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 A
while back, Yamaha introduced their innovative CRW-F1 CD writer that gave
users the ability to label their discs right from their drive. While
this feature, called DiscT@2, was indeed quite impressive and sparked quite a
bit of interest, it certainly had its drawbacks. For one, you could only
"tattoo" your discs on the data side, reducing the maximum storage capability
of your media. It also required CDR media with a special darker (blue) colored
dye in order to yield the best results. Fortunately, at least the one major
drawback has been addressed, thanks to Hewlett Packard's exclusive new disc
labeling technology called LightScribe. Drives featuring this new
technology allow users to create and burn their labels where they should
be...on the label side of the disc. But does it still have its
disadvantages? Today, we take a first look at LightScribe and show you
how it works and why so many have such a strong interest in these new and
upcoming drives.
What is LightScribe?
LightScribe is an exclusive technology developed
by HP that is integrated in select CD/DVD Writers, giving users the ability to
create laser-etched labels right from their drive. "Burn Flip Burn" is
basically the term used to describe just how easy it is to create your own
professional-looking labels.
How exactly does it work?
A LightScribe enabled CD or DVD writer basically
contains a special laser that pumps light energy into a thin dye coating on
the label side of certain special LightScribe discs. The light from the
laser causes a chemical change in the dye coating that shows up as a visible
point on the disc. With laser precision, LightScribe delivers closely
controlled light energy to multiple points on the disc as it spins in the
drive. The result is a high-resolution reproduction of the data that is
selected to be burned as the label.
What drives carry this capability?
LightScribe was actually introduced quite some
time ago. However, it was only recently that HP finally made their first
writer somewhat available to consumers. I say "somewhat" because they
first only offered it in a select few of their Pavilion Desktop PCs. I personally have been following
this since day one, and their is actually some conflicting information as to
which drives will carry it and when. While it is said that third-party
drive manufacturers need to wait till April before releasing their own LightScribe enabled models, I've found that a select few companies have
already developed and will be releasing their drives as early as February and
March. Lacie and BenQ are two of these companies. But for now, it's
the HP 640i that offers this capability and I've managed to get my hands on
one to show you, in detail, just how it works. The 640i is an appealing
drive available only with a black bezel.
**click to enlarge**
Does it require special media?
Unfortunately, like Yamaha's DiscT@2 disc
labeling feature, it does require special media. The problem with DVD
writers and media manufacturers is that drives are always introduced and
released to consumers before supported media is actually available. This
has honestly been quite frustrating, especially for hardware reviewers who
would like to thoroughly test these new drives. For now, the only
LightScribe media available on the market are CD-R discs. Even HP doesn't
have DVD media available for purchase yet. However, DVD+R discs will
slowly but surely start popping up in the coming months. After some
extensive searching, I was able to acquire two brands of LightScribe CDR
discs, both of which support high speed 52x writing. HP and
Verbatim are the first to make these available for purchase at this time.
**click to enlarge**
Does it require special software?
Yes, the new HP DVD 640i includes HP's own
bundled LightScribe design software. In fact, HP decided to choose
Surething as the
company to develop their LightScribe design software. This is actually a
good thing, as I have personally used Surething CD/DVD Labeler for a few years
now. Not only is it incredibly user-friendly, but has a high support for
a variety of CD label templates/sheets that you usually can buy at any office
supply or computer hardware store. However, those fellow hardcore fans of the
excellent Nero 6 Suite would be happy to know that they too will offer full
support for this technology. Nero
is a great company with a superb product on their hands. They always
manage to support exclusive features almost immediately after a drive has
been released. In fact, if you recall, Nero was the company who
exclusively offered full support for Yamaha's own DiscT@2 feature and their
version of the software was actually bundled with the CRW-F1 CD Writer as we
showed you in that review a while back.
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