DVD burner with the ability to print on recordable discs

March 24, 2004

Heise reports about new DVD media from Moser Baer India and corresponding writers from Hewlett Packard that are able to print a label with their surface with some special coating. This Lightscribe technique reminds a little of the technique that Yamaha used for their DiscT@2. But unlike the Yamaha method, this time they do not use the recording layer but the discs have to be turned over to be printed by the laser.

Hewlett Packard and the Indian media manufacturer Moser Baer India (MBI) present a new technique called Lightscribe during the CeBIT, that allows labeling in the burner. MBI uses a beige colored thermo layer for the label side of the disc that is heated with the laser, so monochrome pictures and text can be printed on the DVD. This way neither special CD/DVD printers are needed, nor does it interfere with the playback capabilities.

On their surface, Lightscribe recordables have a special reflecting barcode on their inner ring, that is used by Lightscribe burners to recognize them. After data is written to the discs, they only need to be turned over to print the label. High resolution pictures on the complete disc need about 40 minutes, smaller text is printed much faster

According to Heise, this media will only cost about 10 cent per disc and Lightscribe burners will cost about 10 Euro more than normal burners.

I think it's a nice feature, but not necessarily a must have. At least it's not very expensive and we will probably see some of these drives and discs in the future.

Feel free to discuss these new discs in our Media Forum on Club CD Freaks.

Source: Heise.de