Digital photography-How long will it last?

Permanence issues for digital photographs arise in three different areas. First, the materials used for digital hard copies should preferably be as permanent as the conventional photographic materials. Longevity of digital hard copy materials is affected by the stability of the material and the storage conditions. Secondly, the digital files that are the counterpart of the conventional negatives need to be readable not only on various systems and platforms today but also in the future. Third, the encoding of digital images should be such that any improvement in processing algorithms and display/output technologies can be applied in future image workflows. The safe keeping of digital data requires an active and regular maintenance of the data. This paper will discuss encoding issues for archival images and strategies to make image preservation happen for digital photographs.