In today's business arena, it is more important than ever to project an image that attracts potential customers and clients. Businesses go to great lengths to make sure that they're professionally groomed and personally prepared, but it's important that you make sure that all your business paraphernalia look polished and professional, too.
So what about your digital asset information? Delivering a poor-quality product could possibly harm your reputation -- which asks the question -- is it worth the 5-15-cent savings per recordable dvd disc if you have to re-burn, and re-print or re-label bad discs?
So the question comes up -- which media and packaging solutions will provide the best storage for your digital assets?
With that in mind, it's beneficial to discuss the factors that will influence your selection of media.
CD, DVD and Blu-ray Disc Life
Disc life of recordable CD, recordable DVD and recordable Blu-ray disc media is vital not only to your clients treasured collections, but for the hundred of thousands of filing cabinets full of documentation and data that are now being archived to recordable CD or recordable DVD by public corporations that now have to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley and other government enforced laws that pertain to information. For the local and government agencies that are now starting to archive the vast amounts of sensitive data, shelf-life is even more critical.
Although there is no association that monitors a standard of shelf-life, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a government agency is looking to create such a program with OSTA, the Optical Storage Association.
In the meantime,recordable CD,DVD and Blu-ray disc manufacturing companies that produce their own media - Taiyo Yuden, Verbatim, MAM-A, and FTI to name a few, have complete control over the manufacturing process, allowing them to do extensive testing and to accord their products with a life expectancy, usually in the 100 year range. Lower end recordable CD, recordable DVD and recordable blu-ray disc products may have no range at all. To have burned discs only to find they are unusable in years (months!) to come is worth the cost of purchasing higher end media now.
Recorder Speeds
The common parlance used to describe CD, DVD and blu-ray disc drive speed is "X", as in 8X, 16X, 32, 52X. The "X" refers to the data transfer rate of the very first generation of CD-ROM drives released in the 1980's. These first drives were 1X, or able to read data from a CD-ROM at 150 KBs/sec. So to determine the data transfer rate of a CD,DVD,BD recorder, you need to multiply the rating by 150 KBs. That means a 52X speed CD-R drive can record data at 7800 KBs/sec. (52 x 150 KBs).
Today's CD recorders rated above 16X speed utilize a technology called "Zoned CLV" (CLV stands for constant linear velocity), which achieves higher recording rates. Recording speed is increased by varying the rotational speed of the disc, depending on where the drive is recording (inner, middle or outer tracks).
The important point here is that with any drive rated above 16X speed, you will not get the published recording speed throughout the entire disk surface. Instead, you get 16X recording speed at the beginning of the disk (recording starts at the shorter inner tracks). Followed by a higher rate in the middle of the disk, perhaps 24X. Only after you reach the outer tracks of the disk will you achieve the maximum rated recording speed of the drive.
Therefore, if you are only recording relatively small amounts of data, a duplicator equipped with the fastest drives available should not be a top priority for you. Plus, the faster you burn a disc, the compatibility you are less likely to have.
Printing Capabilities
Labels were the most used method for years, but with DVDs using paper labels should not be an option. If the label is mis-positioned ever so slightly it can cause an imbalance that may cause problems in playback or render the disc unusable. The most popular method is to print directly on the media surface using a special CD/DVD printer. Three media printing technologies exist today. They are Inkjet, Thermal and Thermal Retransfer. Each offer a different solution and will require the correct CD/DVD media for optimal results.
Thermal Retransfer delivers photo realistic printing quality. Like normal thermal printing, it uses heat transfer and ribbon technology, but with one added step. It works by printing the color image to an interim ribbon, which is then used to print to the actual disc. Using the second ribbon allows colors to be better 'mixed' and applied to the disc surface. This technology delivers the highest quality, and most durable print available.
Thermal transfer printers, as the name implies, uses heat to transfer the print materials to the CD or DVD disc surface. This is accomplished by placing a thin film ribbon between the disc and the print head. Single, dual and multi colored ribbons are available to provide a variety of print output options. The cost per print of single and two color media is very low, while full color per print costs are about on par with inkjet technology. The maximum print resolutions tops out at about 300 x 600 dpi.
Inkjet printing is based on the same inkjet printing technology that made low cost monochrome and color printing possible for the home PC market. These printers use special ink cartridges to print on the surface of inkjet printable CD/DVD media. Cartridges are available for single color, as well as full 4 color printing. Because inkjet printing is a wet process, they require special ink absorbent media to be used. The wet process has the advantage of being able to mix colors, and can produce excellent multi color printing results at fairly high resolutions. The primary disadvantage is that the print surface is not impervious to moisture. Although some new products are out in the market that offer water-resistance and a glossy surface not normally available with inkjet printable surfaces.
The cost of the media will be directly related to the type of printer you use. Again, quality is a factor in printing on discs as it is for burning the discs.
You Get What You Pay For…
It's always best to use high quality recordable media. Since most of the CD, DVD and Blu-ray duplicator solutions are automated, you can easily burn through 10 or 20 bad discs with substandard media before you realize it's in the reject bin, and not the output bin that's full. A very costly mistake with recordable Blu-ray discs
Second, it is also important never to burn above the rated speed for the disc, so make sure you purchase media that is speed rated equal to or higher than the duplicator recorder speed rating. In other words, if a duplicator uses 52X speed drives, you must use media that's certified for 52X or higher recording.
Finally, if your duplicating solution is going to utilize a CD printer, you'll be limited in your recordable disc choices. Be sure to use a printable CD, printable DVD or Blu-ray disc designed specifically for the type of printer you are using. For example, if you're going with an inkjet CD printer in your duplicator, you'll need to use "inkjet printable CD" media. The good news is that almost all high-end media manufacturers offer models of their recordable discs that work with the various printer technologies. In fact, the media and printer manufacturers' engineering staffs will often work together in testing and developing media surfaces to insure the best prints possible. It's always a good idea to try out a few different brands of media first and see the results for yourself before buying any large quantities for your duplicator.
