What is the life expectancy of a Digital Video Disc

I heard after 10 years that DVD's start lose picture and sound. Does anyone know the life expectancy of a DVD movie? Thanks

Since DVDs have only been on the market for nine years, it's interesting that somebody would be able to predict a life expectancy of ten years. Sounds like a Chicken Little theory to me.

A few early CDs experienced a kind of disc rot after a few years, where moisture got between the layers of plastic and metal. These were mostly manufacturing errors. I have never encountered this problem myself, however, and I have hundreds of CDs going back to their introduction in 1982 that play perfectly.

John

Sounds like something we'll see on "Mythbusters" very soon.

DVDs should last "indefinitely" like CDs, but DVD rot is a very real issue, too. A lot of early Universal DVDs, like many copies of the first "Apollo 13" release, are no longer playable.

Yunda:

What causes this?...and what's the BEST way to protect 'em now?

what john already wrote in this thread.

there's no way to protect against cd/dvd rot. it will happen to badly-manufactured discs. the only "safeguard" is to make well-sealed discs in the first place.

You mean we have to trust the manufacturer ;)