
Shaped CDs are are sometimes used, especially for marketing. The playing time was then extended to 74 minutes to accommodate Wilhelm Furtwängler's 1951 performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony at the Bayreuth Festival, which required changing to the 120 mm diameter.Ĩ0 mm discs also exists, though they are much less popular. Interestingly, at first the CD was aimed at playing 60 minutes of music with a size of 100 mm or 115 mm. The DVD and Blue-Ray discs share the same physical dimensions with the CD. The reflective layer is protected by a layer of lacquer. Disc TypesĪ Compact Disc is made of clear plastic 1.2 mm thick, with a thin reflective layer applied to the top (most often aluminum, though the material depends on the disc type). Both can label discs without using printers or labels, but require compatible hardware and media, plus are considerably slower than the other labeling approaches. They share a similar principle, but the drives and media are not cross-compatible. There are two rivaling technologies on the market - LightScribe from Hewlett-Packard and Labelflash from Yamaha Corporation. One more labeling technology is burning the label on the top of a supported disc by the optical drive itself. The lower-end models are normally limited to monochrome text and very basic graphics, at low resolutions. Models are available from under $100 to $2000 and more, varying by performance and quality. They transfer solid pigment from a coated ribbon onto the disc's surface, using a combination of heat and pressure. Thermal transfer printers can also be used to print directly on discs. This method delivers rather high quality, but requires a special printer and discs. In the beginning of this century consumer direct-on-cd printers were introduced, capable of printing directly on the label side of a CD or DVD with printable coating, using a special tray. Once printed with a inkjet or laser printer, a label is applied to a disc either manually or with the help of a special applicator. The first CD and DVD labels appeared about 20 years ago, followed by the software and templates (e.g. They were introduced by Avery in 1935 and soon became popular for various purposes. Self-adhesive paper labels are another popular labeling method. There are special pens on the market, which are not alcohol or solvent-based and are safe to use on a CD or DVD (thought there is some controversy on this matter). Such pens are cheap, always at hand and are fast to use. The first way of labeling a disc is probably a felt marker pen. And still, the disc itself has to be labeled to be recognizable when stored outside the box. But if you purchase bulk discs on a spindle, and then buy the cases separately, there will be no inserts. Discs bought in individual cases have a card insert which can be used to describe its content, which is okay as long as the disc is stored inside the box. In the end of the 1990s recordable CDs became increasingly popular, bringing along the need for identification of the recorded content. Factory-produced CDs already had a screen-printed label on them. Originally the CD was intended for music only, but later has grown to encompass other applications, such as the storage of general data. The CD as we know it was developed by Philips in cooperation with Sony in 1982. There are music CDs, DVD or Blue-Ray discs with movies, data CDs or DVDs used for storing photos or data backups. Optical discs have already taken their place in our life.

This article covers mainly labeling of optical discs as the most popular media at present.


How can this be done? Of course, by labeling - either with a pen or by applying some sort of label. Once you have recorded something to a disc or tape, you will then need to distinguish it from other similar media.
