, legal, and many other areas to generate sales, reduce risk and increase profitability.

However, these valuable assets will become unusable if not transferred soon and the value lost, as the technology, spare parts, skills to repair and maintain them, and the skills and equipment used to transfer it are all becoming obsolete.

From a finance point of view, the asset should be costed like an option. Whilst it has a great future value at the moment, the longer it is left, the greater the cost and lower the realisable value of the asset. The reason for this is that it will cost more to transfer in the future (if still possible) as the means to salvage the footage becomes increasingly scarce. Also, the quality obtained from a transfer of the footage in the future will be less than it is now as the footage suffers greater loss of quality and the equipment used becomes more worn.

Some of these assets may have been used in your organisation for

• Induction Videos
• Training Videos
• Television Commercials
• Environmental Impact Studies
• Documentaries
• Promotional Videos
• Seminars and Conferences
• Information Dissemination
• OH&S Videos
• Investor Relations
• Product Launch
• Product and Service Demonstration
• Radio Commercials Audio
• Power Point Presentations
• Websites

DVD Infinity is uniquely poised to be able to convert your entire Video, Film and Audio archival libraries at the highest quality, into a valuable digital asset. We handle more video, film and audio formats than any other organisation in Australia making us the ideal choice to look after your archiving needs.

We can reedit, reformat and recondition them providing you new ways to store, access, distribute and reuse them making them immensely valuable.

Do you have old 8mm, 9.5mm or 16mm film that is fairly badly mould ridden? Did you know that applying liquids or solvents to old film can actually cause more damage than good? The original colour of the film is created by a chemical process. It is fragile. The use of chemical solvents can make it unstable and erode the chemical that provides the colour on the film.

DVD Infinity has been working on producing Hollywood grade digital noise reduction (DNR) for small gauge film scanned in either hi definition or standard definition for the last few years. It is now ready. The process allows us to reduce the effect of mould, mildew, dust, scratches, etc that appear on one frame of film but not adjacent frames.

At the same time, colour restoration is performed. This means that whilst the film submitted may have lost a lot of colour, some of this can be restored to an extent using our specialised hardware and software.

The service represents yet another first for DVD Infinity and is available as an additional service for film that is heavily mould ridden or lost a lot of colour.

DVD Infinity is the leader in small gauge film scanning and restoration.

All our memories are stored in the following types of media

• Film (including movie film, slides and negatives)
• Magnetic Tapes/Drives (video & audio tapes, hard drives)
• Flash Memory (SD cards, memory sticks, etc)
• Paper based records (photos, records, etc)

The main factors that can cause damage to your most precious possessions are heat, light (especially direct sunlight), moisture, magnetic and electrical fields (magnetic tapes, hard drives, flash memory), dirt, dust, scratches and tears.

When selecting a place to store your memories, you want to find a cupboard in the centre of the house. To avoid humidity they should be stored away from bathrooms, kitchens, laundries, cellars or basements and off concrete floors. To avoid heat, they should not be stored in attics and should be stored out of direct sunlight. Magnetic tapes (including sound movie film) should be kept away from magnets (speakers, headphones, microphones, old style telephones, fridge and torch magnets) to avoid the magnetic fields. To avoid contamination, it is best to keep away from areas that gather dust or dirt and normally in dust proof but generally breathable containers (to avoid contamination).

Where moisture is a problem, it should be stored with silica gel (or other moisture absorbent). These are readily available from chemists and are normally provided with pairs of shoes when you purchase them.

Many old movie films are stored in tin cans. We find that once these have moisture in them, the film quickly deteriorates through the chain reaction of vinegar syndrome.

Additional copies and digital masters should be created and stored separately from the originals so that if one version is lost it is still possible to recover the footage or audio or images.

A good guide is to store the audio visual assets at about 10 - 20 degrees Celsius at a maximum of 40 - 50% relative humidity

A device that will play a DVD and CD will be around for quite some time. The reasoning is quite simple. Everyone wants something that is backwardly compatible. Going forward TV screens will be able to fill walls (even the sides of buildings). These are already in production. Planned current/future video standards are 2K, 4K and 6K including 3D variations.

This infers that something is required to be able to play the video at high quality. Downloadable video will not be able to have the bandwidth required (at highest quality), even with the planned increases in bandwidth (and given that most of the undeveloped world is lucky to have dial up access).

The requirements of 2K, 4K and 6K with 3D variations are exponentially greater than the planned additional bandwidth. ie. the growth requirements of future video are greater than the planned growth of internet download speeds.

What options are available and planned for storing the footage? Magnetic Tape, Hard Drive, Flash Memory, Optical Disc.

Magnetic Tapes do degrade over time. Whilst we transfer film footage from the 1930s, sometimes in near perfect quality, audio and video tapes older than about 30 years almost always (and some video in only a few years) show some signs of degradation. It is interesting how we have gone from shooting on tape and storing on hard drive to shooting to hard drive and backing up on tape.

Hard Drives suffer from the same degradation as Magnetic Tapes. However, they also have hard drive failures and sometimes rather than losing a short piece of tape, the drive becomes unrecoverable. Remember also that the 'Cloud' is just a series of hard drives.

Flash Memory works based on the holding of negative charges. There are different grades of Nand and Nor memory. Memory that is not rated as A grade has problems with memory retention and if the memory is reused too many times there is also a problem with retention. It is too early to see the limitations or reliability of flash drives as a viable alternative.

Good Quality Optical Disks that have been created 12 years ago and have been looked after are still in good condition. We copy other optical formats such as film from the 1920s and LPs from the 1950s with little or no degradation and in some case improvement over the original.

This means that at least one of the options going forward should be an optical disk. The future standards are HVD (Holographic Versatile Disc) with 1-2TB storage and PCD (Protein Coated Disc) with 50TB of storage space. It is envisaged that both of these will be created to be backwardly compatible with CD, DVD & BD (Blu-ray). It is interesting to note that in May 2010 the HVD became a reality at Tohoku University, when the University managed to create and test the violet laser. Sony has since entered an agreement with the developers to develop this as the successor to Blu-ray.

'Voice Records' are CD sized aluminium discs, commonly recorded on both sides. One side is a personal voice message no longer than a minute and the other side is sometimes a pre-recorded advertisement. They were popular in the 1930s, made by automatic machines in booths installed at amusement parks, fun piers, tourist attractions, department stores and other locations. A short message would be recorded in a little kiosk similar to a photo booth, which could be posted back home like an audio postcard.

The personalised record was supplied with a packet of small wooden needles and an envelope which said that the records should only be played with the wooden needles supplied. A steel needle of the gramophones of the day would have ruined an aluminium record very quickly.

The soft aluminium records were indented using a special machine with a diamond head. The technology created a low frequency signal, not suitable for high or low tones.

DVD Infinity can transfer these old aluminium voice records to CD.

Home made records were also made out of a number of other materials including shellac, lacquer, glass, steel, cardboard or acetate. DVD Infinity has both the equipment and expertise to transfer these delicate old recordings to modern digital formats.

Quite often, companies try and save money by duplicating hundreds of DVDs or CDs by themselves to save a few dollars. Many times, however, it actually costs them more for the media than they would pay by having a professional disk manufacturing company like DVD Infinity replicate the DVDs or CDs. In fact, not only is the cost less, the quality is better and it doesn't tie up staff time.

At somewhere under 500 CDs or DVDs, it becomes uneconomic for you to create your own DVDs or CDs. The reason for this is that DVD replication can be done, instead of duplicating the DVDs on your own computers. CD / DVD replication is the process of stamping out in large numbers in a small amount of time the disks that are required. This is compared with the process of 'burning' the DVDs or CDs. Whereas media is the major cost in DVD Duplication, in CD & DVD replication, the major cost is producing the stampers.

Quite simply if you are spending time copying large number of disks in house, you are wasting money.

Today we take it for granted that we can buy a video tape and capture moving images and sounds onto a tape, hard drive or SD card for very little. Back in the 1920s at the dawn of home movies, it was quite different.

In the early 1920s, Pathe launched a home movie format called Pathe 9.5mm. The person shooting the film would spend a week's wage to buy a film that was black and white, lasted about a minute and was not able to record sound which they would place into their windup camera and shoot. They would then wait for a couple of weeks until it was processed to find out how it looked. After receiving the film back, they would place it onto a hand cranked projector that resembled a modified lantern to watch and enjoy the images.

The 9.5mm film format was also rather unique as it had a centre sprocket (holes running down the centre). Technically, it had a width almost as large as 16mm film but for only 2/3 the price. At the time, this was a great step forward. However, as the film became brittle with age, the sprocket claw would rip through the film, rendering it difficult to show again.

Times have changed. We now shoot high definition video at next to no cost. However, the memories captured on these 9.5mm film titbits are priceless. DVD Infinity is able to scan 9.5mm film across to Bu-ray, DVD, hi definition and standard definition computer files or digital video tape at a quality never before seen, allowing them to bring the 1920s back to life again for families all around the world.

DVD Infinity is world renowned for its impressive transfer quality for small gauge films and remains the leader in this area with happy customers in over 40 countries.

Contrary to the media hype, cloud computing systems are not 100% safe. There are many examples of computer crashes. Two high profile examples of Cloud system crashes are Amazon in July 2012 and Virgin Blue in September 2010. Both companies lost data and were left with only manual systems whilst the problem was rectified. In Virgin Blue's case, this meant in addition to manually processing tickets for the good part of a week, a substantial cost in dollars and reputation. In both cases, the companies involved were led to believe that there were sufficient redundancies to prevent this sort of thing from happening.

Cloud computing is based on storing information on arrays of magnetic hard drives. Hard drives by their nature are fragile. Just as with magnetic tapes, the magnetic particles degrade over time regardless of the usage of the disk. On top of this the disks are susceptible to crashes through over usage or being dropped. To understand just how often this happens, one only has to look to the new breed of shops around that specialise in retrieving information from crashed hard drives. Quite often it is not possible to retrieve data from a crashed drive.

Sometimes when using Cloud platforms, the user may sign over the intellectual property rights so that the data may even becomes the property of the company that is storing them, allowing the company to use your prized images for their own commercial gain, including embarrassing or compromising materials.

At some point in time, companies who are starting to store personal memories in the Cloud will have a crash and it won't be just the loss of one person's single photo. It will be the loss of a community's entire history for each individual and family who uses the service.

This is not saying that you should not store images and videos online to share with friends. It is just a warning to take care and make sure that you have a good master copy. Youtube and Facebook are great places to share your memories at no cost but certainly not for entrusting your most precious memories.

With the advent of high definition video, one would have expected movie film to have suffered a decline rather than resurgence. Whilst this has been the case for 16mm film, Super 8 and even Standard 8 film, have become the formats of choice for people wanting to explore creating real movies.

Stephen Spielberg, Ron Howard, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, JJ Abrams, Joel Schumacher, Peter Jackson and a number of other great movie directors started out shooting on 8mm or Super 8mm movie cameras. The Leyland Brothers series of the 1970s and many newsreels of the time were all shot on Super 8 film.

These days, many budding film makers, film students, wedding videographers, short film makers, people making music video clips, and old timers who enjoyed film as a kid, are all turning to 8mm film (both Standard 8mm and Super 8mm) as a 'new' or 'renewed' means of expression.

Why are they doing this when video is so much cheaper and so much more convenient? The reasons are fairly simple: Depth of field, depth of colour and the film discipline.

Depth of field in film allows a film maker to isolate an object or perspective. If there are a couple kissing in the foreground, the skilled cinematographer can make the background peel away and focus directly on the couple. Whilst it is true to some extent in digital, it is not available to the same extent.

Digital has a limited colour set. Film has an infinite number of colours. This means that subtle changes in colour are not picked up in digital. Subtle colour changes in a shadowed area may mean that a subtle change in facial features is not picked up well, changing the significance to the story.

We often comment that in a 3 minute reel of 8mm film, we see as much quality content as on a 60 min miniDV tape or digital clip. The reason is simple. On an 8mm film, you generally have about 3-4 mins to tell the story. It is also more costly and you don't see the result for 2-3 weeks. This means that you plan what and how you will shoot. On 60 mins of video, it is available immediately and people reshoot if it is wrong. This makes the cinematographer much more disciplined.

Deterioration of Video, Film and Photos
To date, there have been many different media for storing images. Unfortunately, all have problems with deterioration. We have attempted to discuss some factors and symptoms relating to some common media below.

Video Tapes
Video tapes deteriorate faster than any other storage medium. Video tapes are made of a magnetic imaging material, a binder and a base. A number of factors cause deterioration by acting on one or more of these. Sunlight breaks down the binder that holds the magnetic material to the base. Heat (from the sun, radiators, heating vents, air conditioners and other appliances) causes expansion and contraction of the tape base, which leads to warping and even shedding of the magnetic material. Dust, dirt, smoke and oil can causes abrasion that wears the magnetic material from the base. Magnetic fields (speakers, motors, amplifiers, telephones, computers, TVs and even the Earth's magnetic field over time) may cause partial erasure and/or tape noise as they act on the tape's complex magnetic patterns. Exposure to moisture and high humidity allows fungus and mould to grow preventing the head from reading the magnetic material. Moisture also breaks down the molecules in the base and magnetic material over time. This hydrolysis that weakens the binder and causes the tape to stick is known as Sticky Tape Syndrome. The chemical reaction forms an acid byproduct which causes a chain reaction and eventually can eat away the video binder. Playing the tape (especially leaving the VCR on pause or still frame) stretches the tape and wears off the magnetic data. Depending on the conditions of storage, usage and the equipment used to play the video, it will have a life of between a few years and about 15 or 20 years. We see both degraded consumer and broadcast tapes every day that fall in this time frame. Lower end analog formats such as VHS and Video8 degrade faster as do long play tapes. When considering other magnetic media such as hard drives, these can easily outlast video tapes provided they are fresh (ie. not reused) as they are sealed units and have the advantage of storing information digitally. We are not, however, advising that we believe it is better to store on hard drive as it is still a magnetic media and still prone to the same problems associated with magnetic media.

Symptoms of deterioration are evidenced by ?fuzzy or snowy images

• blank spots
• streaking, sparkling, static or thin lines across the screen
• faded or uneven colour (colour becomes brownish, then pinkish, and finally colourless)
• distorted noise and/or colour
• shedding and dropouts
• tape sticky and does not move evenly through player

8mm, Super 8, Pathe 9.5mm and 16mm Cinefilm
Cinefilm is made of chemical dyes on a nitrate, acetate or polymer base coated in gelatine. Sunlight breaks down the chemical dyes (particularly the cyan and yellow image dyes). Exposure to moisture and high humidity allows fungus and mould to grow, covering and embedding itself into the image on the film. Heat and humidity over time create an environment in which the film acetate chemically decomposes, creating a vinegar smell. Earlier Nitrate films decompose naturally and give off an unpleasant smell. Films kept sealed can trap gasses that can speed up this process. As the film becomes old and brittle, even playing the film starts to cause flecks to come off and the sprocket holes break as the stress of a projector and the projector's hot lamp work to tear off small flecks of film. Depending on the conditions of storage, usage and the equipment used to play the film, it will have a life of between a few decades and about a few centuries. For sound film, the same problems exist as per video tape above.

Cleaning the film can cause deterioration. Each of the four generally accepted ways of cleaning film has problems. Pressure Transfer Rollers can cause damage to the film itself and are generally ineffective in cleaning in any instance. Distilled water cleaner applies water that can start the chain reaction known as Vinegar Syndrome that causes the film to eat itself away. Solvent based cleaners (such as perchloroethylene) provide environmental hazards and the rewashing softens up the emulsion which can cause damage. The only other way of cleaning is airbrush cleaning and this is relatively ineffective when it comes to any caked on mould.

Symptoms of deterioration are evidenced by

• faded colour (particles on the film will be washed out completely over time and the film becomes transparent)
• white ghosting
• missing flecks on film
• vinegar smell or unpleasant odour
• mould, mildew or fungus on film

Symptoms of extreme deterioration are evidenced by ?shrunken film

• warped film
• brittle film
• cupped film
• gas bubbles in film emulsion
• speckling
• powderisation

Photos
Photographs are made of three main parts: the base (made of glass, tin, or currently paper), the image layer (made of silver, colour dyes, salts or other materials) and the binder layer that keeps it together. A number of factors cause the deterioration of photos. Sunlight and fluorescent lighting causes fading and discolouration by acting on the dyes. Airborne contaminants can settle on exposed photographs, reacting with the chemicals in the dyes. Cyclic conditions (high heat and humidity followed by cold, dry weather) cause cracking and separation of the emulsion (image) from the base. Heat and humidity cause paper rot and also creates an environment where mites, dust, mildew or other fungus can attack the photos further. Improper handling can cause scratches, tears and cracks. Acids and oils from hands will cause staining and discolouration. Careless handling can cause stains, blotches and burns from coffee, tea and cigarette ash. Improper storage also has its own problems. Many photo albums contain acid, which causes a yellowing of the paper base, as well as fading of the image, and loss of contrast. Storage in a shoebox leads to curling or wrinkling. Storage in a drawer leads to folds, tears and wrinkles. Storage using rubber bands causes harm due to the sulphur conetnt and paper clips can scratch the surface of the photos. Glass frames can stick to the emulsion over time. Glues (especially rubber cement) or pressure sensitive tapes used to mend photographs or hold them in albums contain substances such as sulfur and acids which will cause your photos to deteriorate. Inadequate care in the processing leaves chemical residue which continues to react if not "stopped" correctly.

Symptoms of deterioration are evidenced by

• faded colour, yellowish colouring, stains
• tears, creases, wrinkles

Negatives and Slides
The major factors effecting negatives and slides are similar to those effecting 8mm and 16mm cinefilm.

STORING YOUR SOURCE MATERIAL
It is important to store your source material. Given that the major factors giving rise to degradation are heat, light, moisture and magnetic fields, in order to store your materials safely, these factors need to be eliminated. This can be done by storing them in a cool dark space with a constant temperature away from any moisture and preferably vacuum sealed to prevent oxygen being available to agents such as mould and mildew.

Early Beginnings
Modern photographic techniques can be traced back to the Camera Obscura (Latin for "dark room") or pinhole camera. In the 4th century BC, Aristotle spoke of the process. In 1038, an Arab named Alhazan described the workings of the camera obscura, a room or box completely devoid of light with a single hole in one wall, created an inverted image on the opposite wall. A person inside the room was then able to trace the image outline, which was upside-down (simulating the way that images enter our eyes).

In 1823, Niepce, A French man produced the first photograph by using silver chloride on a pewter plate. The exposure took 8 hours. In 1837, Daguerre, after a brief partnership with Niepce, developed a vastly improved photographic plate called a Daguerrotype. This became the first commercial photographic process. In 1884, George Eastman produced the first photographic film.

35mm
In 1914 the first 35mm still cameras were produced. Whilst the first true colour photograph was made by Maxwell in 1861, the modern colour process was not created until 1935 when Kodak introduced the three emulsion colour film, Kodachrome. Colour negatives became available in 1939. The 35mm film has basically evolved since then to provide better images. Whilst there have been a number of other formats that have come and gone (including 110 and 125mm film), 35mm has dominated.

Digital
In 1963, Gregg, an inventor from Stanford created the videodisk camera which could store images for several minutes. The first digital still cameras appeared in the early 1990s. However, it is only now, in the 2000s that they are starting to catch up to the same definition as those offered by 35mm cameras.

Early Beginnings
The first record of home film equipment was the Birtac, a home movie camera that used 35mm film split lengthways in June 1898. This was followed by a number of different formats including 8.75, 11.5mm, 13mm, 15mm, 17.5mm, 19mm, 20mm, 22mm, 28mm, 35mm, 38mm 42mm. None of which were more than modestly successful due to the expense of the film and equipment. Early film was made with nitrate compounds that could easily self combust. Fortunately, most film used by home film enthusaists was made with acetate based satefy films.

Pathe 9.5mm (also known as Pathex and Pathescope)
In 1922, Pathe introduced the 9.5mm format which split the 35mm film into three strips with perforations running in the centre between each frame. This format became relatively popular in France and the UK. In France it was referred to as Pathe, Outside France, it was referred to as Pathex. The first projectors were hand cranked and took only 27ft of film and ran just over a minute. The definition afforded by the cameras that were introduced to take advantage of the format was much higher than anything else around. In 1938, Pathe introduced 9.5mm sound film. Popular 9.5mm models were the Pathe Baby, Pathe Lux, Pathescope 200B, Pathescope Ace, Pathe Gem, Pathe Vox. The 9.5mm format also had an ingenious way to show titles for an extended period of time by use of a special notch. The film is still sold, processed and transferred by DVD Infinity.

16mm
In 1923, just after Pathe introduced the 9.5mm film format, Kodak introduced the 16mm format. The advantages were that the perforations were at the edges rather than in the middle. This meant that there would not be any striping due to projector light passing through the perforations and there would be less likelihood of damage to the film itself in viewing it. The grain quality of 16mm was better. In later years a sound track was added on one side of the film, sacrificing one row of perforations. 16mm film allowed sound to be recorded as optical and magnetic. Although 16mm film was initally branded as a film for amateur film makers, it was quickly taken up by government, in educational institutions, and by professional film makers.

Standard 8mm
In 1932, Kodak introduced the 8mm (or Standard 8 or Regular 8 or Double 8) format. The film was a 16mm film with twice the number of perforations. The idea behind it was to make film affordable to many more people. It was inserted one way and fed through the camera. Once one side had been used, it was turned around and fed through the other way. Once processed, the film was split through the centre and the two 8mm halves spliced together. Kodak acquired Pathé in the late twenties putting an end to any competition between the two formats and assuring the dominance of the 8mm format. 8mm film never allowed sound to be recorded through the camera. However, later in its life, a magnetic strip was able to be added after development that could be used to record a sound track. Film comes in 25ft lengths (7.62 metres). The Standard 8mm frame size is 4.8 mm x 3.5 mm. It is normally filmed at 18fps or on older model cameras at 15-16fps. High quality commercial footage was shot at 24fps. It could also be shot at many other frame rates. The film is still sold, processed and transferred by DVD Infinity.

In 1963, the assassination of President JFK was caught on Standard 8mm film and was later known as the Zapruder film. In 1999, the film "8mm" was released starring Nicolas Cage. The film was about an 8mm film that appeared to show the murder of a teenage girl.

Super 8
In 1965, Kodak introduced Super 8 (and Fuji Single 8). It had a clever notching system that told the camera at what ASA to expose the film and the film lab at what ASA the film was shot. With a larger frame size, better emulsion process, and better precision feed process through the camera gate. Add to that the ability to add sound. Super 8 came in optical and magnetic sound varieties with the ability to add an extra sound strip after taking the film. Whereas Standard 8mm film was in fact 25ft of 16mm film that was cut in two at development, Super 8 was provided as a cartridge. This meant three main differences: the camera could be more easily loaded; the pressure plate was not as stable as it was a disposable plastic part mounted inside the plastic cartridge rather than being a metal part of the camera; and it could no longer be used for trick photography (eg. double exposure) as in Standard 8, Super 8 sound film became available in 1973 and ceased production in 1997. A 200ft Super 8 cartridge was also available for a short period of time. In 2005 Kodachrome, the most popular film was replaced by Ektachrome 64T and then Ektachrome 100D and Kodak shut its last lab. Prior to this, processing was included in the price of a cartridge of Kodachrome 40. Both Ektachrome 100D and Tri-X (a black and white film) are still sold, processed and transferred by DVD Infinity.

Super 8 was used by the Leyland Brothers for shooting their around Australia adventures. It was also used by such well known names as Stephen Spielberg, Peter Weir and Peter Jackson. Recently in 2011, JJ Abrams/Stephen Spielberg's film "Super 8" was released about the capturing of an alien on Super 8 film. If you feel inspired to dust off that old SUper 8 camera and shoot some more, come and see us and we can help. You will find nobody more knowledgeable than DVD Infinity, and we can even create your Super 8 to Blu-ray Blockbuster when you have finished.

Early Beginnings
John Mullins demonstrated the first videotape recording in 1951. Ampex introduced the first commercial videotape, a 2" videotape, in 1956. In 1969, it became possible to record colour on video. In 1971, the ¾" U-matic format was introduced but the equipment was too large to fit in a normal home.

Analog video
In 1976, Sony introduced Betamax, the first consumer video format. It was a ½" format with an initial record time of 1 hour. The Betamax tape was later transformed into the broadcast format - Betacam, a standard in the broadcast industry. In 1976, after Sony's initial success with Betamax, VHS became the dominant format. It was another ½" format and came in a compact format VHS-C (compact 45 minute tape). Providing 240 lines of resolution and 180 minutes of footage in SP mode. S-VHS or Super VHS was a high-end ½" consumer format. "S-video" separates the chrominance (colour) and luminance (brightness) signals, although not as purely as the true component systems do. It provides 400 lines of resolution and has a maximum tape length of 160 minutes. In 1985, the first 8mm video was launched. Video8 had 240 lines of resolution and a maximum tape length of 120 minutes in SP mode. In 1989, Sony introduced a much-improved version of 8mm video. It has a second audio track for stereo sound and 425 lines of resolution. Maximum tape length is 120 minutes in SP mode.

Digital video
In 1995, Sony released miniDV (DV), the first digital recording format available to consumers. Nearly loss-less broadcast quality picture. The ¼" format has a maximum tape length of 80 minutes in SP mode and provides 500+ lines of resolution. In 1999, Sony released a second digital consumer format - Digital8. It records the same digital signal as DV onto less expensive Hi8 tapes. A 90 minute Hi8 tape can record 60 minutes of Digital8. In 2001, Sony released microMV format, a digital format that trades off quality for size. It achieves smaller size at the expense of a halved bit rate and compressed data storage rather than full frame. Another failed video format is the DVDCam (not to be confused with DVCam). This was an attempt to record directly to a DVD on the fly. It was a compromise that heavily traded off quality for the ability to write to a DVD. The second problem was that the DVD would only play in about 1% of DVD players. In 2004, HDV became a consumer format, offering Hi Definition video to the consumer videographer. Later AVCHD became available as a better quality format that took up less space.

Phonograph, Gramophone and LP records
On 4 December 1877 Thomas Edison created history by recording and playing his reading of Mary had a little lamb. The technology he used was based on the workings of the rudimentary telephones that he had invented. The device used a cylinder with a piece of paper to generate vibrations in a speaker similar to that which he had used in his telephone. In 1888, Berliner developed the Gramophone. It was essentially a flattened version of the earlier phonograph recording devices. In 1930 RCA Victor introduced the vinyl record at 33 1/3rpm and later the 45rpm record in 1949.

Wire Recordings
A wire recording is an audio recording made onto a thin piece of stainless steel wire. They were popular just after the second world war.

1/4" audio recordings
1/4" open reel or quarter inch audio reel to reel was first introduced in 1948. It became popular for both consumer products and professional recordings. Whilst consumer products were replaced by the audio cassette. 1/4" consumer audio tapes could be 1 7/8ips, 3 3/4ips or 7 1/2ips. Professional recordings were generally done at 7 1/2ips or 15 ips.

Cassette recordings
Originally introduced by Philips as a mono dictaphone audio format in 1962, the audio cassette became the predominant format up until recently when the audio CD took over.

Microcassette recordings
Originally introduced by Olympus in 1969, using thin magnetic coated tape and half or a quarter the tape speed, microcassettes offer comparable recording time to the audio cassette. Microcassette was popular with dictation machines and answering machines. It was also used in computer storage due to its size.

Digital Audio formats
In 1982, the Audio CD was introduced and it immediately had a market due to the illimiation of imperfections related to other media and the high quality output. In 1998, the miniDisc was introduced. However, it never really developed a market. MP3s were first developed in 1989. However, this is a software format rather than a true audio format.

The first commercial Video tape was introduced in 1956 and there have been many varieties that have come and gone since. The following table aims to document the commercial formats that have been available. Some became standards and these have been highlighted in YELLOW.