Earlier is Better
Our eyes and ears are wonderful things. They allow us to fully engage with the world, communicate with others, and serve as our gates to the past, present, and future. However, when paired with our very human brains, they are also not perfect at noticing things. The reason for this is simple: our brains are too busy keeping us alive to process everything, so it looks for big changes. If we see the same person, and they look roughly the same, our brain will quickly tell us “everything’s fine” and zone out, so we won’t notice small changes. However, if we see a person and they’re suddenly missing an arm, our brains will quickly tell us “something is different” and we’ll start actively paying more attention to that person. Even now, while reading this, your brain is filtering out background information so that you don’t get overwhelmed. You probably won’t notice the feel of the chair you’re sitting on, or the hum of your computer, but if your phone rings or the smoke alarm goes off, you’ll immediately notice.
How does this apply to video and photo restoration? Well, if we’re staring at the same photos on the same part of the wall, day after day, we might not notice when the dyes in the photo start leaking out and failing. If we watch the same VHS videos on a regular basis, we might not notice gradual loss of video or audio quality, because things still sound basically the same, so your brain tells you that everything is OK. You’re sure to notice if the audio stops working, but a gradual garbling of the sound will probably go by unnoticed.
It’s important to remember that all forms of physical media change constantly. Photos change colors and fade, VHS tapes degrade and stop working. You can store things properly to help delay those changes, but it is inevitable. If you’re interested in a true preservation of moments, high-quality digital storage is the way to go. Unless those files are actively used and edited, they will stay the same indefinitely. The sooner your physical media is converted to digital storage, the more you can preserve the original qualities of that media without relying on significant restoration or reconstruction.