The biggest concern for me is that I simply cannot get my head around officially licensed product being sold for hard earned cash on DVD-R. As in, I really feel like I must be missing something here. I equate anime on DVD-R with bootleg quality.
If I spend my money on anime in today’s financial climate, I really do expect it to be on media that doesn’t have such notorious lifespan issues. I’d like to be able to dig out my DVDs and watch them again in a few years confident that they won’t have corrupted - and without that assurance, I’m not laying my money down for product.
I REALLY hope there’s something I’m missing here.
I understand what you are saying but I have to disagree with your conclusion that DVD-R has a short life span. It all depends on the DVD-R media and the burner.
I believe people think we are using a tower and inkjet printer that you could find online. We are using industrial grade, thermal printing machines that are used by the studios. The difference in print and burn quality can not be compared. The cost of our DVD-Rs are much higher and higher in quality than pressed discs. Pressed discs cost about 10 cents or so each while we pay closer to 40 cents each for higher grade on DVD 5 side now on the DVD 9 we are buying verbatim top lime that can go up to about 80 cents or more each while the pressed DVD 9s are going for may be 25 cents.
But honestly this is not the reason you buy the DVD is cause of the media, it is cause of the transfer being used. A 1080p broadcast burned BD of a show will never look as good or sharp as a BD burned from the original source. You buy from the publisher cause you are getting from the quality, not the media.
Not to mention all the other stuff I mentioned earlier of print quality.