Blu-ray Dimensions

Printable Blu-ray disc Printers

It’s an exciting time in the high definition world with blu-ray disc format racing ahead despite the slow economic times.  Recordable Blu-ray discs or “BD-R” for the Write Once Read Many media (WORM) and the rewritable formats “BD-RE” are offering a whole new world for recording high definition movies (like a leap from super 8 film to Video).  With the ever increasing demand for Blu-ray movies recordable Blu-ray offers a less expensive way of going to market.  There are many licensing fees in pressed disc manufacturing specific to Blu-ray that can be avoided using recordable Blu-ray media.

How then do you create a disc label for your recordable bd-r project?

There are several technologies available to you that will allow for individual on demand disc printing. Careful consideration should be made on the pros and cons of each technology.

Inkjet Printable BD-R Printers:

R-Quest 4800dpi Inkjet Disc Printer

Ink-jet printing offers convenience and high resolution.  Inkjet printing works by having ink cartridges/ spray nozzles that shoot out a measured amount of color in very fine dots.  Most inkjet printers work by heating the ink which creates pressure that forces out the ink. Ink-jet blu-ray printing offers high resolution, 4800 dpi (dots per inch), excellent color blending and easy maintenance.  Depending on the model of automated Blu-ray printers most use 2 ink color with the exception of the R-Quest 4500 which uses a HP 6 color printer engine.  Primera has a single ink system, the BravoSE Blu-ray.  The BravoSE is not a production unit but it is designed for on-demand disc publishing. If you need to run 5 discs a day it’s a great solution.  The cost is greater with most ink-jet technology.  Manufacturers like to “tweek” the cartridges for added features like low level warnings (important so you don’t run out in the middle of a automated job ruining 100 of discs). Inkjet printabe discs are subject to smudges under wet conditions.  Currently only Imation provides a water-resistant surface called “Aquaguard” for BD-R blank discs.

Thermal Printable BD-R Printers:

Rimage Prism Plus Thermal Printer

With extra protective coatings on thermal printable blank bd-r and thermal re-transfer / dye-sublimation it is possible to successfully print a label on the recordable Blu-ray disc.  Thermal printing offers lower cost in printer ribbons and the type of media required.  It has limited resolution so complex images like photographs look poor.  Thermal printable Blu-ray media is excellent for solid graphics or well defined variations in contrast. Thermal printing can only effectively print in monochromatic colors. Black, Red, Blue and with a multi-color ribbon: yellow. Thermal printing uses a print head that heats up a special wax-resin based ribbon in dots that blend together in the heat onto the disc.  This is known as direct disc thermal printing.  A great leap was made when thermal printing spun off with a re-transfer process that allows for blending the colors before printing them onto a disc.

Thermal Re-transfer BD-R Printers:

Rimage Everest 600

Thermal Re-Transfer printing offers some unique improvements to recordable Blu-ray printable discs.   It uses a similar process as thermal printing but with a multi-color ribbon and a transfer ribbon that serves as a color palate to mix the colors. Once the image is printed to the re-transfer ribbon it’s then applied to the disc with additional heat.  The result is a very durable and bright image that looks better then silk screening.

An even finer re-transfer thermal printer is the dye-sublimation printer that vaporizes the ink to create an even better transfer of the image then standard re-transfer that only liquefies  the ink resin.

Both re-transfer technologies are far more expensive compared to direct thermal printing and ink-jet printing. If you are producing discs for a commercial end user then re-transfer is the way to go.

As you can see there are significant differences in each technology that balances economy and performance.  Some thought needs to be put into considering the type of graphics that will be printed on the discs.

With the growing demand for high-definition video Blu-ray disc provides an excellent choice for the consumer.  Even better is the fact that a recordable Blu-ray format exists that allows for recording your favorite shows in high-definition. Both write-once and rewritable Blu-ray disc media exists in 25GB and dual layer 50GB capacity. Almost 5 times the storage of standard recordable DVDs.  Blu-ray recordable represents a huge jump in capacity that not only allows for less compression of the video signal but gives even more room for features that were just a dream in DVD format.

So what makes recordable Blu-ray so much better then DVD?

Blu-ray technology uses a violet-blue laser which operates at a higher frequency then the red laser that DVD relies on.  This allows for the information (or pits) to be placed closer together on the same sized disc as DVD.  This change of lasers requires additional lasers for backwards compatibility with DVD and CD.  Unlike the past format releases (DVD specifically) consumers do not have to face the decision of upgrading to a new format and casting aside their current library.  Blu-ray readers and recorders have been designed to provide full support for the older formats.

One of the little known facts of the new BD-R format is it’s construction vs. DVD recordable.  Blu-ray recordable discs use a single polycarbonate disc which provides better sealing against oxidation then recordable DVD.  Recordable DVD’s use two layers: a sandwich with the dye and reflective layer in the middle.  The only thing keeping the DVD recordable disc from separating is glue. As production of DVD recordable has been perfected the separation of the two parts is less likely but still a concern. Not only from the outside of the disc but the hub in the center where it is in contact with a locking mechanism when stored in a DVD case.  As this glue fails it allows oxygen to enter the disc at a faster rate then through the plastic itself.  Oddly enough recordable CD-R have a far longer archival life then recordable DVD.  This is because CD-R (like Blu-ray recordable) has a single layer of polycarbonate with various sealing layers on top that provide greater reduction of oxidation then the DVD sandwich.

So besides the increase in storage capacity Blu-ray also offers greater longevity then recordable DVD media.  How much longer is being tested right now by most of the blank blu-ray disc media manufacturers.