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New HP Drive Lets You Burn Your Own Label
way2trivial writes "Wow -- remember Yamaha's DiscT@2? now HP has a invention to use the DVD laser to etch the flip side of CDs and DVDs. I own a nice Epson to print on CD-R/DVD-Rs, it does full color -- but this looks impressive as hell, even if it is in monochrome"
To do so requires special writing capability in the drive itself, you not only need to be able to control the regular user data, you also need to be able to control all the bits that get generated in addition to regular user data. All the bits that are involved with the error correction, etc. This is why you don't see Yamaha type 'tattoos' with just any old drive, because Yamaha so far is the only manufacturer that gave you that much control over the drive. Without such deep control, I don't know how easy it would be to get your desired image, considering you normally have control over much less than half of how many bits are actually contained on a CD. I vaguely recall doing the math one day to see how many raw bits are on a CD, and I think it adds up to around 2GB of raw data to store your 700MB of user data. Very vaguely. Figures may be off, but it is in that ridiculous ballpark. And I'm not in the mood to go digging through specs. Basically, 2048 bytes of your data first goes to 2352 bytes, maybe another step here, and then every 8 bits gets translated to 14 bits encoded on the disc. Even just the 2048->2352 and 8->14 steps gives you almost 1407MB raw data for 700MB of user data.
I believe it was a floppy bomb, not a CD bomb.
You would peel the disk apart, cover the black disc inside, varnish and reassemble.
The friction from the read/write head would set it off...
Not that I have any experience in this field, mind you...
Eat the rich.
The official website has more info and photos of labled disks.
Rough caculations put it at over ten thousand for me. You can either convert 700mb to bits, dividing by a cd-rom's area and taking the root (gace around 18k for me) or by looking at actual dot size: 300 dpi => 84.67 m 4000 dpi => 6.35 m (Wikipedia) cd-rom: pit size seems to be around 1~2 m which gives a dpi of 10 to 20 thousand.
Here is a PDF from HP all about it
Link here
No, the special disks have an ink impregnated on the label side, and when the drive burns the label side, it uses a laser powerful enough to cause a chemical change in the ink that turns it a darker color.
The reason for the 8 -> 14 bit encoding is to make sure that long runs of 0's do not exist. If they did, the laser would be unable to follow the track accurately.
Predictive text is shiv!
Another one to look at is the new Epson Photo R800 - it can print both regular media as well as CD/DVD, and has seperate ink tanks for each colour. Prints with glossy ink, but has the capability to insert a "flat black" cart, or a "glossy" cart to modify how the output looks. Interesting...
I've got a slightly older Epson model at work which handles CD/DVD media, and it does a beautiful job. About 3 min per disc to print.
I also still recommend people use a CFS system for high-volume colour printing, but it's not as much of an issue if you're just doing disc labels.
N.
"Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence." - Charles de Gaulle
For the other end, the consumable disc, an extra $0.10 has a huge fudge factor. Prices vary greatly so they're probably basing it upon the highest priced premium brand of DVD/CD-R (which isn't necessarily any better than the low cost cheepy-brand) so yes, you'll end up spending $10 for about 25 discs, while someone else is going to be paying $15 for a spindle of 100.
My biggest gripe (and you know I'll get flamed for saying this...): Since (I'm only guessing) it's all based in software, it will probably not be a feature availble to Linux users.
Looks like Sharpie isn't going to lose any of my business anytime soon. ;-)
What about CD duplicators that print directly onto the CD? You can buy media with surfaces designed to be printed on with an inkjet. They come out looking pretty damn professional to me.
Use ISO 8601 dates [YYYY-MM-DD]
the drive could easily just assume you're brand conscious (you just bought a cd burner with a feature that can only be used with certain cds, after all). the process which "writes" to the top of the CD doesn't etch anything or put ink anywhere it wasn't already. it's the same method used to burn the cd itself - that is, the laser heats up inks which change colour. if you're using a cd that doesn't have this ability and you flip it when the drive asks and try to write a label, no big deal. you just won't have a label.
There are simpler methods to ensure that a long string of 0's doesn't occur, without 40% redundancy.
The real reason for the encoding is FEC or Forward Error Correction. It ensures that if you lose a bit here and there, there is enough redundant information spread around the damaged part to reconstruct the original data stream.
great idea! oh but wait - it looks like yamaha beat you to it!
rtfa next time.
Permanent markers are always best, unless you need to write more information than a few simple words. Which is what I suspect most people need. Labels are much easier, when you want to list multiple items that are on the cd. The problem, however is that the labels can cause lots of problems. Causing the media to wobble and reduce read times, or worse coming loose while spinning in the drive. This "new" printing tech, sounds like it can fix these problems quite well. I'm sure drives (and media) for this will become much cheaper over time as the ever increasing drive speeds warrant using it.
Just FYI, to anyone who has newer cd roms/writers: #1 use all 4 screws #2 don't use labels unless absolutely necessary
The FAQ at: http://www.lightscribe.com/ says it can take 1-15 min to burn a label depending on how detailed the image is.
Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master. -Commissioner Lal
For re-recordable stuff, I used to put labels on floppies like "Ron's Scratch Disk #4" so I could find the right one from a pile. At 10 cents a disc, it's not much for reusable, and I have trouble making marker look good.
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
Buy silk-screened CD-Rs/DVD-Rs. They are cheaper than CD-Rs + labels ($500 for 1000 the last time we ordered them, with 4-color artwork + white overcoat) and look a whole lot more professional. When that order comes in, start burning as many as you need...
I print, therefore I am.
Folks, Check out their Web site @ http://www.lightscribe.com. They have all the information you'd need there.