January 6, 2005 - TDK Corporation announced that it will apply the name DURABIS to the super hard coating technology already in use with TDK's DVD and Blu-ray Disc products, which have been acclaimed for their robust surfaces. The new term will be applied to TDK products being sold worldwide.

DURABIS technology (previously referred to as super hard coating technology) was first used in TDK-manufactured DVDs from 2002, and which resulted in it gaining wide recognition for its outstandingly robust surface properties, boasting a surface with "100 times the scratch resistance"*1 of previous products. In particular, with blue laser discs such as the Blu-ray Disc, etc., with their larger capacity (and shorter recording wavelength), scratches, grime, dust, etc. on the recording surface (i.e., the surface irradiated by the laser beam) can create even more serious problems than on the DVD. With DURABIS, these problems have been addressed even to a greater degree than anticipated. And as the Blu-ray disc is a "bare" disc (not encased in a cartridge), technology such as DURABIS, etc., that reinforces the disc recording surface will be essential to resist scratches and finger print smudges.

Up to now, the DVDs with hard coating TDK created with DURABIS technology has been marketed using a number of different product names to generate appeal for its robust recording surface: Super Hard Coating (in Japan); Armor Plated Disc (in the USA); and Scratch Proof Disc (in Europe). With attention now focused on the blue laser disc, TDK, with the intention of further disseminating the revolutionary hard coating technology created by its original technology both in Japan and overseas, has unified the technology under the name DURABIS and produced a logo mark by which to identify it.

DURABIS, which was coined by combining the English words DURABILITY and SHIELD, expresses the products' high durability. To convey the images of robustness and hardness, the angular logo mark design is based on an elongated, rectangle. This symbolizes the "D" of DURABIS, with the white line in the center suggesting the image of a disc as seen in profile. The shape of the black area that sandwiches the disc also expresses the hard shield that securely protects the disc.

The three main features of hard coating created with DURABIS technology are "scratch resistance," "resistance to fingerprint smudging" and "resistance to dust and dirt." TDK developed DURABIS technology to match the characteristics of each type of disc, identified as DURABIS 1 for the DVD and DURABIS 2 for the Blu-ray Disc. Subsequent versions are planned to designate each new type of disc.

The DURABIS hard coating technology was created out of TDK's philosophy to "afford protection for irreplaceable data and contents." TDK is confident that as optical discs evolve with increasingly larger capacity, its technological achievements will continue will play a major role in the future.

*1: When compared with a TDK-manufactured DVD that is not using the DURABIS technology (formerly super hard coating technology) made according to the TDK measurement method.