A CD-ROM, if well manufactured, should last several years or even decades. Extended exposure to both elevated temperature and elevated humidity, however, will degrade the signal and eventually cause loss of information that cannot be recovered. For this reason, it is necessary for manufacturers to conduct accelerated aging studies in order to develop a life expectancy estimate of CD-ROMs. International Standard ISO 18921, Imagine materials-Compact discs (CD-ROM)-Method for estimating the life expectancy based on the effects of temperature and relative humidity allows manufacturers to determine the effects of temperature and humidity on the stability of CD-ROMs. It specifies a test method for estimating the life expectancy of CD-ROMs based on the effects of temperature and relative humidity through accelerated test data. The new standard provides a technically and statistically sound procedure for obtaining and evaluating accelerated test data which allows manufacturers to determine the rate at which slow chemical changes can make discs unreadable.
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