As with other information-recording media, including photographic film, magnetic tape, and optical discs, different manufacturers produce products having different quality, reliability, and lifetime properties. It is important that customers carefully select their suppliers. The reflector Kodak uses is gold, a material that is not adversely affected by moisture, oxygen, or solvents. Kodak knows there is a large diversity in composition of the dye layers used by various media manufacturers. Data stability characteristics in other manufacturers' media vary widely.
Stability is determined primarily by the types of dyes used to make the discs.
We have tested Kodak Photo CD and Kodak Writable CD Media with InfoGuard Protection System, and other manufacturers' media. In our accelerated lifetime testing, over a very broad range of conditions, Kodak media were equivalent to, or superior to, all other writable CD products tested. A variety of methods are used to project product lifetimes. Kodak CD media, under the conditions tested to date, do not change significantly, even after testing over extended periods of time. We predict the lifetime of Kodak Photo CD, and Kodak Writable CD Media with InfoGuard Protection System, under normal storage conditions in an office or home environment, should be 100 years or more.