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What Happened to LightScribe?

Hewlett-Packard?s LightScribe technology?which enables a DVD burner to use its laser to etch a monochrome label onto the topside surface of a disc?made a splashy debut at last January?s CES trade show?and then disappeared off the radar.

But it?s coming soon, promises Kent Henscheid, HP's program manager for LightScribe. Henscheid was showcasing LightScribe technology at this week's Optical Storage Technology Association?s gathering in San Francisco.

We?ll start seeing LightScribe drives from HP hit the worldwide market in January 2005, Henscheid says. The first LightScribe-enabled drives will be offered in HP Media Center and Pavilion PCs; however, the technology is being licensed to other drive makers, and will be offered in aftermarket HP drives as well.

LightScribe-enabled media will be shipping simultaneously--an important point since you can?t write a LightScribe label without using a specially formulated disc surface. HP, Imation, Memorex, and Verbatim will all be offering LightScribe media.

So what?s been the hold-up? ?We?ve had functional media for a long time, functional drives for a long time, prototype software for a long time; but making it all work together was complex." Henscheid told me.

Unfortunately, the delay doesn?t mean we?ll get faster LightScribe writing, too. ?A full disc at the highest contrast will take about 28 minutes,? says Henscheid. Future speed advancements, though, should be achievable through a combination of media and hardware.

Comments

Thanks for getting back to me. I love your magazine. It keeps me up to date.

M F Corbett

October 22, 2004

2:28 PM PT

Hope someone can answer..What happened to this obviously desirable technology about a year or two ago for CD-r media. The only one I ever saw advertised was by Yamaha, I believe it was called the F-1?

Robb

December 29, 2004

1:28 AM PT

LightScribe is different than Yamaha's deceased DiscT@2 (disc tattoo) technology.

DiscT@2 wrote on the same side of the disc as the data, and thus used up space that would otherwise be used for storing actual data. The bigger the label, the less data that could be stored.

LightScribe, on the other hand, writes the label on the side of the disc opposite the data, so it can create a full-coverage label without decreasing the data storage space at all.

In any event, Yamaha has since abandonded the consumer optical drive market, and DiscT@2 along with the F-1 CD-RW drive that implemented it are now merely footnotes in optical drive history.

Joe

January 10, 2005

1:04 PM PT

Thanx 4 the good info..

Munky

January 11, 2005

2:12 PM PT

Will double layer dvd drives have lightscribe anytime soon? Ive been putting off buying a dl burner because I heard of lightscribe.

Kyle

January 16, 2005

8:10 AM PT

Hi Kyle. HP's LightScribe drive is double layer, as is the external drive coming from LaCie.

Melissa Perenson

January 18, 2005

11:59 AM PT

Does a LightScribe-enabled drive intelligently know that the user has physically flipped the disc over? Can a user possibly try to "write" his label on the data side of the disc and, therefore, destroy his data?

Robert

January 20, 2005

9:41 AM PT

Hi Robert,

Yes, LightScribe drives prompt you to flip the disc around, and understands which side of the disc it is supposed to write the label on (information is written into the disc's stamper).

Melissa Perenson

January 20, 2005

10:14 AM PT

What internal drives with Lightscribe are available today? I've seen them in the HP computers but would like to install one in my DIY system.

Don

January 23, 2005

11:05 PM PT

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February 15, 2005

8:51 AM PT

OK one more... I have an HP640Vi drive that has DVD, Dual Layer, and Lightscribe. I have yet to see a manufacturer making a disk that uses all of the functions at once... that is DL DVD+R with LightScribe. There are single layer DVD's available with Lightscribe, but no duals! Any idea when these will become available, and who is making them?

Dene Francis

April 24, 2005

8:55 PM PT

Will there be a Silver Face Lightscribe Disc...
Silver is Better than Gold on Lightscribe Disc...

Lawrence

October 03, 2005

6:30 AM PT

Do you know if there will be a DVD-R lightscribe disc? All I've seen so far was DVD+R lightscribe.

Nichole

October 03, 2005

11:05 AM PT

Why don't they make lightscribe DVD-R ?