detail information

Introduction:

The following text is taken from a press-release:

19. October 2005, Yamaha Corporation and Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. announced the Labelflash™ technology, a new technology that advances the ability to burn high quality images directly into a specialized dye layer on the disc labeling side using laser for data recording. This technology allows consumers to personalize and customize their DVDs with photos, text and graphics, replacing traditional sticker and marker labeling.

Labelflash™ technology allows a consumer to burn pictures and/or write titles on the label side of the DVD discs specially developed for the Labelflash™ system with DVD writers with Labelflash™ function. There is no need for printers and consumables for printing. To obtain high resolution and contrast pictures in blue and silver color, a consumer only needs to turn the disc upside down and insert it into the drive again after recording data. The unique technology burns the image 0.6mm deep into the media in as little as five minutes, creating a more stable and permanent image than traditional printable media that uses the top layer of a disc for labeling. If this system is applied to DVD set-top recorders, a consumer will also be able to burn program titles and thumbnail images more easily.

The technology marries the unique Yamaha DiscT@2 ('Tattoo") technology for picture burning on CD-R data side with the advanced photochemical expertise of Fuji Photo Film, which is a leading company in dye technologies for optical media.

Fujifilm and Yamaha are contacting many major DVD drive, DVD set-top recorder and DVD disc manufactures to encourage them to adopt this system.

About Labelflash(TH) Technology:

1. Customize the label side of your DVDs with the existing 'data recording laser."
   Labelflash™ system burns pictures directly into a special layer added to the non-data, or label, side of a DVD disc and eliminates the need for special printers, labels or pens.
2. High quality images on the disc label side
   Labelflash™ utilizes existing recording laser in standard DVD-writers to burn a high contrast and resolution image by changing the blue dye color to colorless. Consumer can choose picture-burning time from 5 min. to 20 min. in accordance with their quality needs.
3. Stable against vibration while burning pictures
   Labelflash™ utilizes newly developed laser, pick up and rotation control, and high-speed signal processing system of image data. And newly developed Labelflash™ DVD disc structure realizes the optimal focusing setting because the picture-burning layer at 0.6mm deep into the media is the same depth as the data recording layer on the data side.
4. Longlasting titles and pictures on DVDs
   • Images 'burned" are more durable and stronger against scratches than those printed by printer and others because images are protected by the polycarbonate layer.
   • Labelflash™ system can avoid troubles traditional sticker labeling may have, such as unstable rotation due to weight unbalance and damage to the drive by the possible peeling off of the sticker while operation.

Labelflash™ Specifications:

Around 1 month later (November 2005) - NEC Germany released the following press release:

NEC launches the world's first DVD burners with Labelflash™ technology. The PC drives will be available from December onwards. Labelflash™ burns custom motifs, lettering or images onto the top side of DVD blanks. It puts very few restrictions on creativity and design.

For the first time NEC`s wide range of new drives will not only support DVD +R(W) and DVD-R(W) but also DVD-RAM.

Labelflash™ - faster labelling of self-burned DVDs

Innovative Labelflash™ technology simplifies the labelling of self-burned DVDs - e.g. for archiving - and also enables creative DVD design. It eliminates the need for complex adhesive labelling systems and considerably enhances the durability of the media because, especially in the case of DVD blanks, the paper label can make the medium unreadable.

Labelflash™ delivers high image quality because it enables 256 brightness shades. The labelling process takes only around seven minutes to produce excellent quality results. One special feature is that both the top side and the data side of the blank can be labelled - provided that there is enough available memory. Labelflash™ can be used for blanks with a writable Labelflash™ top surface. On these media, the labelled top surface is covered by  0.6 millimetre-thick, robust protect layer which ensures that even labels that are exposed to light are extremely durable.

Multi drives with DVD-RAM - all formats in one

For the first time NEC`s wide range of new drives will not only support DVD +R(W) and DVD-R(W) but also DVD-RAM.

NEC's ND-4551A burner is a genuine multitalent: DVD minus and DVD plus media are written at up to 16x DVD speed, while rewritable (DVD +RW) and double-layer DVDs (DVD +R9) are written at up to 8x DVD speed. DVD-RW and DVD-R DL are processed at 6x speed. 5x speed applies for DVD-RAMs. As a read drive, the burner delivers 16x DVD, 5x DVD RAM and 48x CD speed. NEC will also be marketing a lower cost model without Labelflash™, the ND-4550A, which has the same write and read speeds as the ND-4551A.

All trademarks are the property of their respective holders.

The Media:

Now that you have gotten an introduction and insight regarding Labelflash™ and the supported drives, it is time to take a look at the Labelflash™ media.

The Jewel case (front)

The Jewel case (back)

The media itself (Printing side)

Let us find out who is the manufacturer on the data-side of this Fuji Labelflash™ media:

DVD Identifier gave the following info:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unique Disc Identifier : [DVD-R : RITEKF1]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disc & Book Type :       [DVD-R] - [DVD-R]
Manufacturer Name :      [Ritek Corp.]
Manufacturer ID :        [RITEKF1]
Blank Disc Capacity :    [2,298,496 Sectors = 4.71 GB (4.38 GiB)]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
** INFO : Drive = _NEC DVD_RW ND-4551A [FW 1-07]
** INFO : Write Capabilities = DVD+R DVD+R-DL DVD+RW
** INFO : Write Capabilities = DVD-R DVD-R-DL DVD-RW DVD-RAM
** INFO : Disc = [DVD-R : RITEKF1]
** INFO : Reference Speed : 1x DVD = 1385 kBps
** INFO : An Writeable Disc Is Recommended For Accurate Results
** INFO : Write Speeds (Supported By This Drive On This Disc) Listed Below

** INFO : GET PERFORMANCE Write Speed Descriptor(s)
Descriptor #1 = 22160 kBps (16.00x) - [CLV/Non-Pure CAV]
Descriptor #2 = 16620 kBps (12.00x) - [CLV/Non-Pure CAV]
Descriptor #3 = 11080 kBps ( 8.00x) - [CLV/Non-Pure CAV]
Descriptor #4 =  8310 kBps ( 6.00x) - [CLV/Non-Pure CAV]
Descriptor #5 =  5540 kBps ( 4.00x) - [CLV/Non-Pure CAV]
Descriptor #6 =  2770 kBps ( 2.00x) - [CLV/Non-Pure CAV]

** INFO : MODE SENSE Write Speed Descriptor(s) [Legacy Command]
** WARNING : MODE SENSE Is Obsolete And Not Always Properly Supported
Descriptor #1 =  8467 kBps ( 6.00x) - [CLV/Non-Pure CAV]
Descriptor #2 =  7056 kBps ( 5.09x) - [CLV/Non-Pure CAV]
Descriptor #3 =  5645 kBps ( 4.00x) - [CLV/Non-Pure CAV]
Descriptor #4 =  4234 kBps ( 3.06x) - [CLV/Non-Pure CAV]
Descriptor #5 =  2822 kBps ( 2.00x) - [CLV/Non-Pure CAV]
Descriptor #6 =  1411 kBps ( 1.00x) - [CLV/Non-Pure CAV]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
** INFO : Hex Dump Of 'Media Code'-Block Listed Below
** INFO : 4-Byte Header Preceding 'Media Code'-Block Discarded
** INFO : Format 0Eh - Pre-Recorded Information In Lead-In
0000 : 01 40 c1 fd 9e d8 52 00  02 87 0d 13 87 88 90 00   .@....R.........
0010 : 03 52 49 54 45 4b 46 00  04 31 00 00 00 00 00 00   .RITEKF..1......
0020 : 05 88 80 00 00 00 02 00  06 09 0f 15 87 88 90 00   ................
0030 : 07 a8 82 00 20 00 00 00  08 06 16 10 14 0f 0b 00   .... ...........
0040 : 09 94 07 0d 0b 88 88 00  0a 80 00 00 00 00 10 00   ................
0050 : 0b 09 1e 17 a7 89 85 00  0c b7 89 02 00 20 02 00   ............. ..
0060 : 0d 00 00 d0 00 00 00 00  0e 0c 2b 39 33 29 1c 00   ..........+93)..
0070 : 0f 50 1d 2b 0f 97 b5 00  10 88 80 00 00 00 00 00   .P.+............
0080 : 11 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  12 0c 32 45 41 2d 27 00   ..........2EA-'.
0090 : 13 50 23 2f 0f 97 b5 00  14 88 80 00 00 00 00 00   .P#/............
00a0 : 15 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  16 0a 4a 4f 4b 23 29 00   ..........JOK#).
00b0 : 17 80 1b 27 10 68 b5 00  18 88 88 00 08 00 08 00   ...'.h..........
00c0 : 19 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  1a 08 59 55 52 2d 2b 00   ..........YUR-+.
00d0 : 1b 60 1f 29 0b a9 b5 00  1c 88 80 00 00 00 00 00   .`.)............
00e0 : 1d 00 00 00 00 00 00 00                            ........        

** INFO : Hex Dump Of 'Control Data Zone'-Block Listed Below
** INFO : 4-Byte Header Preceding 'CDZ'-Block Discarded
** INFO : Format 10h - Physical Format Information Of Control Data Zone
0000 : 25 0f 02 00 00 03 00 00  00 26 12 7f 00 00 00 00   %........&......
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ DVD Identifier V4.2.0 - http://DVD.Identifier.CDfreaks.com ]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

And with the Disc Info option in Nero CD-DVD Speed:

As we can see the media is manufactured by the Ritek Corporation and the media code is RITEK F1.

Designing and writing Label (Label-side):

As mentioned earlier, we will use Nero Burning ROM 6.6.1.3 to test the Labelflash™ technique with, and so far the version number '6.6.1.3 NEC" is the only version capable of supporting Labelflash™ for the time being.

Let us begin with clicking the Labelflash™ icon on the Nero Burning ROM symbol menu:

A new screen will pop-up and we are ready to start our design:

We made a quick and simple design, and selected Highest print quality, selectable modes are: Fast, Medium, Highest and Custom.

Under the custom mode you can adjust some settings of your own choice:

There are: Contrast level (1-100) and the Rotation/Encoding Speed (Default, 7875 rpm, 4500 rpm and 2250 rpm).

Now that we have looked at the custom settings, let us go back to the other settings, in this case the Highest print quality option and hit burn.

At the point where the progress bar reached 50% the remaining time suddenly showed 00:00 min.

As we can see the total burning time and the 'guessed" time differ by only 25 seconds.

But let us take a look at the finished result:

As the Label (printing) side is very shiny, it was hard to make any good photos of the real quality that is visible to the human eyes.

On the next page we will make a label of the data surface…..