Producing high-definition labels (like glass-mastered -ROMs) at home: possible?

CD, DVD and (Ultra HD) Blu-ray Writers Disc Printing and Labeling
#1

Well, my question is pretty simple:

When I was about 12, I first took a look at the rear-side of 2 CDs. One was grey, the other one was about green.

With time, I’ve learned that the “grey” one belongs to CD-ROMs, and the “green” one belongs to -R media.

This is because CD-ROMs are not burned but glass-mastered, and CD-Rs are burned. The 2 processes involve the use of cast aluminium (in glass-mastering) and (phtalo)cyanine (in CD-R media).

Since I first looked at a commercial CD, I wondered in what way I could produce some sort of high-definition labels.

Now, my question is:

I don’t care about the cast-aluminium block in the rear-side of a -ROM media, even if it is known that it lasts more that (phtalo)cyanine.

My objective is to produce high-definition labels, using a laser and/or special technologies if required.

The maximum I can produce now is a LightScribe-labeled -R media. My LaCie external burner works very well with TDK media, while Philips is the worst since the contrast is less than 40% so if you write something like “this is my CD” your eyes won’t probably notice it immediately.

LightScribe uses lasers, but their use is limited to writing “black in gold”. I want instead to produce a label with the colors I decide, and not with black+gold (LightScribe) or blue+white (LabelFlash).

You CDFreakers are my only way to know if this is possible.

It is possible that the costs are too high just to produce this media at home, but in that case I want to learn about this technology, and how companies and corporations invest in replicating.

I know there are the so-called “duplication turrets” (LaCie makes its own, for example, and so does Pioneer, Matshita/Panasonic etc), but they do not affect the A-side of a media; they just write data.

If you even have just a link to a company that produces what I want, careless of the costs, post it here! It would be very appreciated.

Yo

Tyreksionibus

#2

Moved to the ‘Printing and Labelling’ section.

#3

Yes you can just everything is sold seperately, Go to Fry’s Electronics either in store or on line. Purchase your favorite brand of printable cd/dvd labels then purchase the clear Mead sticker covers that go on the top of your made label and keep it from the wear and tear of everyday life. You apply these after you have applied you printed labels. Beware don’t use any of these cd’s with the Mead covers in any slot loading players or especially in car stereo’s for the heat is not good for them nor palyers. Hope this helps.

#4

Stick-on labels are probably the last thing you should consider on any disc, CD or DVD alike. There’s no need to go into that here. Besides, they tend to wind up costing more than printing directly onto a disc.

The very best (and safe, reliable) results are currently obtained with inkjet printers and Taiyo Yuden Watershield printable discs. They look as good or better than manufactured discs, and can actually be printed at a higher resolution than silk screening. 2nd best is Verbatim Glossy printable discs.

Manufactured discs are labeled with a silkscreen printing process, or in some cases a thermal ink application (single colors). There is no way to duplicate the silkscreen process at home. You can buy thermal ink printers for discs to use at home, but the cheap ones are expensive to use and the duplication-type models are costly to buy though cheaper to use. Again, these are single color, though the results look very good.

You can visit www.rima.com to peruse some of the available choices.