How long do recorded DVD discs last?
All DVD recordable discs are extremely sensitive to heat, UV light and humidity. You should avoid exposing them to any extremely hot environment such as automobile interiors in the sun, or inside near radiators or heaters, or near an outside window, and so on. It’s best to keep all DVD-R discs stored in a cool, dry place, closed up in a blank plastic DVD movie case. This will ensure that they last the longest. Avoid any abrasive, scratching or etching treatment of the disc’s top or bottom. Remember that they are much more sensitive than DVD VIdeo or Game discs, and that even a small scratch can make them unplayable. However, a scratched DVD-R can be destroyed in seconds, and one exposed to high temperatures, humidity or strong UV light sources can become unplayable within anything from a few hours to a few days. One study of average DVD-R discs stored at 80 degrees and high humidity showed that many of them became unplayable in only a few hundred hours. Imagine what storage in a sun-he
