Lightscribe- Dead technology?

[enforcerviper]

I remember seeing lightscribe burners when they first came out... the disk looked cool, but there were two major problems:

1. disc cost
2. Time

I've seen demos of 40 minutes + depending on the complexity.

In the past year or so, is getting a lightscribe burner worth it? Any technology improvements?

I still wish Yamaha's Disc T@2 was still around.

[ProfessorChaos]

I remember seeing lightscribe burners when they first came out... the disk looked cool, but there were two major problems:

1. disc cost
2. Time

I've seen demos of 40 minutes + depending on the complexity.

In the past year or so, is getting a lightscribe burner worth it? Any technology improvements?

I still wish Yamaha's Disc T@2 was still around.

I can answer one question....is it worth getting? No but most new burners come with it for $40...only a few $ more than a regular burner. I don't use it but I got my DW1655 from RMA(had a DW1640 before) so I don't really care for LightScribe..

[milhaus]

Dead? Don't you have to be alive first to be called "dead"?

[zoob]

Disc T@2 was only on the bottom side... useless for the most part.

Lightscribe is pretty neat when you want to make a special compilation for someone.. You can burn a relatively professional looking image and make it look nice. Burn it twice to get it darker.

It's good for low volume jobs.. when you're gonna spit out 10+ discs, forget it unless you have a dedicated burning machine :)

[kev*]

An inkjet that prints on the discs looks much better in colour.

[zoob]

Inkjet also smears when wet...

[deep]

Yes, if by dead you mean *****ty.

[willy]

Disc T@2 was only on the bottom side... useless for the most part.
Not to mention it can only be easily seen on certain dye ... ie. Azo (dark blue).

[The Digital Dolphin]

In reality Lightscribe is a growing market :-0

As hard to believe as it may be, it has gone from one manufacturer only, to two (CMC and now Prodisc also). Lightscribe has also seen a speed improvement with version 1.2 discs. I happen to know some price drops are on the way as well. (I actually provided some assistance in the negotiations with CMC on this!).

When it first came out, I would have bet just about anything it would be dead almost immediately. I have to say though, HP has pushed VERY hard, and spent a lot of money on R&D to both improve the technology and decrease the cost. Now I can honestly say I expect Lightscribe to stick around a while longer, and I fully expect the next revision to further improve label making times.

[neo1973]

Then how about lableflash? Is that one dead? Can't find media anywhere! :mad:

[soupnazi]

I remember Yamaha had a similar technology a while back and it didn't do too well either. It's useless to me on my DW1655 since it takes too long and the media is more expensive. My discs don't need to look "cool/professional", just functional. :razz:

[Jon Lai]

In reality Lightscribe is a growing market :-0

As hard to believe as it may be, it has gone from one manufacturer only, to two (CMC and now Prodisc also). Lightscribe has also seen a speed improvement with version 1.2 discs. I happen to know some price drops are on the way as well. (I actually provided some assistance in the negotiations with CMC on this!).

When it first came out, I would have bet just about anything it would be dead almost immediately. I have to say though, HP has pushed VERY hard, and spent a lot of money on R&D to both improve the technology and decrease the cost. Now I can honestly say I expect Lightscribe to stick around a while longer, and I fully expect the next revision to further improve label making times.

Nice to have some insider's input DD. But one thing I definately see is, not enough of it is on the market, so prices are high, and selection is low. Every Lightscribe product is also on a levy, so price reduction has a limit over standard DVDs. The only way I can see lightscribe to be "popular" would be if they could be in comparable prices with regular dvds, say, 30c/disk. Lightscribe drives also cost a good $10 more than normal burners as affected by the levy, and well, when you compare the DW1650 and 1655, why would one spend $10 more for the ladder if the former works the same except without Lightscribe?

[deep]

Despite it being a growing market, it is still a horrific waste of time.

[advantage21]

Well, here my take on the situation:

I have 2 Lightscribe burners (they came with my HP/CPQ PCs) and but I have never used that option and have no inclination to do so. For me, it's a waste of time. Ask how many of your friends had used Lightscribe. End of story.

[zoob]

Despite it being a growing market, it is still a horrific waste of time.

Waste of time for YOU. I've used Lightscribe and will continue to use it on my small projects.

[YauYin]

Waste of time for YOU. I've used Lightscribe and will continue to use it on my small projects.

agreed.

Does anyone know to get lightscribe dual layer dvds? Ive been looking around and can only find single layered discs.

[gordholio]

I think if they could print full colour with graphics (that look good) and the discs were more reasonably priced, Lightscribe would really take off.

[Gee]

Does Lightscribe decrease the amount of usable space on the Disc? If it does, then it is dead as far as I am concerned.

[deep]

Does Lightscribe decrease the amount of usable space on the Disc? If it does, then it is dead as far as I am concerned.

No, it doesn't. It only decreases the usable amount of time in your life.

[gordholio]

Does Lightscribe decrease the amount of usable space on the Disc? If it does, then it is dead as far as I am concerned.
No, it just prints on the opposite side of the disc.
It's a great concept - no need to use printer ink - but, full colour with clear graphics would be the next evolution in Lightscribe IMHO - along with decent prices for the discs.

[The Digital Dolphin]

Then how about lableflash? Is that one dead? Can't find media anywhere! :mad:

Labelflash is a Fuji/Yamaha creation. The media is only manufactured by Ritek (which in my opinion is already a nail in the coffin!), and it suffers from the same high costs and slow printing times as Lightscribe (actually, I believe it's slightly worse in both departments). The colour is (in my opinion) a little nicer, as it is shades of blue, as opposed to Lightscribe's shades of creamed spinach :razz:

One of the BIGGEST problems with Labelflash at this time, is that neither the drives nor the media are actually available in North America :razz: It kind of puts a damper on sales.

As for Lightscribe getting down to $0.30 each, and drives becoming the same price... I don't see it happening, well the $0.30 media thing at least. Why? You can't make good media and sell it for $0.30 CAD retail without losing money. And now you want it to be a good disc *AND* have a specialized printable surface, for $0.30 ?!?! It's not possible. If someone wants to lose money in order to gain marketshare, then yeah it could happen... but there is no where NEAR the motivation on anyone's side to do it. And really, with manufacturers in massive debt and some going bankrupt already... price drops and losing money on media produced is very very VERY stupid!

Anyways, I wouldn't be surprised if we get down to $0.60-$0.70 per disc soon though :cheesygri

And I'm also happy to announce that Lightscribe DVD-R is about to become a lot more available in both western and eastern Canada :)

[Gee]

I recalled that the Yamaha T@2 offered etching and it reduced the amount of useable space on the disc.

Glad to hear that Lightscribe was smart enough to move away from that.

I guess dual sided discs are out of the question.

[rabbit]

>> Does Lightscribe decrease the amount of usable space on the Disc? If it does, then it is dead as far as I am concerned.

> No, it doesn't. It only decreases the usable amount of time in your life.

Only if you're stupid enough to stand around waiting for it to finish. I don't know about you, but I don't hang around staring at the blinking LED when a disc is burning, regardless of how long it takes.


Picked up a Pioneer 111 today and flashed it to the L firmware. Too bad Labelflash discs are still $$$. Amazon.DE charges 10EUR for a 5 pack of Fuji LF DVDs.


I think some people are looking to Lightscribe/Labelflash as a replacement for using sticker labels or inkjet printing. Personally, I think it is more of a replacement for if you are looking to do minimal graphics but want a professional look. It's not really suited if you want to add a photo. By that, I mean if it's an image that is more suited as a GIF, use LS/LF, but if you want a JPG type image, use the alternatives.

[frugal69]

No, it doesn't. It only decreases the usable amount of time in your life.

Agreed. Waste of Time...

[rabbit]

Another one who gets hypnotized by blinking LEDs! Must be an epidemic :D. That or like how cats will follow around a laser pointer if you draw circles with it on the floor.

[JustMike]

Dead? Don't you have to be alive first to be called "dead"?

LOL :) My thoughts exactly... it's nothing more than a gimmick to me and I wouldn't pay the premium to get it. A Sharpie works just as well :)

[deep]

Only if you're stupid enough to stand around waiting for it to finish. I don't know about you, but I don't hang around staring at the blinking LED when a disc is burning, regardless of how long it takes.

So when you're burning multiple discs, the fact that it takes 20-30 minutes to put a few words on the disc doesn't bother you at all?

"Media with the new coating is expected to perform about 50 percent faster than the current media. According to Henscheid, a detailed, high-contrast, full-disc label might take about 30 minutes to create today; with the new coating, you might see a savings of as much as a third, taking that time down to 20 minutes. It all depends upon the drive and the drive's laser characteristics; and it is also affected by the design of the label."

I am really perplexed as to why people defend this slow, expensive technology to the point that they start calling others stupid for not liking it. You are absolutely welcome to continue using it. I won't be recommending it to any but those who annoy me.

[frugal69]

Another one who gets hypnotized by blinking LEDs! Must be an epidemic :D. That or like how cats will follow around a laser pointer if you draw circles with it on the floor.

If you want to dedicate DVD burning time - (or think this has no effect - only a blinking LED), you might as well go back to Burning at 1x...

[The Digital Dolphin]

I'm thinking that as a media tester, my concept of time taken for media burning is a little different then a lot of people here's. Keep in mind when I burn a disc for a review, or if I'm concerned about the performance of it (something I want to keep around for a while), I'll test it in my BenQ DW1640, and then my Plextor PX-716SA. That tacks on 15min for the BenQ test, and 1.5 hours for the Plextor testing. Really, 20-30min for labelling a disc doesn't seem like a huge deal to me. It's no different then scanning the disc at 4x to see how the quality is. (people with LiteON's do this all the time!)

[deep]

I'm thinking that as a media tester, my concept of time taken for media burning is a little different then a lot of people here's. Keep in mind when I burn a disc for a review, or if I'm concerned about the performance of it (something I want to keep around for a while), I'll test it in my BenQ DW1640, and then my Plextor PX-716SA. That tacks on 15min for the BenQ test, and 1.5 hours for the Plextor testing. Really, 20-30min for labelling a disc doesn't seem like a huge deal to me. It's no different then scanning the disc at 4x to see how the quality is. (people with LiteON's do this all the time!)

Indeed. However, testing media does not equal trying to get a bunch of copies made, whether it's CDs of pictures for your family, promos for your business, or media for a client. In any of those instances, 20-30 min per disc is hugely unacceptable for me. Opinions vary. (shocking!)

[Happy13178]

I remember Yamaha had a similar technology a while back and it didn't do too well either. It's useless to me on my DW1655 since it takes too long and the media is more expensive. My discs don't need to look "cool/professional", just functional. :razz:

I remember that...Yamaha's was a **** product because it burned to the bottom of the disc, and limited space on them. Lightscribe is a bit better, but agree with other posters that it can be bloody slow.

[rabbit]

So when you're burning multiple discs, the fact that it takes 20-30 minutes to put a few words on the disc doesn't bother you at all?

Staring at blinking LEDs must make the mind go. From their own quoted text: "a detailed, high-contrast, full-disc label might take about 30 minutes to create today; with the new coating, you might see a savings of as much as a third, taking that time down to 20 minutes."

"a few words" does not equal "a detailed, high-contrast, full-disc label"


you might as well go back to Burning at 1x...

No, because burning at 1x won't give you the best quality with modern media. I burn audio CDs at 8x and data at 16x even though I have a 52x writer.

It's also an issue about choice. If only 1x speed existed, would you not want to write CDs/DVDs at all? You KNOW if 4x DVD writing is the fastest (around 15min), you would still be burning them like crazy. Compare that to 20min for "a detailed, high-contrast, full-disc label", and doing not-so-detailed doesn't sound so bad, does it? Like Dolphin, when I do quality scans, I do so at 4x.



PS.

I am really perplexed as to why people defend this slow, expensive technology to the point that they start calling others stupid for not liking it.

Well, I'm sure you would call anyone staring at a blinking LED while waiting for a disc to burn stupid also. Slow and expensive is relative, isn't it? Pentium 133s are considered slow by today's standards, but you have to start somewhere. Would you not have wanted a computer ten years ago, thinking they were too slow?

[tkl]

Wait ! You have to buy specialty media ? Can't use regular DVD +R ?

[Siefer999]

Wait ! You have to buy specialty media ? Can't use regular DVD +R ?
yes, no

[[buck]]

One of the BIGGEST problems with Labelflash at this time, is that neither the drives nor the media are actually available in North America :razz:
I made that statement just a couple days ago, and someone was kind enough to correct me. Henry's (http://www.henrys.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ItemsDisplay?itemID=172222&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&departmentId=10404&categoryId=11001&order=ASC&sortKey=default), with locations throughout Ontario, has Fuji 16X Labelflash DVD-R 5pks for $8.99!!

[deep]

Well, I'm sure you would call anyone staring at a blinking LED while waiting for a disc to burn stupid also. Slow and expensive is relative, isn't it? Pentium 133s are considered slow by today's standards, but you have to start somewhere. Would you not have wanted a computer ten years ago, thinking they were too slow?

You have blinking LEDs on the mind...although why, I'm not sure, as it appears that neither you nor I have this problem. I, because my discs burn in a couple of minutes and print even faster, and you because you are able to lead a rich life during the hour long chunks of time it takes you to burn and then scribe a disc.

You Pentium comment is nonsense, by the way...even you should have seen that. You really should have asked if I wanted to spend premium dollars on a Pentium 133 TODAY, when there are cheaper, faster, and more useful alternatives available. That would be more in line with the state of LightScribe.

Silly rabbit, logic is for humans.

[st7860]

Inkjet also smears when wet...

if you use original ink catrtidges instead of recycled ones, some brands such as Epson can be pretty water resistant.