Hi everyone! I had the idea of us discussing how should the consumer be able to identify who was the manufacturer that made the media he/she bought. Better put, to know this before he/she buys the CD-R media. Of course, there are some programs that can show the media code of the CD-R, but in most cases that's not enough, what's more it's misleading. This happens because some manufacturers put their own code even if the CD-R is not produced by them, instead it is produced by some other OEM manufacturer that uses the brand code required by their customer. For example some media codes may read "Sony" or "TDK" or "Maxell", even if they are not manufactured by them. Does any experienced guy can share his optical media knowledge with us? Because media can be identified by packaging info, serial No's on the CD-R ring, dye colour, and other physical charasteristics... Let's get started
great topic totos!!! I was wondering about that. This is the code of A TDK CD-R Manufacturer : Ritek Code : 97m15s17f Disc Type : CD-R Usage : Audio Recording Layer : Dye Type 7: Short Strategy (Phthalocyanine) Recording Speed : n/a Capacity : 79:59.73 703 MB Additional Capacity : n/a Overburn Capacity : not tested Now I am very delighted it is made by Ritek, because Ritek makes good discs... but How CAN I TELL IF it was made by RITEK on the labels... no ritek at all. only: made in taiwan and some instructions. so please anyone give us clues.
totos Excellent choice for a new thread and one that can be shared by many, even those of us who've been around for a while. You're going to recieve some questions as to how to identify media and I thought I'd help you out by giving you a link to an application that does just thant. It does come with something called an advert (it downloads a different onboard banner but that's all) but it is not spyware and it's clean to use. Hmm! I remember the days of banners before there was "bonzai buddy," Gator, and other crap. http://www.dvdinfopro.com/ _X_X_X_X_X_[small] "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." Sherlock Holmes (by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1859-1930)[/small]
Hi there! It's nice that some of you have responded to this thread because I think its a very interesting topic for all of us Keep posting media info, and also look out for special characteristics on certain batches of media, such as labels, shape of cakebox, etc., and also you could post an image of the packaged media if you see anything special info about them. (I dont know, is there actually a way of posting images in this thread?). Also from my experience there are some TDK and Sony media out there, that read TDK and SONY respectively in programs like DVDInfoPro... I wonder if TDK and Sony actually manufactures them now, do they still have manufacturing facilities, or anyone knows an OEM that manufactures for them?
Totos... My Tdk CD-R (audio) are made by RITEK My TDK DVD+RW are made by Ricoh. The tdk DVD+RW are horrible, although some (like sophocles) praise Ricoh. How can some Ricoh discs be good while others not?
A good suggestion on the tool Sophocles, just so they can see what the data looks like, I'll supply a copy. This is the information on a Memorex CD-R manufactured by CMC Magnetics. Media Information Format Capacity 0.01GB(0.01GB) Media Type CD-R ATIP Start Time of Lead In (Media Code) 97m26s66f ATIP Last Possible Start Time of Lead Out 79m59s71f Manufacturer Name CMC Magnetics Corporation HD-BURN Certified YES Available Write Descriptor CLV 16.0x 2400KBps Available Write Descriptor CLV 12.0x 1800KBps Available Write Descriptor CLV 8.0x 1200KBps Available Write Descriptor CLV 4.0x 600KBps The DVDInfoPro screen orders the information better. From this you can see the name of the manufacturer is provided, in this case CMC Magnetics Corporation. So, with this tool it is easy to ascertain the manufacturer, after the purchase. Nowhere do I notice listed on the pack or the media the name of the manufacturer. Here is a list of CD/DVD Identifying Utilities: CD Inquery CD Protection Detective CD Protection Detector CD Protection Scout CD-Info CD/DVD Capabilities Viewer CDR Identifier CD-R ATIP Reader CDVD Info CloneCD Database ClonyXXL Copy Protection Detection DISCInfo DVD Identifier DVDInfoPro PC CopyBase Perfect Suite Protection ID Scout Easyscan TCCD WinXP CD-R/RW Properties YaPS Keep in mind that some CD Brands tend to change from one factory to another on occasion without changing the CD Layout & covers. So, spotting manufacturers according to packaging would be difficult.
mindgod One of the reasons you have some people praising a brand and others having complaints is not always due to the quality of the media. Players and recorders tend to have different abilities reading the various media. Your unit could be better with one particular media than another. Use what works best for you and try to use a quality item. Below is a list of factories and selling brands. About 95% of the NoName CD-R's are made in CD factories from Arita, Princo, Lead Data, CMC & Gigastorage. Usually this can easily be recognized when the package says: Made in Taiwan [bold]CD Manufacturer (Factory) - Brand (Selling Company):[/bold] CDA Dateträger Albrechts GmbH - CDA & FNAC CMC Magnetics Corporation - BASF, CMC, Hi-Val, Imation, MMore, Onkyo & Samsung Fornet International Pte Ltd. - Fornet Fuji Photo Film Co, Ltd. - FujiFilm Gigastorage Corporation - Gigastorage & That's Write! Hitachi Maxell, Ltd. - KingTech & Maxell InfoDisc Technology Co., Ltd. - Buyonet & BestMedia Kodak Japan Limited - BASF & Kodak Lead Data Inc. - Lead Data & Targa & Lenco Mitsubishi Chemicals Corporation - Verbatim & Traxdata, Sony Mitsui Chemicals - Mitsui, HP & Philips MPO - Hi-Space Multi Media Masters & Machinary SA - Polaroid & GameStation Pioneer Video Corporation - Pioneer & BASF Princo Corporation - BTC, KingTech, Megadata & Princo Ricoh Company - Ricoh & KAO Ritek Co. - Arita, BASF, Samsung, Memorex, Targa, Rimax, Traxdata, FujiFilm & Ricoh Taiyo Yuden Company Limited - Taiyo Yuden, 3M, Sony, Philips & Imation TDK Corporation - TDK, 3M, Pioneer & Yamaha Xcitek Inc. - BestMedia Some Popular CDs AUDIO: Sony CDQ-74CN [Taiyo Yuden] Philips Silver Premium [Taiyo Yuden] Kodak Gold [Kodak] DATA: TDK Reflex Disc [TDK] Philips Silver Premium [Taiyo Yuden] Sony CDQ-74CN [Taiyo Yuden]
