DVD Releases and News

DVD Blanks Round-Up

We know that our audience is not a bunch of booty-stealin' pirates; last week's sales of "Dead Man's Chest" alone proves it.

However, there is a time and place for backing up your own DVD's, whether you have kids in the house that like to use the discs as Frisbees (or their favorite chew toy), or whether you just want to take a backup copy on the road with you instead of the original DVD. Fair Use should always be a viable option for consumers that own their content.

That said, we've run across an article over at digitalfaq.com that lists a treasure trove of information on blank DVD's - how they're made, who makes them, and how to buy - along with an extensive table of brands ranked according to reliability of burns. It turns out that the media ID is more important than the brand you're buying:

"...understand that the media brand means nothing. Apple is a great brand, but they do not make their own discs, instead outsourcing to MXL (Hitachi/Maxell) or MCC (Mitsubishi Chemicals). Verbatim became infamous in 2002 by switching from high-quality MCC ID media to the inferior CMC ID media, although they quickly returned to using MCC...it is the media ID that is important, as it reveals the disc manufacturer. Unfortunately, this is not written on packaging or anywhere else. Companies want consumers to be oblivious to this sort of behind-the-scenes information."

Click through for a fascinating read into the manufacturing process, but more importantly, the buyer's guide.

Oh, and stop burning those coasters, um'k?

Blank Media Quality Guide

---

Posted by on December 14, 2006 11:04 AM
Permalink | Email to a Friend | Add to del.icio.us | Digg This





More Recent Stories:
• Fresh Fodder: New DVD Releases – 12/4/07
• "Newhart" Coming to DVD
• DVD Review: "Grey's Anatomy: The Complete Third Season - Seriously Extended"
• Fresh Fodder: New DVD Releases - 08/08/07
• DVD Review: "The Muppet Show - Season 2"
• DVD Alert: "Serenity" - Special Edition
• Fresh Fodder: New DVD Releases - 07/31/07
• Fresh Fodder: New DVD Releases - 07/24/07
• Fresh Fodder: New DVD Releases - 07/17/07
• Some DVD News to Tide You Over