Digital Restoration: Services, Problems, and More

Long periods of exposure to the elements will damage vintage media. V9-Digital cleans and protects your collections from the loss of important data.

Digital Restoration

Are you aware that your collection of vintage films and videos is likely in danger? The aging medium video content is recorded on could present a threat to the very history they’re meant to preserve. This is because videotapes and film can only last a finite amount of time without beginning to deteriorate and degrade.

Since the advent of the digital age, there’s no longer any need to put up with the dangers presented by physical media assets. Added benefits like ease of storage and picture quality make an even stronger case for digital restoration. V9-Digital is proud to offer premium digital restoration solutions to repair vintage content to its former splendor.

Vintage content, having survived the test of time so far, making it through moves, exposure to the elements, in some cases simply being forgotten, now has the chance to be cleaned, restored and digitized so that it will remain available to future generations. Thanks to major advancements in preservation and digital restoration technology, it’s never been easier, safer or more inexpensive to ensure the long-term survival of your most precious media assets.

The Digital Restoration Process

First, we inspect your media and look for deterioration that needs to be addressed. Common tape problems include “sticky-shed syndrome,” poor playback signal, demagnetization, edge damage and warped tape. One of the most common problems, stemming from not storing your videotapes in temperature controlled libraries, is sticky-shed syndrome. This occurs when humidity in a room causes the tapes to have a sticky substance develop on the tapes. Once the syndrome affects the tape, there is usually only place for one more play. Ideally, this is the play when it’s digitized.

Common film problems include dust and debris build-up, small tears and scratches, chemical breakdown and mold. Upon receiving your film, our archivists work by hand to inspect and correct these problems before the digitization process begins.

Using high-tech restoration software, we are able to enhance media content,  digitally restoring your media frame by frame. We can correct many issues relating to light, color and sound to give your vintage media new life. We can also remove dirt, dust and vertical scratches that have damaged your legacy content.  We work with a variety of tape and film formats, including:

1" 
3/4" U-Matic
VHS / S-VHS
MII
Betamax
Betacam
Betacam SP
BEtacam SX
Digital Betacam
SONY XDCAM
D-1
D-2
DV-Cam, DVC-Pro, Mini-DV (DV-25, DV-50)
HD-DV (DV-100)
Sony HD-Cam
Sony HD-Cam SR
HD-D5
DVD
Any Digital Camera file

Small tears, specks of dirt and fine peeling, as insignificant as they may seem initially, can amount to heartbreaking consequences. Invaluable and irreplaceable media content can be lost to history by the simple accumulation of wear. Avoid that outcome. Get in touch with V9-Digital today to talk about the digital restoration options available for your content collection.