Video Art / Media Art Preservation:  Studies and Suggestions                      THE DANISH VIDEO ART DATA BANK

 Montevideo: Criteria for Archiving Formats

 In the report from January 1999 Montevideo/TBA they put forward a list of “Criteria for Archiving Formats”:

 1.   There should be no visible change of image compared to the original

2.   There should be as much as possible compatibility with industrial standards

3.   The system must be able to process Betacam SP, U-matic and VHS tapes, while preserving the best possible quality

4.   Montage and editing must be possible

5.   The stored material must have a long to very long life span

6.   The stored material must be able to be copied onto any desired (tape) format without any appreciable loss of quality

7.   The system must guarantee the possibility of transferring the preserved material to newly designed carriers, in the 21^st century

 In view of these criteria and a test with different formats/carriers they came to the conclusion that
 “Digital Betacam is the most suitable option for archive purposes”.