Writing on the surface of DVDs

[Spiros Bousbouras]

I have been using a whiteboard marker up to now : "Pilot super color marker
broad" , black. This has worked fine but has run out and before I buy
something new , I decided to ask whether there is anything I should look out
for. For example I vaguely recall reading somewhere that alcohol based inks
may damage the DVD in the long run and I think Pilot uses such an ink. So
are there any such issues to consider ?

[Dan Purgert]

I've always just used Sharpie and never noticed any "damage" to the
DVD's dye layer.


Granted, I've also moved away from optical media as any type of
"long-term" storage (oldest I ever recovered from were 5 years though --
noting of course it was an instance of "huh, this feels familiar, I
think I did it once". If it it was something "important", we all know it
would've not worked :) )


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[Bob Eager]

On Mon, 05 Feb 2024 13:33:45 +0000, Dan Purgert wrote:

> On 2024-02-05, Spiros Bousbouras wrote:
>> I have been using a whiteboard marker up to now : "Pilot super color
>> marker broad" , black. This has worked fine but has run out and before
>> I buy something new , I decided to ask whether there is anything I
>> should look out for. For example I vaguely recall reading somewhere
>> that alcohol based inks may damage the DVD in the long run and I think
>> Pilot uses such an ink. So are there any such issues to consider ?
>
> I've always just used Sharpie and never noticed any "damage" to the
> DVD's dye layer.
>
>
> Granted, I've also moved away from optical media as any type of
> "long-term" storage (oldest I ever recovered from were 5 years though --
> noting of course it was an instance of "huh, this feels familiar, I
> think I did it once". If it it was something "important", we all know it
> would've not worked :) )

I still use DVDs and have never had a problem, no matter what I wrote
with. The only DVDs I had trouble reading back were 20 years old (and a
few 15 year ones where the writing software was faulty).

I use them as an extra backup medium (one of three!) I fill them 80% full,
and then add enough error correction data to recover all the data if there
is an error.



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[Rich]

Recordable DVD's, unlike CD's, have the dye layer centered in the disk,
so the top surface is simply one side of a half-thickness clear plastic
disk. So long as the marker does not dissolve all the way through the
actual clear disk material, nothing will happen to the dye layer from a
marker.

Recordable CD's have the dye layer on the top (the side that is "up"
when in a drive, and that has the label if it has one) which is where
the caution for using the "proper" pen came from. The wrong ink
solvents can impact the dye layer on a CD because there is only a very
thin protective layer on top of the dye.

[Scott Alfter]

In article <l2c8np...@mid.individual.net>,

Bob Eager <news...@eager.cx> wrote:
>I use them as an extra backup medium (one of three!) I fill them 80% full,
>and then add enough error correction data to recover all the data if there
>is an error.

That's what I do, only with Blu-ray instead of DVD. I fat-fingered
something a little bit ago and ended up nuking my music collection. I
recovered it from the three binders of BD-Rs on a shelf in my office, the
oldest of which are something like 11-12 years old now. Most still read
without any errors at all, though I think I've had one or two over the years
(out of 600+ and counting) that needed to be recovered with dvdisaster.

--
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/ v \ Scott Alfter (remove the obvious to send mail)
(IIGS( https://alfter.us/ Top-posting!
\_^_/ >What's the most annoying thing on Usenet?

[SH]

if you happen to have a printer, have you considered printable DVD ladels?

the likes of Avery label sell them for printers, so you could hand write
or computer print onto them, let them dry and then peel off and stick to
the DVDs themselves?

[Jim Jackson]

Many thanks for that explanation. The difference was not something I was
aware of! Always something new to learn - even if I may never burn a CD
or DVD ever again!

[Bob Eager]

On Mon, 05 Feb 2024 16:04:12 +0000, Scott Alfter wrote:

> In article <l2c8np...@mid.individual.net>,
> Bob Eager <news...@eager.cx> wrote:
>>I use them as an extra backup medium (one of three!) I fill them 80%
>>full,
>>and then add enough error correction data to recover all the data if
>>there is an error.
>
> That's what I do, only with Blu-ray instead of DVD. I fat-fingered
> something a little bit ago and ended up nuking my music collection. I
> recovered it from the three binders of BD-Rs on a shelf in my office,
> the oldest of which are something like 11-12 years old now. Most still
> read without any errors at all, though I think I've had one or two over
> the years (out of 600+ and counting) that needed to be recovered with
> dvdisaster.

Yes, dvdisaster is good. I tested it by writing a CD, then scraping bits
of the disc off with a Swiss Army knife. Then I cut it multiple times. I
got all the data back.

[Blue-Maned_Hawk]

SH wrote:

> if you happen to have a printer, have you considered printable DVD
> ladels?

I've heard bad things about those peeling off inside of machines and
causing all sorts of various unpleasancies.



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[Scott Alfter]

In article <upr2g8$946m$1...@dont-email.me>, SH <i.l...@spam.com> wrote:
>if you happen to have a printer, have you considered printable DVD ladels?

Those never worked well. They'd start peeling around the edge, or the
adhesive would start to lose its grip.

If you want printed labels, get a printer that will put labels directly on
the disc surface. Last year, I picked up a Casio CW-L300, a label maker
that also prints onto any optical disc. They've been out of production for
over a decade, but several of them are up on eBay as I write this, and
consumables remain readily available.

There are also inkjet printers that can print on specially coated discs;
they're more expensive, but more flexible in that they can usually print
across the entire surface, and in full color. (The CW-L300 prints a couple
of roughly inch-wide strips in a single color.)

[Spiros Bousbouras]

On Tue, 06 Feb 2024 17:00:15 GMT
sc...@alfter.diespammersdie.us (Scott Alfter) wrote:
> In article <upr2g8$946m$1...@dont-email.me>, SH <i.l...@spam.com> wrote:
> >if you happen to have a printer, have you considered printable DVD ladels?
>
> Those never worked well. They'd start peeling around the edge, or the
> adhesive would start to lose its grip.

I guess these are out then. I like the smell of markers anyway :-D

> If you want printed labels, get a printer that will put labels directly on
> the disc surface. Last year, I picked up a Casio CW-L300, a label maker
> that also prints onto any optical disc. They've been out of production for
> over a decade, but several of them are up on eBay as I write this, and
> consumables remain readily available.

A printer would be an overkill for me , I just need to write a short
alphanumeric sequence on the DVD.

[Rich]

Sharpie pen.