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Coating Promises Scratch-Proof CDs, DVDs, LCDs
13.7BillionYears writes "NewScientist reports that TDK has developed a transparent polymer for LCD screens and optical media that is impervious to general neglect and abuse. Quoth the reporter, 'In one of the most convincing technology demonstrations this reporter has witnessed, I was handed a CD, a wire-wool pan scourer and some permanent marker pens, and invited to scratch or mark the discs. Hard as I tried, I could not make a single mark on the disc with the scourer. And the ink simply wiped off.' The coating is apparently responsible for Blu-Ray's new caddy-less form factor."
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I wonder if they apply this coating as a complete shield, would it prevent CDs rotting?
Remember, theres two sides to every coating.
liqbase
Call me when they have a transparent industrial diamond coating.
Until then, don't call it "scratch-proof."
Because it isn't. And it wouldn't be then, either.
p
In Korea, long hair is for old people!
I just wonder if it's antireflective, too?
See what I've been reading.
You'd think that if we had the capabilities to make something like this, it would have been done...
A coating that is (I assume) optically perfect enough to not mess up something as sensitive as the laser in a CD, and that durable, would be a boon for a huge number of industries.
I'll have to see it before I believe it, and then, if its true, someone's probably gonna make a good bit of money...:D
Blake
From what I've seen, they're already do as much as they possibly can.
I don't find the caddies around 3 1/2" floppies a significant hassle. Why can we deal with caddies on magnetic media, but not on optical media?
Finally! A year of moderation! Ready for 2019?
Ah but what about:
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot lose."
I thought CDs these days tend to get scratched more on the 'label' side? And that's only since a price-saving move was made to remove an extra protective layer in modern CD manufacturing. Is this (or will it be) cost-efficient enough to add the protection back in?
We need a medium that is smaller and covered except for the terminals (wires) that connect. In other words, kind of like a USP flash "card". The problem with a disk is that the content itself is exposed. If it is an enclosed chip, then the content itself is protected by a shell.
Table-ized A.I.
I RTFA, but a question popped in my head. Do any of you optical gurus have any idea if this can be used with writable media?
No, Disney DVDs need to be ripped and re-burned so that we're not forced to sit through 10 minutes of trailers and ads (for which they've so kindly disabled ff/next chapter) every time we want to watch the movie.
I take the CD, and use it in my car. After listening to it, I toss it on the passenger seat, where it will slide down onto the floor when I stop quickly. There it will sit, for a month or more until I decide to clean the car. If it plays after all of the foot traffic that has been in and out of the car....then it is worthy of the front page blessing it recieved here at Slashdot.
Until then, it is hype. Let's get people using it and either proving its worth or its lack thereof.
Another way CDs can become damaged is simple oxidation of the recording layer.
But really all we are talking about is a possible manufacturing improvement in the mostly matured plastic film market. I would expect a number of these products to come out as different companies fight for market share. Until we get new polymers for the actual base material of the entire CD, this really isn't much different than that current press-on protector.
I'll just keep etching my stone tablets until then...
Also, I'd be happy if they simply replaced that super crappy plastic they use for the stupid CD cases. Whoever thought it would be a good idea to make a case that was more fragile than it's contents should be drawn and quartered.
plus, if some vandal sprays the house and sees the paint just slid away, next day you'll find the house tagged... with a screwdriver instead of spray paint.
Go hug some trees.
The aircraft thing is probably a good idea - depends how the coating responds to extremes of cold. The last thing you want is for your windows suddenly to turn opaque at 30000 feet. But, y'know, if it passes this basic test...
Plastic windows on your car... probably not such a great idea - the problem with car windows is that they are designed to shatter into tiny pieces rather than large jagged chunks that can rupture organs and generally shred the passengers in the event of a crash. Glass is cheap and does the job well. Cool as it would be to have wrap around windows, I reckon the auto companies will be unlikely to shell out the development cash.
If you can't think of something nice to say then don't say anything at all. No, REALLY.
how about this coating on the iPod?
It seems a harsh wind can put a scratch on the display.
Well, yes, quite true, but the windshield glass seems to break up quite a bit, while the plastic layer (which yes, I was aware of - it gives the windshield a lot of its shock resistance as well) holds it together to keep it from entering your eyes at top speed.
Unbreakable windows worry me, unless there's some easy way to remove them from the car from the inside even in the case of an accident. I hope that if the window's shape is deformed, the windows are designed to pop out of the vehicle. Otherwise, it'll make it all too easy to get trapped inside, especially if you start your experience in the back seat.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
The top side doesn't need to resist surface scratches, so it can be textured to allow marking. It just needs to be durable enough to resist scratching *through* the surface. It's the bottom that needs to be optically clear as well as durable. Besides, most disks I get have a writable surface chemically bonded to the polycarbonate, much like paint bonds to primer. I'd bet that something coul dpretty easily be made that would bond itself to the new hard coating, and would allow permanent marking...
> Umm wouldn't windhisled that don't break cause more fatalities? I'd imagine
> that doing a header through breakable glass is much more desirable than
> through jaws of life proof brick wall like polycarbonate.
Statistically, if you go out through the windshield, you're pretty much dead,
no matter what the windshield is made of. Even if the windshield were made
of air, whatever you hit outside isn't bloody likely to be significantly
softer than a brick wall. Asphalt is the most likely thing. The steel of
another vehicle is second-most-likely. If you're worried about dying of
deceleration trauma in this situation, there's a nifty safety device built
into most newer-model vehicles called a "seatbelt", which if used properly
will generally prevent you from going through the windshield. HTH.HAND.
(Yes, the glass of the windshield would slow you down a bit going through
it, but since it doesn't have a lot of give, it doesn't do so gently. If
we made windshields out of two-foot-thick foam rubber (SPF), that might
help a bit, but it would also have the negative side-effect of reducing
visibility too much. The airbag is an attempt at a compromise partial
solution to this problem -- it only reduces visibility when it activates,
and in those cases it presumbly is needed rather more than visibility, or
so goes the theory.
The point of the unbreakable windshields is presumably to prevent injuries
(or fatalities) from outside objects coming in through the windshield and
whacking the occupants. If the occupants go out through the windshield,
there isn't a great deal that can be done for them. That's a DOA scenerio.
So instead of making soft windshields, it's better to _prevent_ people from
going there in the first place -- hence seatbelts and airbags.
Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.