Burning "Factory" type CD's.

[Coldkilla]

Sorry for sorta misleading thread title. I don't know too much about DVD/CD burners, but I was wondering a thing or two:

1. Is there a way to recreate the smooth single color surface on the lazer side of the disc? (So it appears silver, not see through green [also displays no lazer marks]).
2. Is there a way to create a nice CD Label? I buy these 'tape' Memorex DVD/CD labels, but would like to know if theres any sort of way to have the labels I print at a much higher quality than I'm getting now.

Basically, I want to have my DVD/CD collection to be as seamless and factory like as possible. What would yall recommend? I'd appreciate and linkys if ya got em

 

[Praytus]

For #2, have you looked into the Lightscribe technology and see if that suits your needs?

 

[Matthias99]

1. Is there a way to recreate the smooth single color surface on the lazer side of the disc? (So it appears silver, not see through green [also displays no lazer marks]).

It's laSer (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiaton), not laZer.

The color is dependent on the phase-change material used; different brands might have slightly different formulations, but I don't think any of them will look exactly like a factory-stamped disc (those usually look silver because they use a very thin coating of silver on the underside, like on a mirror). And you'll almost always be able to see where the laser stopped burning.

For #2 -- check out Lightscribe (although it's monochrome), or look for labels you can put through a high-quality inkjet photo printer (or a color laser printer).

 

[RaiderJ]

Some discs can be printed to directly if you have a printer that can do it as well.

 

[soccerballtux]

For 1), no there isn't. The tech is fundamentally different. The burnable CDs/DVDs you use in your burner use a die that is heated to different temps (170F and ~220-250F for 0's and 1's, respectively). Your factory DVDs are actually etched into a thin layer of metal. This is why they last longer than burned CDs/DVDs.

 

[Comdrpopnfresh]

Originally posted by: soccerballtux
For 1), no there isn't. The tech is fundamentally different. The burnable CDs/DVDs you use in your burner use a die that is heated to different temps (170F and ~220-250F for 0's and 1's, respectively). Your factory DVDs are actually etched into a thin layer of metal. This is why they last longer than burned CDs/DVDs.

I was gonna say that! lol. If you get a darker dye disk like some verbatims, the line may not be as drastic. It is also less drastic on rws I believe.
2. If color is not a priority, definitely go with lightscribe. I like the results of my tsst dvd-ram drive's burns. There are add-on programs out there so that it takes longer by there is more contrast on the lightscribe burns. They're coming out with pseudo color soon (if they have not already). Basically the dye is a uniform color other than the gold-grey.

 

[ShellGuy]

The main diff between the DVD you burn and store bought is the bought ones are PRESSED copys not burned, it almost sounds like you are trying to resell these, as i as a backup person don't care what they looklike as long as i know what they are..


Will G.

 

[Roguestar]

Originally posted by: ShellGuy
The main diff between the DVD you burn and store bought is the bought ones are PRESSED copys not burned, it almost sounds like you are trying to resell these, as i as a backup person don't care what they looklike as long as i know what they are..


Will G.

Exactly. Original DVDs are stamped out from a master copy, home-made DVDs are burned into the recording layer.