Old home movies and photographs may look perfectly safe tucked away in a box, closet, or cabinet, but they weren't designed to last forever. Time, heat, humidity, improper storage, and normal aging can gradually damage the materials that contain some of your family's most irreplaceable memories.
Videotapes can deteriorate even when they appear to be in good condition. Over time, the magnetic material that stores the picture and sound can begin to break down. Tapes may become brittle, warped, moldy, or damaged, resulting in faded images, distorted sound, tracking problems, or footage that may eventually become difficult or impossible to recover.
There is another concern, too: the equipment needed to play older video formats is becoming increasingly difficult to find. VCRs and many types of camcorders are no longer manufactured, and as working equipment becomes older and replacement parts become harder to find, simply having a good tape may not guarantee that you'll always have a way to watch it.
Photographs are vulnerable to time as well. Colors can fade or shift, paper can yellow, and photographs can develop scratches, stains, creases, tears, or other damage. Moisture and improper storage can cause even more serious deterioration.
