ECMA International Published Two Optical Discs Revised Standards

The ECMA International has published to revised standards :

Standard ECMA-396
Test Method for the Estimation of Lifetime of Optical Disks for Long-term Data Storage – 4^th edition (June 2017)

This standard specifies an accelerated-aging test method for estimating the lifetime of the retrievability of information stored on recordable or rewritable optical disks.

The method is based on the theoretical assumption that the lifetime of data recorded on an optical disk has a lognormal distribution.

Detailed testing is specified for the following formats: DVD-R/RW/RAM disks, +R/+RW disks, CD-R/RW disks and BD Recordable/Rewritable disks (Blu-ray Disc). The testing may be applied to additional optical-disk formats, with substitution of the appropriate specifications, and may also be updated by committee in the future as required.

This standard includes:

• stress conditions

  • Basic and rigorous stress-conditions for testing and subsequent analysis using both the Eyring and Arrhenius methods.

• ambient storage conditions in which the lifetime of data stored on optical disk is estimated

  • Controlled storage-condition, 25°C and 50% RH, representing full-time air conditioning. The Eyring method is used to estimate the lifetime under this storage condition.

  • Harsh storage-condition, 30°C and 80% RH, representing the most severe conditions in which users handle and store optical disks. The Arrhenius method is used to estimate the lifetime under this storage condition.

• description of the evaluation system

• procedures for specimen preparation and data acquisition

• definitions and methods used in testing specific disk types

• analysis of test results to determine the lifetime of stored data

• format for reporting the estimated lifetime of stored data

The methodology includes only the effects of temperature and relative humidity. It does not attempt to model degradation due to complex failure-mechanism kinetics, nor does it test for exposure to light, corrosive gases, contaminants, handling, or variations in playback subsystems. Disks exposed to these additional sources of stress or higher levels of temperature and relative humidity are expected to experience shorter usable lifetime.

The 1^st edition of this ECMA publication is also approved as ISO/IEC 16963. This 2^nd edition is identical with the ISO/IEC DIS ballotting version ended on August 26, 2014.

Since it has been decided to include further corrections and features in the 2^nd edition of ISO/IEC 16963, ECMA has approved a 3^rd edition of ECMA-396. This 3^rd edition is identical with ISO/IEC 16963 2^nd edition. The 4^th edition of ECMA-396 is synchronized with the ISO/IEC 16963 3^rd edition. The previous replaced ‘historical’ editions of this ECMA standard are available.

Standard ECMA-413
Data Migration Method for BD Recordable and BD Rewritable Disks – 2^nd edition (June 2017)

This standard specifies a data migration method which can sustain the recorded data on BD Recordable (Blu-ray Disc) and BD Rewritable disks for long-term data preservation.

This standard specifies:

• Test methods including test area, test interval, test drive, test preparation, and test execution;

• Test result evaluation in an initial performance test and a periodic performance test.

The previous replaced ‘historical’ edition of this standard is available.