Survivability of our Exe/MPEG audio visuals

[Xenofex2]

Not directly related to P2E, I have just encountered an issue with playback of a short MOV. format clip (42secs) within VLC. Transferred from my Camera a few years back, there had been no previous signs of any deterioration so it has gone from nothing to this! (A screenshot is below and one can see the black degradation on the floor and walls and this is the same throughout the Clip.)

It is though as a result of seeing this that I have started to wonder and be concerned about the survivability of my exe/mpeg audio visuals and the enabling of our  children and grandchildren to view in the years to come.

Could this be just an issue with the MOV format, VLC, or this particular video clip, but if not, how should we be saving our audio visual memories in order that they can definitely be viewed in future years?

George

[orizaba]

Hi George,

How many years ago was this MOV transferred from your camera to your computer? No more transfers since? Anyhow, did you try to play it in another player besides VLC? By the way, could you give all details of such MOV file (MediaInfo report)? I have no answer to your/our concerns about durability of our digital memories, but this is an interesting point to discuss. I never had such degradation in my oldest digital videos. On the contrary, my old BETA and VHS analog recordings, as well as photo Kodak slides and 8mm and Super8 films are degradating fast every day.

Regards,

Jose

[jkb]

Hi George,

Is this clip on your hard drive?
I wouldn't have thought it possible to degrade like this.
I have very occasionally had problems if a file has been copied many times, but that is mainly due to a corruption in the copying process rather than degradation.

If you have it on a cd then maybe there has been some corruption of the surface & so data has been lost.
But your example does not look like loss of pixels.

Any corruption normally shows as a loss of pixels - flashing or green lines and you can usually see the square pixel outlines.
 

Do you have any other mov files taken at the same time & are they OK?

I have avi files from 2004 & they play fine in the latest VLC player, although do show pixelation as they are a small size.
I also have some mov from 2006 & they also look OK.

They all have been transfered from an earlier desktop via a backup hard drive without problems.

 

Jill

 

 

[Xenofex2]

Jose,

Brilliant. Something I never even considered. Played the same sequence this time using Windows Media Player and it played perfectly.

So it looks like my concerns over longevity may not be so critical after all. Many thanks for that. But to answer your question, this Clip had been transferred in November 2014 and I still use this camera in the same way. Not sure what you want from MediaInfo, but here below is some Info.

George

  

Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : QuickTime
Codec ID                                 : qt   2005.03 (qt  )
File size                                : 11.2 MiB
Duration                                 : 42 s 633 ms
Overall bit rate                         : 2 197 kb/s
Encoded date                             : UTC 2014-11-07 19:28:40
Tagged date                              : UTC 2014-11-07 19:28:40
Writing library                          : Apple QuickTime

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : MPEG-4 Visual
Format profile                           : Advanced Simple@L3
Format settings                          : BVOP
Format settings, BVOP                    : Yes
Format settings, QPel                    : No
Format settings, GMC                     : No warppoints
Format settings, Matrix                  : Default (H.263)
Codec ID                                 : mp4v-20
Duration                                 : 42 s 633 ms
Bit rate                                 : 1 490 kb/s
Width                                    : 640 pixels
Height                                   : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 4:3
Frame rate mode                          : Constant

[Xenofex2]

Jill

The Clip was on my Desktop Computer and where it has been since transferred from the Camera.

But panic is over. Phew! As a result of yours and Jose's comments, having found that the Clip does play perfectly in Windows Media Player, I then looked at VLC and found there was an Update available. This has literally just been downloaded and installed and now the same clip plays perfectly in VLC.

So for now I can rest in the knowledge, for now at least, that my audio visuals will be available to be viewed by our grandchildren in the years to come.

George 

 

[orizaba]

It would be very strange such a degradation since 2014...!

I find VLC not too much reliable, I think ZOOM is the best.

Regards,

Jose

[Xenofex2]

Jose

I am certainly no expert but had thought that VLC was the leader so certainly will now checkout Zoom. Thankyou again, this time for that suggestion.

George