OT: Difference between CD & DVD lables?

August73 wrote on 1/1/2006, 9:08 AM

Hubby bought a package of Cd lables and there's a sticker on the front that says "Warning these lables are not designed for DVD". What's the difference?

So far all the dvds I've made I've used the cd lables I already had. They play fine in my player, but now I wonder if I might be damaging the player when I use them.

August

Comments

Tim L wrote on 1/1/2006, 10:19 AM

Maybe somebody can correct me if what I post here is wrong, but I think the prevailing opinion now is that you should not use stick-on labels of any kind on DVDs. I think there is general long-term concern about using them on CDs as well.

No matter how carefully you apply the label, you cannot get it exactly centered on the disc, so the mass of the off-center label introduces some "wobble" to the disc as it is spinning. Because DVDs hold much more data than CDs (about 7-8 times as much?), I think the pits and tracks are much finer, and therefore DVD is much more susceptible to this inbalance causing a problem. Also, I believe DVDs spin at a higher rate than CDs.

I think people also suspect that a few years from now (or maybe many years from now), the adhesives will begin to fail, and you will end up with labels coming off inside your DVD or CD players. But then, maybe that is not an issue with a high quality label, I don't know.

Anyway, there are now a lot of low-cost ink-jet printers that let you print directly on a "inkjet printable" DVD or CD. I have an Epson R-200, which you can get for about $90-$100 or so. Canon also has printers that will print on CDs/DVDs.

The ink-jet printable CDs/DVDs come with a plain white surface on top. You put the disc in a plastic tray and roll it into your printer, then use special software to have the printer print directly on the disc. They also have CDs with a silvery kind of surface, rather than white.

Again, I'm not an expert on this, and haven't really researched it thoroughly, but that's what I've read somewhere..

Tim L

Chienworks wrote on 1/1/2006, 3:37 PM

Tim, sounds like you got that all right. I'll add to that on some of the early CD-Rs i used with the reflective layer painted on top, the label started pulling that layer off too as it aged. That pretty much made the discs completely unusable.

ScottW wrote on 1/1/2006, 7:11 PM

The only other thing I'd add is that labels will expand and contract depending on the humidity of the air, this will in turn cause the DVD to flex which will eventually cause the layers to start to delaminate, rendering the DVD unplayable.

Lou Sander wrote on 1/2/2006, 2:48 AM

I'm no expert, but I think the comments in this thread are pretty much on target.

I have a Brother QL-500 label printer, a truly wonderful $100 machine that I normally use for addressing envelopes. You can buy CD/DVD labels for it, and they seem to be acceptable. They are made of lightweight plastic film and are only 2 1/3" in diameter, so there's not much mass to mess up your high speed rotation, and whatever mass there is is close to the center. The finished (B&W) labels look very professional, and I can get enough information onto the label to identify my disc.

dibbkd wrote on 1/2/2006, 3:59 PM

You can also use the LightScribe CD/DVD thing where you actually flip your disc over and burn your label onto the top of it using the same laser that burned your data.

I have one in my HP and it does a nice job, you just don't get the color.

ChristerTX wrote on 1/2/2006, 10:41 PM

I use the Epson 200 printer that can print on CD's and DVD's with a printable surface.
Not really anything for mass production, but for home use it is a great solution.

RegSJ wrote on 1/3/2006, 8:49 AM

I fully endorse that warning!

I wish I'd seen this thread a few months ago - I found out the hard way!

Normally, I don't use labels at all on my DVDs - but I'd started converting some old VHS tapes to DVD, and thought I'd put some labels on to keep track of them.

Luckily, I only did 4 before I started testing them.

My notebook (Toshiba P30-something) plays them for a little while, and then makes quite a worrying noise, like the label is loose and catching inside. I don't think it is, I just think it is the 'wobble' that someone mentioned. Whatever it is, it makes the DVDs unuseable.

So, I painstakingly removed the labels, and they discs work fine now, but sometime I will copy these to new printable DVDs and then label them for posterity.

(I've got the Epson R300 printer and great it is too, I just need some printable DVDs.)