Cal Pryluck writes:
>As an archival matter, color prints tend to fad differently depending on
>their projection history.  Some deterioration takes place each time a
>print is run through a projector.  How this all turns out depends on
>the characteristics of the various projection lamps in the particular
>sets of projectors that a print has been exposed to.
 
More important factors are (1) how the print was processed in the first
place and (2) how the print is stored.  Temperature and humidity need to be
controlled, and ideally there should be an adjustment period between
removal from your climate-controlled archive and projection.  There's no
way, unfortunately, to tell if a print was poorly processed until it starts
deteriorating long before it reasonably should.
 
Even acetate film, by the way, deteriorates, although not as spectacularly
as nitrate.  If your 16mm print starts to smell like vinegar, it's going.
Keep it cool and in a sealed container away from your other prints (the
fumes it releases can trigger the process in other prints).
 
--Richard
 
Richard J. Leskosky
Unit for Cinema Studies, UIUC
office phone: (217) 244-2704
FAX: (217) 244-2223