Overview
ISO 12606:1997 - "Cinematography - Care and preservation of magnetic audio recordings for motion pictures and television" - prescribes recommended storage, handling and conditioning practices to stabilize and preserve magnetic audio media used in motion-picture and television production. The standard addresses vault and library storage between periods of intermittent reproduction or duplication and gives practical guidance to minimize long‑term loss of audio integrity.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Storage classification
- Medium‑term storage: conditions intended to preserve recordings for a minimum of about 10 years.
- Extended‑term storage: conditions for recordings of permanent value (long‑term archival).
- Environmental control
- Recommends specific temperature and relative‑humidity ranges and alternative correlated environments for extended‑term storage to slow chemical degradation and physical distortion.
- Advises minimizing temperature and humidity cycling and controlling airborne particulates and gaseous pollutants.
- Magnetic field limits
- Limits external DC and AC field exposure to avoid magnetic corruption (document gives guidance such as ~50 oersted DC and ~10 oersted AC as levels of concern).
- Physical handling and preparation
- Prefer vertical roll orientation, protective enclosures (coated steel, aluminum, polyester, polyethylene, polypropylene, or acid‑free paperboard), and uniform winding (rewind irregular rolls before storage).
- Store rolls tail‑out and rewind to head‑out before use; inspect/rewind prior to storage to relieve stress.
- Chemical and physical degradation
- Identifies hydrolysis of polymer binders, oxidation of magnetic particles, plastic flow, shrinkage and dimensional changes driven by moisture and temperature as prime hazards.
- Conditioning and transition rules
- Media entering or leaving low‑temperature storage must be pre‑conditioned to avoid condensation (e.g., allow equilibration in packaging; limit gradients such as 10 °C/h or 10 % R.H./h and allow ~24 h before opening).
- Reproduction preparation
- Verify transport alignment, cleanliness, demagnetize magnetic heads, calibrate equipment and create working copies for repeated use.
- Preservation action
- If deterioration is detected, make the best possible copy immediately.
Applications and users
- Archivists and audiovisual preservation specialists managing film and tape libraries or vaults
- Post‑production and restoration facilities preparing media for long‑term storage or reissue
- Broadcast and motion‑picture studios defining archival policies and environmental specifications
- Facilities managers designing storage vaults or selecting protective enclosures and monitoring regimes
Related standards
- ISO 12606 references ANSI IT9.11 (storage recommendations for processed photographic films) for parallel guidance on temperature/humidity control and contamination mitigation.
Keywords: ISO 12606:1997, magnetic audio recordings preservation, cinematography archives, magnetic corruption, print‑through, vault storage, audio tape storage, humidity control, demagnetization, archival handling.