How to tell whether a disk is CMC or TY?

[aviationwiz]

I may be wrong here, so tell me if I am.


I had to burn two copies of something, and since I have two burners, I did the burns simulataneously. I had two Memorex 48x (CMC) disks left so I just used those.

Well, when I was writing my sharpy, the surface was rough, unlike my Fuji TY and my old Memorex TY disks.


Is this a way to tell, or do the disks I have just happen to have a rough surface?

[cfitz]

Run SMART-BURN or Nero CD Speed->Extra->Disc Info...

You know this. Or am I missing something in your question? If you are looking for purely visual cues, see the second half of this post:

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic. ... 9020#39020

The frosted inner hub is the most reliable visual indicator of TY media.

cfitz

[dolphinius_rex]

The top coating of the CD has NOTHING to do with the manufacturer of the discs, since any manufacturer can add or not add a top coating to their media. The only exception to this is Mitsui, who ALWAYS uses a "diamond" coating on their CD-Rs. Ironically, this Diamond coating makes it almost impossible to properly silkscreen a Mitsui CD-R.... maybe that's why we don't see too many brands that use Mitsui's media!

[aviationwiz]

dolphinius,

Thanks for the reply. It would be cool though if you could tell by feeling the surface of the media.

[aviationwiz]

Run SMART-BURN or Nero CD Speed->Extra->Disc Info...

You know this. Or am I missing something in your question? If you are looking for purely visual cues, see the second half of this post:

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic. ... 9020#39020

The frosted inner hub is the most reliable visual indicator of TY media.

cfitz

Yeah, I think you missed something in the post, like, the whole point of it, LOL. I know who made the disks, and of course I know how to check via CD Speed. I was wondering if the surface of the media had anything to do with it, which it unfortunetly, does not.

[dolphinius_rex]

I've seen some CMC discs that were branded Sigma, and they had a REALLY cool texture to them. They were REALLY crappy, but of did they feel nice LOL!

unfortunatly, I'm sure the coating did nothing positive for the disc when it was spun at high speeds, since the top layer was not the same all over the top of the disc, it's hard to explain, but think of REALLY flat hills, just long flat and very smooth bumps.

[cfitz]

Yeah, I think you missed something in the post, like, the whole point of it, LOL. I know who made the disks, and of course I know how to check via CD Speed. I was wondering if the surface of the media had anything to do with it, which it unfortunetly, does not.

Yes, I guess I did misread your question. As for telling apart the discs without the benefit of packaging, a computer, or a label saying "Made in Japan", check for the frosted innner hub on the TY's and the ring of missing reflective layer in the CMC, as shown in the link I included in my first reply. And, of course, if you have a disc in your hands so that you can feel the roughness of the top side, then turn it over and and look at the recording side. CMC only makes phthalocyanine discs with a very pale light gold-green dye color, while TY only makes cyanine discs with the darker blue-green dye color. Much easier and surer than attempting to gauge surface roughness...

cfitz

[dolphinius_rex]

Sorry Cfitz, but CMC makes CD-Rs with Phthalocyanine, and AZO Dyes, and you can still find the old CMC with Cyanine dye discs around too!

[cfitz]

As far as I know the only AZO dye discs that CMC makes are for Verbatim/Mitsubishi Chemicals that are sold under that brand, so there is no confusion there.

As for historical production, I was not addressing that. Yes, at one time there were a good number of manufacturers making cyanine discs, including CMC, but that was in the past. I don't know of any current or even recent CMC discs being made with cyanine dye. I think the fastest cyanine CMC discs were 12x-16x or maybe 32x. Do you know of more recent cyanine CMC discs?

cfitz

[dolphinius_rex]

True, so far the only CMC made discs using the AZO dye that *I've* seen are in the Verbatim ValueLife brand, although I have to take a look at some Datalife Plus discs that look disturbingly like they might be as well.... I just have too many blank CD-Rs for testing to justify ANOTHER 10pk....

As for the Cyanine CMC discs, I believe you are right in saying 16x was the top. What was scarey for me was when I saw a place that STILL had some of the old stock of them around though!