How do you discuss a new tape product with archivists? Simple... you tell them it's an old tape product! Actually, Barium Ferrite (BaFe) magnetic storage media is not a new subject. Recording applications with BaFe date back to the late 1970's and since then BaFe has been used in several commercial products by IBM, Kodak, Panasonic and others. This technology has been utilized for very high density tape storage, advanced video recording and even for modest applications like credit card stripes. So durable and environmentally reliable is this material, that the newer dark striped credit cards in your possession are now made with Barium Ferrite. And if the credit card industry is now placing their futures on Barium Ferrite for your charge cards, you may want to consider it for archiving your moving images.

For many reasons the video and television industry as a whole has not yet embraced the use of an archival tape; probably because most in the industry are not yet aware that one exists. Archival tapes are not used extensively for archiving because of the mass distribution of other tape types, such as oxide, metal particle (MP) and the newest metal evaporated (ME) tapes. Even today, most in the industry order tapes by brand name and usually thru a repeat order process that is indifferent to newer tape products that are archival and can accomplish the most good over time.

In 1991, the President's Office of Science and Tecnology Policy (OSTP) cited " high density digital recording (video and data) to be one of the 22 technologies that are critical to U.S. prosperity, national defense, security, and quality of life." Since 1991, extensive US Government and University study has recognized that metal particle tapes and particularly metal evaporated tapes are subject to varying degrees of degradation even under common environmental exposure; losing valuable video content in relatively short exposure times. In recognition of these and other related issues, the Department of Defense (DOD) in 1992, issued several multi-million dollar contracts to investigate and develop a next generation digital tape that would satisfy high definition (HDTV) digital recording applications and also certain US Government archival criteria. The National Media Laboratory (NML), a primary participant in the DOD program, selected BaFe as the optimum media because it possesses "unique and superior high density properties and excellent archival stability". NML concluded their extensive research study1 by stating that the product perfomance of BaFe is... "excellent and show(s) good promise for further development and commercialization." In 1994, the first commercial BaFe video tape was made available to the video and television industry.

Commercial testing of Barium Ferrite tapes in several video and data applications continued throughout 1994. The success of these tests clearly showed that BaFe products could be used in today's professional video applications until such time that an HDTV recording medium would be required. BaFe isn't meant to be compared to oxide, it's comparable to MP and in some ways even better than MP. While one cannot compare it to older tape materials, Archivists may want to consider transfer of older tapes to this longer lasting, easier maintained, BaFe storage medium.

A recent article in TV/Broadcast2 stated, "In terms of archival storage, BaFe's technology works for videotape because BaFe stands up to environmental hazards differently, and for the better. Air pollution content such as hydrogen sulfide, present in cities or heavy industrial areas, acts as a catalyst for corrosion. Humidity also causes changes to most common tape right out of the box in such a way that, especially in long term storage, service life will diminish. Even short term exposure to ocean air might start corrosion which will shorten the service life of conventional tape. BaFe has minimal moisture sensitivity, and a totally different molecular characteristic. Even over a long period of time, its crystalline makeup won't change."

In another major NML study on Media Stability3 "the stability of and estimated life expectancies (LE's) for various advanced media" were reported. It was stated that "the expected lifetimes of advanced media intended for archival storage purposes (were) not well documented" and that "managers of magnetic media archives would greatly benefit from a knowledge of life expectancy of specific media types and formats under various environmental conditions." This information could obviously weigh heavilly in decisions concerning tape archives and tape archive procedures. "Re-recording costs and archive size could all be reduced if a specific tape/system could be certified to have a a life expectancy in excess of 20 years." The results of this extensive NML study clearly confirmed the superior archival characteristics of BaFe tape when compared to MP tapes and newer alternatives. BaFe offers the best life expectancy of all commercially available alternatives!

As TV/Braodcast reported, "Once humidity exposure occurs to tape, especially those of the MP variety, they may become unplayable in anywhere from two to ten years. Keep in mind what happens to any iron metal exposed to moisture over time. Generally, most tapes can be perceived as predictably useable for a period of only 10-15 years. BaFe is estimated as a (better than) 30 year medium. This is where the need for the archival stability BaFe offers may be a savior of sorts for the industry."

Another common revelation regarding long term storage of videotape is people discovering that older tapes do not last forever. Tapes from the mid 70's play for a few seconds, if that, then stop in the tape transport. Phillip DeLancie wrote an article describing this phenomenon in a May 1990 "Mix" magazine piece, calling it "sticky shed syndrome." In, A Guide for Libraries and Archives,4 The Commission on Preservation & Access and NML reported the cause for "sticky tape" is binder hydrolysis; a prevalent phenomenon in the earlier polyester polyurethanes. The tape binder used for BaFe employs hydrolytic stabilizers which result in an improved polymer class with superior performance and environmental stability.

BaFe also has characteristics which make it favorable for those concerned with headwear. Unlike metal particles of MP tape, BaFe has a uniform crystaline structure which makes a better wearing surface that is easier on head tips and head replacement budgets. Broadcasters using various brands of tape also report improved "chroma" from BaFe and some favor this product with the knowledge that the tape will maintain its signal integrity and chroma regardless of environmental factors.

Mark Bell of Government Video and TV/Broadcast summarized it well, "The price of BaFe is estimated at 10-15% above that of MP tape at the time this article was prepared. For those that need to be budget conscious only, that amount might be tough to justify. For those who take their tape seriously, and need to know signals and tape composition will be stable for many years, price has probably never been a factor, and BaFe might prove to be a favorable choice. However, such considerations feed into the analogy/joke about the wedding videographer who, in the future, will offer MP or BaFe tape to his clients depending on their age and relative confidence in the expected length of their marriage. "How important is this moment to you....?"

In the part of our business we take for granted until a failure, our signal storage medium, new products are looked at with a bit of hesitation. Nobody wants to take the chance and be the new kid on the block with a fancy idea when we can almost predict our failure factors with conventional products with some history behind them. While you read this you may be at a computer which used BaFe diskettes for its operating system input, or sitting on a wallet or next to a purse containing credit cards with a magnetic stripe made of BaFe. We all are
aware of the abuse our diskettes, credit and bank cards take from chemicals, sweat, bending, spills, drops and scraping. The diskettes were the best product the computer industry could find to place their "zero-tolerance" programs on, and the banks followed suit as well. Perish the thought that your software didn't work or you couldn't spend the banks/your money at the moment of "zero-tolerance" impulse. Those cards and programs work through it all, and might be used as we order that pizza when waiting for the HVAC guy to come in and repair the environmental control system of our MP videotape storage facility."

Ron Weiss is the President of Arkival Technology Corp., the source for BaFe Video tape products. Please direct questions or comments to (603) 881 3322 or email at nhinc@aol.com.