What is the main difference between a CD and DVD?
The physical difference between a CD and DVD is the proximity of the tracks and the length of the pits. The pits on a CD are .5 microns wide and a minimum of .83 microns long. The tracks on a CD are 1.6 microns apart. A DVD is about half these dimensions. The track separations are only .74 microns and the pits are about .42 microns long. This is what enables a DVD to have a minimum of 6 times the amount of data.

When to use CD Duplication?
Duplication is used for short and quick turn projects.

When to use DVD Duplication?
Duplication is used for short and quick turn projects.

When to use CDR Duplication?
Duplication is used for short and quick turn projects.

When to use DVDR Duplication?
Duplication is used for short and quick turn projects.

When to use Duplication?
Duplication is used for short and quick turn projects.

What is Duplication?
Duplication is a process that uses photo sensative media and a media writer that has a laser beam. The laser beam strikes the media and 'burns' a hole in the photo sensative dye layer in the media. This hole is read by a reader as data.

What is Blu-Ray DVD?
"The Blu-ray format is being created by a group known as the Blu-ray Disc Association. The Blu-ray Disc Association is an expansion of the original Blu-ray Disc Founders organization. The founders of this group include: Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp &, Sony. This format is being presented as having an intial capacity of 23 - 27 gb, with a future capacity that might reach 50 gb in a dual layer version. This large capacity enables the Blu-ray Disc Association to target many markets including high definition television without any loss in resolution.

Some of the most well known companies have agreed to support the Blu-ray format: Disney, Touchstone, Miramax, Dimension, Mitsubishi, Dell & HP. "

What is HD DVD?
"The HD-DVD format has been developed by Toshiba and NEC and has the backing of the DVD Forum.

The intial capacity of the HD-DVD format is being promoted as
approximately 20 gb.

There are several companies that have agreed to support the HD-DVD format. These companies include: Warner, Paramount, Universal and New Line Cinema. These four studios represent 45% of the major movies released in the
United States.

The new format is reported to be available within the next 2 years. Toshiba and NEC have released press releases indicating that their HD-DVD players will be backward compatible and therefore play existing video DVDs. "

How does a dvd work?
A dvd has a series of 'pits'. A dvd drive aims a precision laser beam at the surface of the dvd. The laser beam reflects off of the dvd. This reflection is slightly different when the laser beam hits a pit versus when it hits a flat spot. This difference is read as data.

What does DVDR (DVD-R) mean?
Digital Video Disc wRite once. A DVDR (DVD-R) starts off absolutely blank. Data is then written to the media. This writing process is often called 'burning' a disc. A blank DVDR can have data written to it only once.

What does DVDRW (DVD-RW) mean?
Digital Video Disc WRite multiple times. A DVDRW (DVD-RW) starts off absolutely blank. Data is then written to the media. This writing process is often called 'burning' a disc. A blank DVD-RW can have data written to it multiple times. This format is good for archiving type uses were the data is not going to be shared or copied for use by other computers.

What does DVD mean?
Digital Video Disc.

Why doesn't my DVD-R work in all DVD players?
Not all DVD players are the same. High end DVD players are often very particular about the quality of the encoding. When they find a poor quality file they will often not play the file. The strange thing is that the cheaper DVD players aren't as particular. So they willl often play a DVD that a more expensive player won't.

How much video can a CD or DVD hold?
How much video a piece of optical media can hold depends on the optical media and the compression (CODEC) used. Here are some rough numbers: CD can hold about 70 minutes of video using MPEG-1 CD can hold about 35 minutes of video using MPEG-2 DVD-5 can hold about 2 hours of video using MPEG-2 DVD-9 can hold about 4 hours of video using MPEG-2 DVD-18 can hold about 8 hours of video using MPEG-2 Please remember that these are approximations only. Menuing, Chaptering, Programming all use up space. So the more sophisticated the project the less room you have for actual content.

Does my DVD label artwork need a bleed?
It is common to call the artwork on a CD or DVD a label. There are five different printing methods for CD and DVD face artwork. These five methods are: Thermal, Inkjet, Paper Label, Silk Screen, & Offset. We recommend providing a background artwork bleed on all printing methods. The paper label is the only method that requires a background artwork bleed to be supplied.

What are the different DVD capacities?
There are 4 main capacities for 12 cm (full size) DVDs. These are related to whether a DVD is single or double sided and whether the DVD is single or dual layered. A single sided single layered DVD will have a capacity of approximately 4.7gb (DVD-5). The dual layered version of this single sided DVD will have a capacity of approximately 8.5 gb (DVD-9). Double sided media with a single layer will have a capacity of about 9.4 gb (DVD-10). The largest capacity is the dual layered double sided DVD with a capacity of approximately 17 gb (DVD-18).

What are Regions?
Regions were developed for DVDs to specify which area(s) of the world a specific DVD can be used. This area specific information is to assist the movie industry in slowing the rate of intellectual property rights theft (piracy).

What is Region 1?
Region 1 is the DVD region for the United States and Canada.

What are the different DVD regions?
Region 1 = United States & Canada.
Region 2 = Europe, Japan, Middle East, South Africa.
Region 3 = South East Asia.
Region 4 = Australia & South America.
Region 5 = Africa, Russia, & the rest of Asia.
Region 6 = China.

What is the Region All?
Region All is a player or optical media that is configured to play on any machine.

When to use DVD Replication?
Replication is used for projects that have large volumes.

When to use DVDROM Replication?
Replication is used for projects that have large volumes.

Will the CD or DVD look like my computer screen?
A computer monitor displays artwork in RGB. This stands for Red, Green, Blue). CDs and DVDs are generally printed either CMYK (aka Full Color) or PMS (Pantone Spot Color). So the printed CDs or DVDs will look different than the computer screen. Additionally please note that your computer screen will be displaying the artwork on a white background and the optical media is silver. This difference between white and silver will also cause the CDs or DVDs to look slightly different than the display of a computer monitor.

Why doesn't my CD / DVD look like my computer screen?
A computer monitor displays artwork in RGB. This stands for Red, Green, Blue). CDs and DVDs are generally printed either CMYK (aka Full Color) or PMS (Pantone Spot Color). So the printed CDs or DVDs will look different than the computer screen. Additionally please note that your computer screen will be displaying the artwork on a white background and the optical media is silver. This difference between white and silver will also cause the CDs or DVDs to look slightly different than the display of a computer monitor.

Can I have my project use fluorescent and hexachrome inks?
Fluorescent and hexachrome inks are very exciting to work with. These inks have an extremely short shelf life and are extremely expensive. So at this time we have decided to guide our clients to more cost affective PMS and CMYK inks.

What is the difference between silk screen and offset printing?
Silk screen printing is accomplished by pushing ink through a fine screen that has the image of the artwork on it. Offset printing is a process of transferring the ink from an inkwell onto a rubber transfer blanket and then onto the optical media. Both are good printing methods with their respective strong points. Silk screen printing puts more ink onto the optical media. This large volume of ink produces bright vibrant images. But the fine mesh of the screen can obscure minor artwork details. Offset printing is very good at producing an image that shows fine details like a photograph. But the printing method applies less ink than silk screening. So the image is less vibrant than silk screening.

When should I offset print my CDs?
You should offset print your CDs when you have sharp details like a photograph and your volume is at least 2,000 units.

When should I offset print my DVDs?
You should offset print your DVDs when you have sharp details like a photograph and your volume is at least 2,000 units.

When should I silk screen print my CDs?
Silk screen printing is a cost affective way to produce 1,000 + units of CD or DVD. This method should be used for artwork that does not have fine details that are extremely important.

When should I silk screen print my DVDs?
Silk screen printing is a cost affective way to produce 1,000 + units of CD or DVD. This method should be used for artwork that does not have fine details that are extremely important.

How many colors can I print on my CD?
We use several different printing methods for optical media (CD/DVD). Thermal printing is restricted to 300 dpi images printed in black only. Inkjet printing is available in CMYK only. White paper glossy labels are available in CMYK only. Offset printing is also available in CMYK only. Silk screen printing can have from 1 to 6 colors printed. These colors can be spot colors or a combination of CMYK and spot colors.

How many colors can I print on my DVD?
We use several different printing methods for optical media (CD/DVD). Thermal printing is restricted to 300 dpi images printed in black only. Inkjet printing is available in CMYK only. White paper glossy labels are available in CMYK only. Offset printing is also available in CMYK only. Silk screen printing can have from 1 to 6 colors printed. These colors can be spot colors or a combination of CMYK and spot colors.