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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"
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So it will only "draw" on unused parts of the disk, basically taking up space... crap.
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Unless I'm misreading this, the image only appears on the data side of the disc. And the last time I looked, even on a bare no-label CD, I couldn't see where the data ended from the label side.
I don't know about you, but I'd never label the data
side of my CD-R.
Whenever they figure out how to show it on the LABEL side, call me.
--Brandon / Split Infinity Music
The visibility of the burned track depends on the kind of substrate used on the particular CD blank. Green ones show up best. Pale yellow ones are often almost invisible.
Does this mean that the Yamaha drive will only be effective on green CDs, or does the laser use a different strength to burn the piccies?
The "point" is that CD-R drives have become a commodity, and they're trying to stand out. Two years ago, I bought CD-R drives largely on brand, for the most part sticking with Yamaha and Plextor. It used to make a difference; I had cheap drives die on me after only a few hundred burns, whereas Plextor and Yamaha drives typically make it into the 10,000's.
However, for the last year or so, (at least, in my experience) a drive is a drive; they all work just fine and there's not much reason to get more than a $70 CompUSA-branded Sanyo or something. Yamaha and other higher-end manufacturers have had to cut prices drastically to remain competitive.
There are better and faster media being developed, but they're in the lab. When it comes time to develop a standard in the industry to utilize those media, I'm sure Yamaha will be at the table. In the mean time, they have to make money selling the product that's coming out the door now.
Having a drive that does something cool like this sets it apart and might make people spend an extra $20 for a Yamaha drive.
the revolutionary DiscT@2TM Laser Labeling System,
...pronounced as Disc Tattoo Laser Labeling System.
[Google doesn't show a German word for tattoo.] A tattoo is a permanent marking by stippling ink designs into living skin. Or in this case, a permanent marking by stippling burn designs into compact disc designs.
Stupid ASCII Rebus puzzles. Leet Speek trademarks.
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Do not underestimate the 'gimmick marketing potential' of this idea. Let me explain:
I'm not talking about marketing this actual Yamaha drive. I am talking about using graphic-ized CDs as marketing tools in themselves to sell other products.
If a company wants to sell something and have their marketing materials stand out, the marketing materials must have some sort of neat quirk. This can be in the form of a keychain with a built in puzzle, those business card shaped CDs, or whatever. They're neat things. The first time I got a business card shaped CD (marketing from MSFT no less) I did not believe when someone told me it was a real disc so I put it in my machine, and played the marketing video on the CD. Lo and behold it worked. And I ended up watching their marketing video.
I think that CDs with graphics burned on the back of them would have similar appeal.