Diteli Media

Diteli Media: digitisation of film, video and audio to preserve memories

Diteli Media is a British service specialising in the conversion of old audiovisual media to digital formats. The company works with cinematographic film, video tapes and audio recordings, and offers the possibility of restoring deteriorated material before digitisation. Its activity focuses on preserving family memories and personal or professional archives that would otherwise become unusable due to the deterioration of the original media.

Formats and media it digitises

The service covers a wide variety of formats. In video, the company explicitly mentions VHS, Beta, Video8, DVCam and MiniDV. In film, it works with 8 mm material. In audio, it has digitised reel-to-reel tapes, including family recordings and radio programmes from the 1960s. Customers can send their tapes by post or hand them in person if they are in the local area, and the company offers collection and return for those cases.

Restoration of damaged tapes: baking and cleaning

Diteli Media has a baking unit to treat tapes affected by so-called "sticky-shed syndrome", a problem caused by the accumulation of moisture that makes the tape sticky and unusable. The process consists of drying out the moisture using gentle heat over a prolonged period; according to the company, problem tapes need at least 12 hours of baking to be considered suitable for playback. It also cleans tapes with a build-up of white powder mould. Both baking and cleaning involve an additional cost that is added to the final bill.

Delivery on USB or DVD

Transfers can be delivered on DVD or USB memory stick. The company points out that USB is more advantageous than DVD due to its greater capacity, ease of backup and compatibility with most modern televisions. Diteli Media has new USB sticks of up to 256 GB, with variable prices, and can order larger hard drives if necessary. If the customer prefers to send their own USB or hard drive, they must ensure it has 3.0 transfer speed, sufficient space and exFAT or NTFS format.

Clients and track record

The company states it has been involved in the world of video and film since 1981. Among its clients it cites BBC Studios, BBC Treasure Hunt, Fifth Column Films, The British Library, Film is Fabulous, Talking Pictures TV, Gielgud Films, Reeltime Pictures and Davy Films Ltd. It has also transferred tapes and films for actors such as Richard Coyle, Frazer Hines, Sophie Aldred and Brian Croucher, and has worked for musicians such as Rick Wakeman, The Stranglers, Tom Morley (Scritti Politti), Martin Turner (Wishbone Ash), Neal X (Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Mark Almond), Terry Edwards (The Blockheads, Madness, Nick Cave), Chris Musto (Kim Wilde, Joe Strummer, Johnny Thunders) and Greg Hart (Cats in Space). The company indicates it has appeared on the BBC website and radio.

Postal delivery and turnaround times

For sending tapes by post, Diteli Media recommends using "signed for" or "special delivery" options to protect the material during transport. If the customer wishes to recover the original tapes, the return postage costs are added to the final bill. The company states it offers a very fast turnaround; in one of the testimonials collected, a customer indicates that 43 camcorder tapes from between 1986 and 1995 were transferred to a USB in a week, and another mentions that video transfers were completed in a few days.

Video production and other services

In addition to digitisation, Diteli Media includes video production among its services. The website also links to external collaborators dedicated to the recording and repair of reel-to-reel tape recorders and valve amplifiers, music production and mixing, and composition and sound design, including the BBC Radiophonic Workshop archive.