Black CDRs

Message

main_stem · #1 Post by **main_stem** » Mon Nov 25, 2002 10:52 am

Has anyone used these before? I've been told that they have better scratch resistance and over all better quality than the typical silver ones.

L8,
Kevin

JohnDyer · #2 Post by **JohnDyer** » Mon Nov 25, 2002 1:37 pm

I've only heard of them being used to duplicate Playstation games so that an unmodded PS can read them. Don't know about any other added benefit.

GemZombie · #3 Post by **GemZombie** » Mon Dec 09, 2002 2:19 pm

JohnDyer wrote:I've only heard of them being used to duplicate Playstation games so that an unmodded PS can read them. Don't know about any other added benefit.

I think that's bunk... the difference is in *where* they record, and a CD-R can't be written to in that area by a normal CD Recorder. As far as I can tell the only possible benefit a black cdr might have is data reliability, and even that is iffy. I've heard it rumored that sony chose black media for the playstation because they used cheap lasers, and the reflect quality off of black media was more reliable.

According to the driver guy here at work, who knows more about CD recordable drivers than most people ever would want to, (I work for a software company that writes to optical media (CD,DVD) in backup, mastering and authoring), he says the only benefit to "colored" media (including black) is that "Chicks dig it when you give them a purple CD."

Ron · #4 Post by **Ron** » Mon Dec 09, 2002 5:04 pm

Hey, that's good enough for me!

JohnDyer · #5 Post by **JohnDyer** » Wed Dec 11, 2002 4:18 pm

Jesse, you are correct. I looked it up on cdrinfo.com. You still have to have a mod chip for ps games. Just wishful thinking I guess. They do mention flawless recording but also mention that any decent CDR media will provide that.

Lawrence · #6 Post by **Lawrence** » Thu Jan 09, 2003 12:30 pm

I have used them, and they work fine.

As for scratch-resistance, keep in mind that there are two types of scratches: the plastic side and the data side. Scratches on the plastic (bottom) side can be buffed out any time. Scratches on the data side (top side) completely and irretrievably lose the information on the disk. There is nothing inherent about black CD-Rs that make them more scratch-resistent to scratches on the data side.

I think the theroy behind the black CD-Rs having better "scratch resistance" is that when scratches happen on the bottom side, the black plastic has less potential for reflections, which will add to the laser's inability to read through a scratch. The black plastic minimizes interference due to reflections so that only the direct laser penetrates to the data. Thus, with fewer reflections causing interference, you might not need to buff out a scratch on a black CD-R that you would need to buff out if it were on a silver/clear CD-R.

Whether this theory actually results in any practical improvement, I do not know. But they do work well, and they are kinda cool. I personally stick with inexpensive clear ones, though, because they are so damn inexpensive, now.

Ron · #7 Post by **Ron** » Fri Jan 10, 2003 7:32 pm

I saw some "glow in the dark" CD-Rs the other day at Frys, so I bought them for fun. Of course, its the upper surface that's really the glow-in-the-dark part, but hey, they are still cool.

mark0tz · #8 Post by **mark0tz** » Tue Jan 28, 2003 4:09 pm

I only use Kodak Gold CD-R's for music. They have a nice 3M scotchguard that protect against scratches, and just in general seem to have a much longer shelf-life. I usually buy them by the 50-CD spindle on e-bay.

Lawrence · #9 Post by **Lawrence** » Wed Mar 05, 2003 12:18 pm

mark0tz wrote:I only use Kodak Gold CD-R's for music. They have a nice 3M scotchguard that protect against scratches, and just in general seem to have a much longer shelf-life. I usually buy them by the 50-CD spindle on e-bay.

I used to use Kodak Gold Cd-Rs exclusively. However, I found they were not worth the premium. First, the scratch resistence is not much better than others. They scratched just as much as other CD-Rs. I'm not easy on my CDs, so I still use sticker labels to prevent scratches on the top of my CDs.

Also, beware, I paid a premium for the Kodak Gold CD-Rs so they would last longer. However, I recently lost a Duke Ellington Complete Capitol Recordings set on them. The set was stored indoors for just under three years in spare multi-CD jewel cases, and was not even opened up during that time. I copied the danceable stuff onto other CD-Rs and archived the set. The other CD-Rs are still good, whereas the Kodaks failed in that time.

(I generally still use Gold or silver exclusively. A friend of mine from from Chicago lost his whole compilation collection of hundreds of CDs because he recorded them on blue CD-Rs.)