Has Anyone Heard of LightScribe?

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 9:39 pm

Has anyone heard of or tried HP's LightScribe Direct Disc Labeling system. From the HP sight:

HP LightScribe Technology
Kiss your permanent markers and stickers goodbye--now there’s a better way to burn custom, precise, silkscreen-quality labels on CDs and DVDs: HP’s exclusive LightScribe laser technology. Now you can get creative and personalize your labels with cool text, photos, and graphic designs, then let LightScribe transfer them to your discs.

How does it work? After burning a disc, you just flip it over and reinsert it in the same drive. When the LightScribe-enabled drive recognizes and reads your LightScribe media, a thin dye coating absorbs laser light, triggering a chemical reaction. There's no need to print, align, or adhere a physical label.

More info here http://www.lightscribe.com

kebrinton · Post by **kebrinton** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 10:29 pm

So, just what is a LightScribe-enabled drive? Is it a whole new drive, or a piece of software that works with the old drive?

Or do we have to buy special disks?

kebrinton · Post by **kebrinton** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 10:31 pm

Woops! Didn't see the link at first. Now I have the answers.

THoff · Post by **THoff** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 11:10 pm

It's not a new concept. Yamaha offered something called DiscT@2 back in 2002, but this technology used only the unused portion of the data side of a recordable disk for a monochromatic design that could contain artwork and text.

With HP's version, you have to flip the disk over and use special disks, but now you get to use the full disk surface. Another problem is the time that it takes to create the "label" -- however long a full disk burn takes.