Without a playback device, cassettes are plastic waste. Digital file formats also evolve over time: in the worst case, research data can no longer be accessed or edited.

On the safe side with the right archiving format

Below is a list of file formats that are suitable for long-term archiving based on the current state of knowledge:

• Raster graphics
  • Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) – uncompressed > *.tif
  • Portable Network Graphics (PNG) > *.png
  • JPEG2000 > *.jpg, *.jpeg
• Vector graphics
  • Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) > *.svg, *.svgz
• Computer-aided Design (CAD)
  • AutoCAD Drawing > *.dwg
  • Drawing Interchange Format, AutoCAD > *.dxf
  • Extensible 3D, X3D > *.x3d, *.x3dv, *.x3db
• Sound, audio
  • Waveform Audio File Format (WAV) – uncompressed >*.wav
• Video
  • FFV1 Codec in Matroska Container > *.mkv
  • Motion JPEG 2000 (ISO / IEC 15444-4) > *.mj2
  • AVI – uncompressed > *.avi

The selection of software to be used already has an influence on the file format and its sustainability.