the future of cd, dvd & optical media

Report: Apple ready to release new iMacs with Blu-ray

2009-09-26T14:23:00.000-07:00

according to AppleInsider.. it looks like the new iMac's are currently in production. they are going to be thinner, and faster.. and what's this? it appears very likely that these new machines will include support for Blu-ray. how exciting.

to read more, visit: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10361120-37.html

and for more on dvd/blu-ray products, visit: http://datadisc.com/duplication/dvd_duplication.php

Testimonials - CD Duplication - Harold Cory

2009-09-10T08:06:00.000-07:00

"I am writing just to say thank you for the job you guys did on the CD wallets for the Booksource. They turned out great and you gave me a quick turnaround. Once again thank you for everything."

Harold Cory

archcd.com

Saint Louis, MO

BD Prices Fall, Catalog Spending Rises 72%

2009-08-31T08:35:00.000-07:00

Below is an informative read on the growing popularity and incorporation of blu-ray technology into American homes.

"Pricing for BD software has dropped significantly everywhere, fostering an increase in demand and spending. In the US, BD software pricing has fallen more than 10% for new releases and a full one-third on catalog titles since 2008. This has caused spending on theatrical Blu-ray catalog to increase 72% from the same 2008 period. However, retailers would like prices to drop more.."

read the full article HERE

for more on blu-ray visit: http://www.datadisc.com/duplication/dvd_duplication.php

CD still music king, but losing ground to digital

2009-08-24T12:13:00.000-07:00

"PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. -- Market researchers NPD Groupsaid Tuesday that digital music downloads now make up 35 percent of the U.S. market, up from 30 percent in 2008.

People still buy more CDs, which account for 65 percent of music sales in the U.S., NPD said. The research group predicts digital music sales will nearly equal CD sales by the end of next year.." [continue reading]

for more on cd related items, visit: http://www.datadisc.com/duplication/cd_duplication.php

Mitsubishi Announces Super-Charged Blu-ray Disc Recorders....For Japan

2009-08-22T10:49:00.000-07:00

"Here we go again! Another announcement by a large Asian consumer electronics manufacturer that it is introducing a new line of Blu-ray Disc recorders, but, unfortunately, they will probably never see the light-of-day in the U.S.

What makes Mitsubishi's announcement even more frustrating is that these units are a home theater fan's dream: One unit combines Blu-ray Disc recording with a 1 Terabyte Hard Drive, a second unit offers a 500GB hard drive, while the third houses not only a Blu-ray Disc recorder and a 320 GB hard drive, but also includes a VHS deck.." [continue reading..]

for more on Blu-ray/DVD related products, visit: http://www.datadisc.com/duplication/dvd_duplication.php

Swan Song For Movie Soundtracks

2009-08-12T08:36:00.000-07:00

"Slumping CD sales and the increasing influence of iTunes over the music industry have taken a toll on the once reliable revenues of movie soundtracks -- and that’s left studios increasingly reluctant to release soundtracks to many films."

“While it’s still worth it for the right project, there are a lot of studios who aren’t even doing soundtrack deals anymore because they think it’s a waste of time,” Patricia Joseph, VP of Music Placement and Licensing for NYC-based Razor & Tie Entertainment, told TheWrap." [continue reading]

for more on cd related items, visit: http://www.datadisc.com/

Blu-ray sales up 91 percent in first half of 2009

2009-07-30T18:31:00.000-07:00

The following is an article reporting the steady growth and impact of Blu-ray in the United States.

"..the Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) has issued a press release saying that U.S. Blu-ray sales are up 91 percent in the first half of 2009, which indicates that the format is maintaining its growth pace despite the recession. " [read more]

for more on related dvd/blu-ray products, visit: http://www.datadisc.com/duplication/dvd_duplication.php

Compact Disc Sales Still Waning

2009-07-20T14:49:00.000-07:00

"Will this Christmas mark the death of the CD? Music industry analysts are already forecasting a blue holiday, with retailers not expecting much, in the way of profits, from music sales.." [read more]

for more on related products, visit http://www.datadisc.com/duplication/cd_duplication.php

EMI Quits Selling CDs to Indie Record Stores

2009-07-15T12:19:00.000-07:00

"The music industry knows how to hang out itself, even if it lacks the correct length pf rope. EMI, certainly reeling from declining physical album sales like the other Big 4 record labels, is now apparently telling independent album retailers that it will no longer sell them CDs." [continue reading]

for more on related cd products, [click here]

NASHVILLE SKYLINE: CD Sales Down for Country, but Digital Downloads Up

2009-07-11T11:29:00.000-07:00

"Not surprisingly, CD sales continued to decline in the first half of 2009. Alarmingly for the music industry, growth of sales of digital albums also declined. Billboard and Nielsen SoundScan report that combined sales thus far in 2009 of CD albums and digital albums are down 23 million units from the same period a year ago..." [continue reading]

for more info on related cd products, click here

Testimonials - CD Duplication - Erin Flanagan Lind

2009-06-30T10:29:00.000-07:00

"The CDs arrived yesterday right on schedule. They look absolutely fantastic. Played one - it sounds great. I just want to thank you so much, your company has been a pleasure to work with from start to finish and Sonas will absolutely be using you again in the future! Thank you!"

- Erin Flanagan Lind

BDA, Adams Dispute Harris Survey on Blu-ray

2009-06-26T10:10:00.000-07:00

The following is an interesting article regarding a recent "Harris Survey" [read more here] that claimed that there were more HD-DVD players in American homes than Blu-ray players.

The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) is very skeptical of these statistics (for good reason), and Tony Adams, the president of Adams Media Research had the following to say: "Some people believe a DVD player on an HDTV is high-def. There's just so much confusion out there," Adams said. "Everybody makes mistakes" he said of the Harris survey "but we have models that show those numbers just can't be true."

to read more on BDA and Adams disputing the recent Harris Survey, click here. an interesting read!

for related dvd/Blu-ray products, visit: http://www.datadisc.com/duplication/dvd_duplication.php

Five Reasons Blu-ray is Hurting

2009-06-23T11:03:00.000-07:00

"Blu-ray by all accounts was supposed to revolutionize personal video with crisp high-definition picture quality and booming sound. But uptake has been slow. Here are five reasons that Blue-ray isn't making the splash it was expected to.." [continue reading]

see related blu-ray/dvd products HERE

Needle points north on vinyl sales

2009-06-22T09:47:00.000-07:00

"Over the past year, the increase in stories about the Return of Vinyl have mirrored vinyl sales themselves. This is likely because the old record is a rare area of discernible growth in music retail, and these days people will run with anything on the rise. CD sales have fallen about 45 percent since 2000, but vinyl is moving in the opposite direction, albeit at a less sharp angle.." [continue reading]

see related CD products HERE

Testimonials - CD Duplication - Anne Sumner

2009-06-22T09:18:00.000-07:00

You guys are GREAT! The package was delivered to the Ruwe's home early Saturday morning. UPS even went out of their way to start their route at Ruwe's. They were on the end of the route, but UPS made sure we got our package at the beginning of the day - and we didn't even ask!

We will definately do business with you again!

-Anne Sumner

Testimonials - CD Duplication - Connie Hedrick

2009-06-11T13:00:00.000-07:00

"I really enjoyed working with you all on this CD project. While probably a small project for you all, I was treated so well by everyone it felt as if I were your ONLY customer. Thank you to everyone for the fabulous service and product."

- Connie Hedrick

Blu-ray player sales soar 72 percent

2009-06-09T16:36:00.000-07:00

"The US sales of standalone Blu-ray players have increased 72 percent in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period last year, according to the market research firm NPD Group.." [read more here]

see related Blu-Ray/DVD products HERE

With music, digital sales up but DVD down

2009-06-01T11:44:00.000-07:00

"Digital music video sales are increasing each year, but sales of music DVDs are mostly in decline, creating a revenue challenge for labels.." continue reading..

see related CD/DVD duplication products at: http://www.datadisc.com/duplication/cd_duplication.php and http://www.datadisc.com/duplication/dvd_duplication.php

Testimonials - CD Duplication - Rainah Allen

2009-05-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

I received the package and I would like to thank you for your commitment to
excellence. I have learned a great deal and I will refer any clients needing this service to you.

Thanks again,
Rainah Allen

Testimonials - CD/DVD Duplication - Tyzen

2009-05-08T10:03:00.000-07:00

Thanks a million for taking care of me. I will continue to use your services in all of my dvd and cd printing needs. I'm sorry that there was a mess up in the first order but thanks for being understanding and helpful. Your efforts did not go unnoticed and I'll send my business back 10 fold.

I'm going to recommend all of my fellow entertainers' printing needs to your company. You turn orders over fast and I'm looking forward to see the final product!

Thanks again for your speediness and helpfulness.

Tyzen

Testimonials - Disc-A-Lopes - Posters - Sofia

2009-04-28T17:28:00.000-07:00

Well, the party was yesterday and it was a complete success…..everyone loved the CD’s and Brian couldn’t believe it!!! He had never seen anything like it and was asking all about how I got it done.

Not only was he blown away by his picture on the disc-a-lopes, but he couldn’t believe I got the picture of the horse and “Stallion Records” printed on the label of the CD itself. He absolutely loved it!!!!

Yesterday was the first time I got to see the poster…I had to ship it to his brother’s house.

It was beautiful……Everyone loved it, it was the perfect sign-in board.

Thank you so much for your professionalism and one-on-one attention you extended to me.

Those personalized CD’s were the perfect touch to set the mood for the party. It was a very special party favor for a very special person. I’m so grateful to you and everyone at Datadisc for making my vision a reality.

Sincerely,

Sofia

Testimonials - CD Duplication - Sue Harris

2009-03-23T11:38:00.000-07:00

I wanted to say thanks for getting that box of CDs out to us on Friday. They arrived as scheduled Saturday morning and look absolutely fantastic!!! We could not be more pleased with dataDisc.

You guys have been a pleasure to work with and I truly appreciate you.

Sincerely,

Sue Harris

Testimonials - DVD/Artwork - Denis

2009-03-18T11:07:00.000-07:00

Thanks a lot to you and your team for the great job on the AquaBliss DVD, and artwork.

It all looks perfect. Very pleased.

Denis

Testimonials - CD Duplication - Mat and Look Afraid LLC

2009-03-12T11:33:00.000-07:00

The CDs look great! Thanks for the speedy turn around. The quality is top notch and the printing is exactly what we wanted.

Thanks again for your work and patience!

-Mat and Look Afraid LLC

What is Blu-Ray Technology?

2009-03-03T10:01:00.000-08:00

A great primer on what the heck it is everyone's been talking about the past eighteen months...

Link to story: What Is Blu-Ray Technology?

Related Product: Blu-ray and DVD Duplication

Blu-ray Sales Accelerate to Record Levels in Japan

2009-03-03T09:18:00.000-08:00

09 December 2008

Latest GfK Retail and Technology Japan figures have revealed that in the first week of November 2008, Blu-ray Disc Recorders have surpassed a 50% market share for DVD Recorders in unit terms.

Blu-ray prices are going down and sales are going up; not to mention that Blu-ray recorders are replacing DVD recorders at a higher pace than DVD recorders replaced VCR's. As Japan goes, so does the rest of the world follow...

Link to story: Blu-ray sales accelerate to record levels in Japan

Related product: Blu-Ray and DVD Duplication

Testimonials - CD Jackets - Laura

2009-03-02T10:28:00.000-08:00

Thank you SO much for your help with the sleeves. We received them today and they look great! Really appreciate all your efforts in making this happen so quickly. We will be ordering more in the future (hopefully near future) for sure!

All my best,
Laura

Testimonial - CD Duplication - Carol McFarland

2009-02-10T10:46:00.000-08:00

dataDisc did an amazing job with these! We were extremely impressed with the professional quality and their friendly and AWESOME customer service! They went above and beyond the call of duty. We will definitely be using them again! Anyone needing CDs or DVDs duplicated...don't hesitate to call them!

-Carol McFarland

View Related Product: CD Duplication

Testimonial - CD Duplication - The Yammers

2009-02-08T15:51:00.000-08:00

Thank you very much.

The CDs arrived Friday, they look great!

Brandon

THE YAMMERS

View Related Product: CD Duplication

Testimonial - CD Duplication - StarDot Technologies

2009-02-06T11:47:00.000-08:00

Thanks Royce,

Everything came out great!

Richard Nahas

StarDot Technologies

http://www.stardot.com

View Related Product: CD Duplication

Testimonial - CD Duplication - Brett Smith

2009-01-26T17:52:00.000-08:00

I will be working with you again to do a full package and I look forward to continue working with you. You have been a real big help and that is hard to find today with companies.

-Brett Smith

View Related Product: CD Duplication

Testimonial - CD Duplication - Lisa Saunders

2009-01-19T15:08:00.000-08:00

Royce,
We received the CD's in a very timely manner and they look great.
Thanks,
Lisa Saunders

View Related Product: CD Duplication

the best kept secrets...

2009-01-19T08:21:00.000-08:00

You're a band or solo artist... a singer/songwriter... looking for the complete package. DataDisc will print full color, top quality posters for your next show, at an incredible price. Check out www.datadisc.com for more information...

Testimonial - CD Duplication - Paul Buono

2008-12-19T10:15:00.000-08:00

Hi Mike -

I got my CD's today. They look GREAT! What excellent work (for a good price, too!) My sincere thanks to you, Jeannie, and Royce for your assistance, your product, and your company's customer service. (please forward this email to both Jeannie and Royce for me). Working with you was a pleasure, and thanks for taking the time to explain the whole process to a rookie - I appreciate your patience and willingness to field my repeat phone calls. I hope to do another cd project very soon and I will absolutely be using DataDisc again.

Hope you are doing well - and again, thank you!

Take care,
Paul Buono

View Related Product: CD Duplication

Testimonial - CD Duplication - Kings Way

2008-12-12T10:13:00.000-08:00

Dear Al,

I just want to thank you and your staff from the bottom of my heart for the job you have done for us. I have been extremely impressed from the first time I spoke to you all the way to the delivery of the finished product. Everyone has been prompt, professional and courteous. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! We couldn't have made this happen without your help! We received one box of 500 yesterday and await the other for today. They look and sound great!

Again, many thanks and blessings to all of you! You have secured our business for future projects!

--
Carolyn Kramer
Account Coordinator/Customer Service
Kings Way

View Related Product: CD Duplication

Testimonial - DVD Duplication - Eagle Crime Scenes, Inc.

2008-12-11T16:06:00.000-08:00

The job you did on my DVD was very nice. The final package looks great.

Thanks for your help.

Sincerely,

Michael F. LaForte
Eagle Crime Scenes, Inc.

View Related Product: DVD Duplication

Testimonial - DVD Duplication Crockett County Public Library

2008-12-01T14:00:00.000-08:00

Dear Al and all at dataDisc,

The DVDs arrived and look great! We are so excited and have already taken orders for about half of them. Hopefully we will be re-ordering soon to keep up with the demand.

Please thank all your team that worked on our project. The service and personal help from everyone made this a very easy project for us. We will certainly recommend you and your service to others.

Louise P. Ledoux
Crockett County Public Library
Ozona, TX

View Related Product: DVD Duplication

Testimonial - CD Jackets - The Sea Captains

2008-11-26T14:58:00.000-08:00

Mike,

The jackets arrived yesterday, and I remembered that you asked me to let you know how they look. I'm very pleased with your work. The quality is great, (I was wondering if they would be nice and sturdy, which they are, considering how low your prices are). The colors look good, the text is pretty crisp and readable, and the turnaround was super quick.

Have a great holiday, and thanks so much for your help.

Adam Flaherty
www.adamflaherty.com
www.theseacaptains.com

View Related Products: CD Jackets

Testimonial - CD Packaging - Web Solutions

2008-11-15T12:17:00.000-08:00

Mike,

Thanks to you and everyone at Datadisc. The print job looks great and everyone is impressed.

Phil

Phil Anderson
Web Solutions, Consulting

View Related Product: CD Packaging

dataDisc now offers recycled paperboard products

2008-10-28T07:08:00.000-07:00

dataDisc.com now offers it's paperboard Jackets, Wallets, Digipaks and more using quality, recycled material. Check out www.datadisc.com for more information...

Testimonial - DVD Duplication - Wood County Electric Cooperative

2008-10-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

The DVD's look great and we are very pleased. (Order 20081353-0) I'd recommend your service to anyone that wants a manufactured DVD that looks professional, but is affordable.

You guys did a fab job!

Paige Eaton
Director of Communications
Wood County Electric Cooperative

View Related Product: DVD Duplication

Testimonial - DVD Duplication - MLC Advertising

2008-10-15T11:30:00.000-07:00

Mike –

I just wanted to take a minute and thank you and your team for the great job on the rush DVD for me. The project arrived at the hotel before I did and played beautifully.

Thanks again for working with me on this project and helping me out of a jam.

I look forward to our relationship growing in the future.

Thanks,

Andy

----------
Andrew P. Vanhook
Creative Director
MLC Advertising

View Related Product: DVD Duplication

Testimonial - CD Duplication - WHDT TV

2008-07-25T10:35:00.000-07:00

Order arrived on time. Looks great!

Thank you for your professional service.

Günter Marksteiner
WHDT-TV

View Related Product: CD Duplication

Multiple Form Access for CDs & DVDs

2008-05-15T09:07:00.000-07:00

Multiple Form Access, MFA, is a present rage in CD enhancements (at least in the eyes of the CD manufactures that are offering it) - additives made to duplicated discs to greatly increase their perceived or actual value. As of April 2008, MFA is utilized primarily by the music industry to stimulate more user interest, generate more sales, and permit interaction and feedback among end user, distributor and duplicators.

In reality, the average music CD uses about 77% (60 minutes) of its potential 670 MB content (78 minutes), leaving about 23% (130 MB) of available space wasted - or what can otherwise be used or reused now for CD enhancements. Examples include, adding MP3s, videos, photo libraries, ringtones, wallpapers, tour dates, etc.

When the same CD is placed into a computer, the MFA concept permits the user to get much more out of the CD than from a music player. The CD duplication client is charged more for this enhancement process in producing the master content; the end user gets more value added; and (theoretically), the manufacturer gets more repeat orders and even user feedback information.

More examples of CD Enhancement
CD enhancement uses a wide variety of materials added to the audio CD that significantly enrich the value of the originator's project. When placed in a CD player the CD functions normally, playing the audio. However, when placed in a computer, either Mac or PC, the bonus value-additives become available to the user.

Almost any kind of video can be added to the CD, from a short music video to a complete documentary. Other types of materials may be added as well. Examples include photo galleries, scrapbooks with lyrics, credits, stories and comments.

Regardless of the content the developer decides to place on his enhanced CD, CD and DVD duplication companies can also design and develop an interface that suits particular needs and budget. For example: produce a simple, traditional folder which contains the materials to be viewed, or an interactive, multimedia extravaganza that will dazzle and excite the viewers and their friends or affiliates.

The CD Enhancement Production Process
Many of the enhancement materials are encoded in "self-contained" files which do not require the end users to have any particular programs installed on their computers. Other items (such as photos and video) are encoded in formats that are widely supported and common on most computers, such as JPEG, Quicktime, and Adobe Reader PDF files. Interactive programs, such as those written in Visual Basic, C++ or JAVA, are compiled and can be used by all end users since the application or executable programs are contained therein. Either way, nearly all users will be able to view materials quickly and easily without having to install any new software programs on their computers.

What the Future of MFA CDs and DVD's Portend
While much of the above CD Enhancement is not peculiar to the music use of CDs, expect the MFA process to show up in DVD movie and other applications. Examples include video use, data applications, and the business world of catalogs, slide shows like Power Point presentations, and interactive dialogues to further explain a working process, educational material, instruction manuals, and the like. It should be expected that the MFA process will expand in some areas so rapidly, that they no longer will simply piggy-back on music, video and data discs. Rather, they will become the primary, if not all the information on many dedicated discs. Time will tell...

visit www.datadisc.com for more information...

Tech Tip: Compression for CDs and DVDs Part 3: Video

2008-04-01T05:39:00.000-07:00

Written by Donald R.J. White

As mentioned twice above, the real CD and DVD compression advantages are nearly all reserved for images. This is readily understood when looking at a typical photograph. If an outdoor landscape, note the blue sky may take up 20% of the photo. Why waste all the hundreds of thousands of pixels when a few bytes will describe the sky color and then its location, height and width take up a small amount more. Only when the neighboring pixels are exhibiting a change does that information need to be preserved. Thus depending upon the simplicity or complexity, video compression techniques may provide for lossy compressions from 5:1 to 200:1 with 50 being a typical order of magnitude.

Tech Tip: Compression for CDs and DVDs Part 2: Data

2008-03-22T05:37:00.000-07:00

Written by Donald R.J. White

There are different compression techniques that can be used for compressing plain text languages such as English, latin-based, Slovak and the like. Two examples are (1) RLE for Run length encoding and (2) LZ encoding to cover entropy encoding and Lamped-Ziv compression. While impressive compressions are available for video, as described in the next section, the best that can be expected for plain text is about 3:1.

Thus, a strong argument can be used for not bothering to compress alphanumerics at all, especially if there is embedded video such as graphics, sketches, drawings, and photos. For example, assume a report has 80 % plain text and 20% graphics.

Read more at http://www.datadisc.com/

Tech Tip: Compression for CDs and DVDs Part 1: Music

2008-03-07T05:35:00.000-08:00

Written by Donald R.J. White

One Byte = 8 bits = 28, or 256 options or quanta levels. CDs can store 670 MB of information and DVDs (single sided) store 4.7GB. DVDs store 4700MB/670MB = seven times more capacity. For example, 50 CDs of music can be stored on seven DVDs. Compression tools can compress disk space from about three to 200 times, depending on the stored information (i.e. text, music, video, etc). Music compresses from 1.2x to 3:1 times (MP3 format for 10:1 times), and text compresses only about three times. But, video can compress enormously, depending upon if is (1) stills, like a picture gallery or a power point presentation, or (2) movies which compress the best (roughly 100 times). The amount of compression of video depends upon the acceptability level (quality control) of lossy compression techniques.

Tech Tip: Blu-Ray: The Successor

2008-02-01T05:32:00.000-08:00

Written by Donald R.J. White

In the mid 1990s, commercial high definition TV (HDTV) sets began entering a larger market. Since there was no cheap way to record or play back more demanding HD content (4x+), and a non-HD movie already takes up the storage of a single DVD, a new media format was needed. Blue lasers with shorter wavelengths for HD DVDs yield optical storage with higher density than red lasers for DVDs (0.62x for wavelength ratio). As a result, two new competing media were created: HD-DVDs (spearheaded by Toshiba) and Blu-Ray DVDs (led by Sony). However, within the past two years, Warner Bros, Best Buy, Wal-Mart and others stalwarts announced they would no longer support HD-DVD format, but join the Blu-Ray camp. In February of 2008, after losing US$ 1 billion, Toshiba announced its decision to discontinue development and marketing of the HD DVDs. Thus, the backers and followers of Blu-Ray technology won the HD "format war".

Warner Brother's embrace Blu-ray

2008-01-07T06:40:00.000-08:00

With all these big studios embracing the Blu-ray format, Microsoft is finding themselves alone in the HD corner... again...

marantz' new Blu-ray player at CEDIA

2008-01-04T12:21:00.000-08:00

the good folks at engadget are reporting news on the new Blu-ray player being displayed at this year's CEDIA conference. pictures *YES* and details about audio codecs are included.

smaller size CDs and DVDs...

2007-11-30T11:47:00.000-08:00

according to appleinsider.com, apple has issued a patent for "a collapsable hardware solution that would allow [their] company to reduce shipping and packaging costs by selling software on smaller discs which could then be used in slot-loading optical drives built for standard 12 cm CDs and DVDs, a new filing has revealed."

An additional quote states, "Software is traditionally shipped on the 12 cm discs, but many applications exist today that require less storage capacity than what is available on the those discs, the filing adds. However, slot-loading drives found in notebooks and car audio systems are only designed only to accept 12 cm discs."

Disney backs new HD DVD standard

2007-11-20T12:05:00.000-08:00

Major studio Walt Disney through in their two sense according to X-bit's website. Walt Disney has always been on the side of Blu-ray, so this could be a sign of something new... As Blu-ray and HD DVD battle to replace our current DVD standard, it will be interesting to see who continues to fall on what side.

Tech Tip: Dual Layer DVDR

2007-10-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

A standard DVDR contains about 4.7GB. The Dual layer DVDR have a capacity of 8.5GB, not quite twice. A dual layer DVDR is actually a DVD with two optical layers on the bottom of the disc rather than the normal one layer. You can't see the difference because the layers are determined by focusing the laser at different depths inside the dye.

It appears that if you need more space than a standard DVD can supply you, simply use a dual layer disc, right? Hang on; this is where it gets tricky.

Service bureaus like dataDisc are often some of the first users to find out how good a new technology really is. When the first dual layer discs hit the market, folks like us were reporting recording failure rates upwards of 50%. The technology is far improved from its early days. Now, failure rates are about where CDs failure rates are. Yep, you'll still get some "bad burns" but very few. It appears now that things are stable, everyone would like to use those recorders that have been shipping in home computers for several years now. Supplies of dual layer DVDs are much tighter than standard DVDs. So much so that even buying large quantities of dual layer discs will cost 4-10 times that of a standard DVD.

What does that mean for your next small run DVD project? Maybe nothing! On the other hand; it might actually be less expensive to do a 2 disc set. Make sure to do your homework!

by Al Foster, VP
dataDisc, Inc.