UV light and your video game collection

[undamned]

It looks like I need to throw up another shelf in my nerd cave for my games that just aren't going to fit in my existing setup. Only issue is it's right next to my fluorescent lamp. I mean RIGHT next to it. I imagine most jewel cases and DVD sleeves filter out a fair amount of UV light, but I'm still a little worried with the light being so close to the shelf. After some googling around I came across a very enlightening (harhar) article on protecting documents from UV light that pretty much told me what I wanted to know. Maybe some of you cats will find it interesting as well:

http://www.nedcc.org/resources/leaflets ... mLight.php

At least for this application, I think the simple solution is the UV tube filters.
-ud

[captpain]

If you're seriously worried about UV damage to your video game collection then you should probably be institutionalized.

[austere]

The polycarbonate in stamped media absorbs almost all incident UV light, luckily the coating used on most manufactured CDs will reflect it before it gets the chance. If it wasn't there, the material would definitely degrade (see this for instance). In some cheap CD-R media they may not even bother to coat it at all, so keeping it protected from UV helps in that case. The jewel case is made out of polystyrene... meh, should be ok, from memory it can be treated to absorb a lot of the incident UV at the shorter end of the spectrum.

To be honest, I'd just get rid of the fluorescent lighting all together:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1834365/
http://www.springerlink.com/content/r38t8704u77143w5/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6124715
(Recent hypothesis) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20347530
Interesting aside, I've got the full article if you want to read it, just PM me: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9920435

I know this position is not popular, what with everyone moving to compact fluorescent light-bulbs (often by force), but at least read these papers and decide for yourself. It's funny though, I write this yet I'm staring at a 27" LCD with a huge fluorescent light bulb, lol.

[Ganelon]

If you're seriously worried about UV damage to your video game collection then you should probably be institutionalized.

Enjoy your faded covers then. But yeah, if we're talking about the actual game not working, the disc layers or glue (and circuity on cart PCBs) will probably erode before UV can kill it off. I've seen discs left out in front of sunlight (sometimes with the windowpane opened) for years and still function without any issue afterward.

I agree with just keeping fluorescent lighting away from games when possible. I keep everything in boxes, closets, or cabinets with windowless doors. I still haven't found a opaque, large, durable cabinet yet that holds games though. The 612 CD cabinets are the best I've seen and that's really not durable or big enough.

[undamned]

Yeah, I'm not concerned about my games ceasing to function, it's the boxes/art that I'd like to preserve. I have a history of buying games, playing them, shelving them, and later selling them. I usually at least get my money back and I'd rather not ruin that trend via faded covers/boxes.
-ud

[ZOM]

Hey, at least it helps prevent the yellowing!

[Ed Oscuro]

If you has cardboard game boxes on a shelf exposed to the light, they are gonna fade. Plastic-covered arts (like Genesis & Neo Geo), no idea. I have had some items on a shelf that is facing into a room but not directly in view of windows for some years, never have noticed any problem. This hasn't stopped me from worrying about it every time I remember I have games there, though.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

The alternative to using flourescent-based lamp would be to get an LED-based one. I went to an Ikea store recently and found a cool all-black colored "Lack" LED-based lamp for a mere $10.00 USD. Target sells such LED-based lamps as well.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Ganelon]

Genesis box plastic helps very little for fading. If you went to your local shopping center's rental store at the end of the 90s, you would've seen the horrors. No real difference between Genesis and SNES. Probably even more noticeable for Genesis because a fading red is so apparent.

Fading does occur even when items are placed outside of the direct line of sunlight (which has damaged some of my old magazines sitting on a shelf parallel to the window). But it seems if you keep it tucked away far enough in, fading doesn't occur (tested with paper over a few years at the bottom of cabinet doors where a little sunlight can still seep in).

[Ed Oscuro]

Genesis box plastic helps very little for fading. If you went to your local shopping center's rental store at the end of the 90s, you would've seen the horrors. No real difference between Genesis and SNES. Probably even more noticeable for Genesis because a fading red is so apparent.

Agreed, I didn't think about this hard enough. I have seen my share of sunfaded Genesis spines - mostly the pile of Mega Drive pirates I got years ago as freebies, but their being pirates shouldn't have affected that so much. The plastic should have been similar to boxes for VHS rentals...all of those were sunfaded to hell and back too.

[PsychoGun]

man, just enjoy life. stop stressing out over dumb shit like UV light and your videogames.

this honestly sounds ridiculous.

[Ed Oscuro]

Sir do you have the first four Samurai Shodown games on a shelf? Do you have any clue how expensive that shit is?

Jus' askin'.

[xris]

The first thing I thought of when I read the title was one of those lights you would use to check a motel for fluids. I couldn't help but wonder who would do that to their games, or if you made the mistake of testing a used game you had bought.

[PsychoGun]

Sir do you have the first four Samurai Shodown games on a shelf? Do you have any clue how expensive that shit is?

Jus' askin'.

I used to collect AES. So I know.

In that scenario you'd have some kind of bookcase with closing doors or something.

But I thought this dude was freaking out over jewel cases and discs. That's just overboard. Plus if you're a true collector you are keeping this shit for life anyway, why would it matter, you aren't selling it anyway.

Paper and ink degrade anyway. And these days, everything is made with some percentage of recycled materials, it will all be dust in 30 or 40 years anyway. It won't hold up like "old" paper does. Comics especially, no sense in collecting that shit now. Comics from the 50s will last longer.

[ryu]

Shouldn't it be enough to store the stuff in a showcase? I've been storing my GBA games in one for years now and they're still mint. The sun also tends to shine directly onto it.

[Ed Oscuro]

But I thought this dude was freaking out over jewel cases and discs.

I think that's the wrong way to get started.

Shouldn't it be enough to store the stuff in a showcase? I've been storing my GBA games in one for years now and they're still mint. The sun also tends to shine directly onto it.

Why should it be enough? The glass isn't absorbing much UV at all.

(Recent hypothesis) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20347530

Ehh, nasty business.