[Ham-Computers] FW: CD and DVD Drive Issues

[Hsu, Aaron (NBC Universal)]

> There's almost no way to identify a manufacturer by the wrapper unless it's the manufacturer's own wrapper (for example, a spindle of Taiyo Yuden discs with a Taiyo Yuden wrapper).  Even then, there are "counterfeit" discs out there, so you need to buy from a reputable vendor.
> 
> It's possible to take a "rough guess" at who the vendor is based on the origin of manufacture.  AFAIK, only TY and Mitsui still have manufacturing plants in Japan (MCC/Verbatim might still be operating a plant in Japan, but most of their manufacturing has moved to China & Taiwan).  So if you find a spindle marked "Made in Japan" (and it's a legit label), then chances are that the discs were made by TY or Mitsui.  Pioneer use to have a plant in Singapore and Pioneer discs were also of high quality, but I haven't seen any Pioneer branded discs in years.  If the label says "Made in Taiwan" or "Made in China", then it could be by any of the "bulk" manufacturers.  For reference, there are also manufacturing plants in India, Indonesia, Ireland, Mexico, and others.  The discs from Mexico were pretty good as the plant was owned by Kodak, but Kodak left the media manufacturing business a few years ago.
>  
> Otherwise, the only way to determine who manufactured the disc is by the "ATIP" info that's burned onto the disc.  You need a utility to read the ATIP info and some CD/DVD burning programs include such a utility.  For example, Nero includes "InfoTool" and "CD-DVD Speed" - you can get CD-DVD Speed here: http://cdspeed2000.com and "InfoTool" from the Nero website (look in the "updates" area for version 8 - it's in the "Tools & Utilities" section).  CDR-Identifier was one of the better programs I used, but it's now out-of-date and no longer available.  
> 
> Also, if you have certain brands/models of CD/DVD writers, the vendor may have drive specific utilities that will show the ATIP info.  For example, PlexTools for Plextor drives, and "KProbe" for Lite-On drives.  Not only do these utils show the ATIP info, but they also have diagnostics that allow you to test media compatibility (basically, burn a disc and test for C1/C2 errors).
> 
> One last note...there's no requirement that the ATIP info be filled in - it's up to the vendor to do this.  Also, it's possible to "forge" the info in the ATIP, so there's no guarantee the ATIP info is legit.  The best you can do is buy from a reputable vendor and hope that the ATIP info is good.  Oh, and some "name brand" vendors will have the manufacturer put the their name (the vendor's) in the ATIP - in this case, it's hard to tell who actually *manufactured* the disc.  But, often, these discs are made to the brand name's specs, so quality could be better.
> 
> 73,
> 
>   - Aaron, NN6O
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> 
> Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 8:21 AM
> Subject: Re: [Ham-Computers] RE: CD and DVD Drive Issues
> 
> 
> How were you able to determine the manufacturer?  I looked at a spindle of TDK DVD-RW disks and it is not listed on the individual disks.  The wrapper lists Made in Taiwan, but if the actual manufacturer was on the wrapper you would be able to pick and choose at the store.  I have only used them in one DVD-RW recorder, so can't comment on compatibility.  There are some outright failures, probably one to two disks per 25 disk spindle.
> 
> Jim
> 
>