This looks like a great study! While there is less interest, optical storage is absolutely not dead.
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You should quantify "used many hours". It's unlikely you will get meaningful results if you test a brand new drive, versus one used for 10 hours. However, brand new vs 1000 hours; now that would be meaningful.
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How will you be storing the disks, and simulating accelerated aging? Poor quality burns or materials might degrade quicker, but not be different initially.
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If there is an easy way for individuals like me to contribute funding, I'd happy chuck in a couple hundred bucks to support.
I'm in Australia, the steep sales don't really exist. Shucking still saves me heaps.