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Yamaha CD-RW Drive Writes Images In Substrate
johnny5 writes: "Yamaha has recently demonstrated a new CD-RW drive that can write images into the unused space on a CD-R disc after the data track is written. The technology, called DiscT@2(TM), is due out in Japan in July. The images print on to the CD at approximately 250dpi, making graphics as well as text possible. More info can be found at Yamaha's CD-RW site (in English) as well as at Akiba PC Hotline (in Japanese, with better pictures. Babelfish for suitably akward translation). No word on a timeframe for U.S. availability"
Assuming it is as you say it is not so easy. You need to insure that the writer will not barf. After all you feeding it with some data which according to the red book is garbage or pretty close to garbage. So the writer should allow turning off all error and sanity checks.
Alternatively it is very good software that merges an image on top of data that is acceptable to a normal CD writer.
In either case it is not just PI, elementary calculations and a bitmap.
Baker's Law: Misery no longer loves company. Nowadays it insists on it
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You can't do this on mass produced CDs for two reasons:
1) Mass produced CDs are pressed, not burned. So I don't even know if this process will work for a pressed CD which uses a different authoring process.
2) Even if this was possibile in that regard. Having a unique CD key pressed onto each CD would result in creating n templates (where n=number of cds pressed) which is too expensive to be useful. This is sorta the same reason as to why we see CD Keys on cd cases, but never printed onto the front label side of the cd.
"Customers can put graphics, such as signatures, logos, memorandums, and photo images onto CD-R's unused area after data writing."
Look closely: there is a very small data area (inner circle) on the picture, all other space is unused.