I researched this because of questions like yours. The only testing results I could find were those done by the parent company that manufactures the gold DVD's, and what they did was test for how many times they could read the gold DVD before failing, not how long they will last over time.

DVD-R's are somewhat more subject to affects of aging than CD-R's for the simple logical fact the information recorded is much finer and more delicate because many times more information is recorded in the same physical space.

Gold/Gold CD-R's are coated with a microscopic layer of gold top and bottom and have been age tested to have a life of at least 75 years. The gold is significant because it both reflects light that is the chief deterioration factor because the recorded information is made in a layer of dye on CD-R's and DVD-R's, and gold is also the most stable metal.

If you are just recording digital still image files, you are best served by using gold/gold CD-R's for assured long life of the media. I have been using gold/gold CD-R's since they were first introduced by Kodak when Photo CD services were first offered, and have not lost one disc in all those years.

I guess the "The 100 year Disc" logo posted to the DVD packaging is hype and not fact. Your comments would also indicate testing processes and compatibility issues have not been addressed and the consumer is being mislead. As the saying goes Buyer Beware.