[Dixielandjazz] Re: Gold CDR's

[David Livingston]

This is what I found when I searched Google for CD
media types.

Here is an excerpt from
http://www.cdmediaworld.com/hardware/cdrom/cd_dye.shtml

---

The color of the CD-R disc is related to the color of
the specific dye that was used in the recording layer.
This base dye color is modified when the reflective
coating (gold or silver) is added. Some of the
dye-reflective coating combinations appear green, some
appear blue and others appear yellow/gold. Visual
differences between various media types are irrelevant
from the standpoint of their actual operation. At 780
nm, where CD-R recorders and CD-ROM readers function,
the media are, for all intents and purposes,
indistinguishable from an optical recording
standpoint. They all "look" the same to the devices.

The gold-colored CD-R uses the PhthaloCyanine pigment
and a gold reflection layer. As the pigment is
transparent, the golden reflection layer shines
through the bottom side giving the `golden' look.
Compared to the other colored media, the reflection
contrast of the golden medium is the highest and the
durability of such CD-R's is said to be over 100
years. As the golden medium's reflective property is
the highest, if your friends or customers have
problems reading data from any other burnt media, try
using the gold medium CD-R.

The green CD-R, the cheapest of the three, uses the
Cyanine pigment. By itself, the pigment is blue in
color, but together with the gold reflective layer,
the bottom appears green. However, cyanine's ability
to maintain reflectivity is poor giving it a life span
of about 10 years. It also delivers the weakest
reflection contrasts and thus can cause read errors
when run on old CD-ROM drives.
Lately cyanine formula has been altered which results
in a much higher life span (20 to 50 years). The gold
reflection layer has also been replaced by a silver
reflection layer this make the color of the bottom
appear blue.

The blue media is made of Azo pigments. Like cyanine,
it is blue in color but unlike the green CD-R it uses
a silver reflection layer which gives the blue color.
Manufacturers claim blue CD-R's are as durable as
golden ones.

David Livingston 
Dixieland Gumbo -- Internet Radio
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