Company develops coating to write on recorded side of discs

November 29, 2004

Reuters reports that the company Spectra Systems has announced a new technology that allows DualDisc manufacturers to print images and texts on their discs. The DualDiscs are currently sold as follow ups of the current audio CD. One side of the disc contains DVD-audio and the other side contains normal CD audio making it possible for consumers to play the discs in both a CD only player and a DVD player.

Because both sides contain a recorded surface it was -untill now- not possible to put textlabels or images on the discs. MediaCoat is the new technology that should make this possible while also adding an extra protective layer to make the discs more scratch resistant.

Spectra Systems CEO Dr. Nabil Lawandy envisions such messaging and marketing opportunities as the chief application for MediaCoat on single-sided software, gaming, video and audio discs. But the ability to apply graphics and text to dual-sided discs will make DualDisc and DVD(plus) more attractive to labels and consumers alike, he says.
MediaCoat is an add-on process that takes place at the end of a standard disc-manufacturing line, Lawandy explains. A coating is applied and cured, then an image is transferred to the disc using ultraviolet irradiation. A second coat is added to protect the disc from excessive exposure to light and to add scratch resistance.

The DualDisc solution seems to become more and more popular and mature. Still the SuperAudioCD with it's hybrid disc solution is probably the most sensible but it seems that the SACD format is not going to making and DVD-Audio will become the defacto standard the next couple of years. Read the entire story at Reuters.

Source: Reuters