How does lightscribe disc work

The lightscribe process begins at the center of the disk and extends outward toward the edge, working as the disk rotates. The Lightscribe disks include a label on the disk itself that allows the drive to learn the disk specifications, and those specifications don't change between write sessions.

That means that the same disk can be written with the same image several times, leading to a much deeper etching with darker coloration. Lightscribe disks require special care and handling, and direct sunlight will noticeably degrade the disk image within months. The Lightscribe lasers are of a specific wavelength, and only that same wavelength will affect the disk's surface enough to produce a defined image.

For that reason, lightscribe disks are more expensive than standard disks, since the processing and materials required to create the etchable disk surface takes several extra steps. Additionally, no separate ink cartridge is needed because the disc's coating and the drive's laser create the text images. The LightScribe system is optimized to ensure that the labels last. Some minor fading may occur over time.

To ensure the longest life for both label and data, discs should be kept out of direct sunlight. Yes, it is safe to handle the discs coated with the LightScribe coating as you would any other disc. The time required to burn an image on a disc varies depending on how many bands across the radius have image content and on the selected imaging mode draft, normal or best.

A simple title printed in normal mode will take a couple of minutes. A title plus content listing takes six minutes or more—again depending on the content. And a full disc image in normal mode will take approximately 30 minutes. Best mode takes about a third again as long, and draft mode about a third less time. The labeling process will run in the background so you can work on other things while the label is being made.

Under normal use, the LightScribe function does not result in any additional cleaning or maintenance of the drive. Please follow your hardware provider's maintenance recommendations.

Although most LightScribe enabled drives can be installed in a Mac system, they will not have the required LightScribe System Software or Labeling application to make the process work unless specifically provided with the hardware or purchased separately.

Slimline drives may not have enough space for a LightScribe logo on the drive tray cover, but a LightScribe logo sticker should be affixed to all LightScribe enabled notebooks. To make sure, the presence of the disc encoder sensor can verify that a drive is LightScribe enabled. Looking straight down on the spindle after the drive tray is opened, then look for presence of a LightScribe disc encoder sensor as an indicator of LightScribe capability.

So once again we are faced with a similar question to the one we had when looking at LightScribe Drives, namely: Do you need special LightScribe media for LightScribe labeling? What you have is a choice of 6 colored backgrounds onto which your label image is burned resulting in your LightScribe labeled disc. The use of Verbatim LightScribe Media images has not been coincidental. Since it has become more difficult to get Verbatim discs, try Philips or Memorex — Both brands I use now.

So if you need some more LightScribe discs? In today's standards, it takes from 2 minutes for printing a simple text label to 20 minutes for a label with complex graphics. As with any technology, we can expect that these times will only improve over time. Yes, you do. You have to purchase a LightScribe-enabled drive, and use LightScribe-compatible recordable discs. They are not much more expensive than regular disks.

LightScribe discs are specially constructed on the label side in order to allow a LightScribe drive laser to burn a precise image. LightScribe discs have a very thin dye layer on the label side. The same laser that burns your data on the data side also burns graphical images on your label side.

Yes, LightScribe disk drives are backward compatible. The LightScribe technology does not really change the way your data is burned and read. LightScribe is only an addition to your existing disk drive. Perhaps you might be interested in some reading about microprocessors or ExpressCard. A processor is the logic circuitry that responds to and processes the basic instructions that drive ExpressCard is a new standard for expansion of notebook computers.

ExpressCard is a relatively low-c TFT technology is a new standard these days for manufacturing d