Super-tough coating for discs (potential for DVD and Blu-ray?)
 

Here is an interesting tidbit that I haven't seen mentioned. Scratch discs could be a thing of the past.

Super-tough coating for cellphones and discs

10:15 30 October 2004
Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition

The colour LCD screens on cellphones and PDAs can get badly scratched in pockets stuffed with loose change and keys. And CDs and DVDs become unplayable in no time when children use them as indoor frisbees. Now a tough, transparent polymer coating developed by chemists in Japan is set to make scratched phone screens and scuffed discs a thing of the past.

In one of the most convincing technology demonstrations this reporter has witnessed, I was handed a CD, a wire-wool pan scourer and some permanent marker pens, and invited to scratch or mark the discs. Hard as I tried, I could not make a single mark on the disc with the scourer. And the ink simply wiped off.

The only person to have succeeded in damaging the disc had undertaken a determined attack with a Swiss army knife, according to TDK, the company that has developed the coating.

Two years ago TDK, a maker of tape and disc-based recording media, began developing what was initially a single-layer coating to make DVDs more resistant to scuffing. But the new coating is far tougher, and it is transparent to the full spectrum of visible light rather than just a DVD’s red laser, so it can also be used to protect the plastic surface of colour liquid crystal displays (LCDs).

Layered approach
Two separate layers of fine silica particles prevent scratches, and fluorine-containing resins in each layer repel ink marks. To deposit the first layer of the new coating, a mix of silica microparticles 50 micrometres across and a solution of a fluorine-containing resin are spread on by spin-coating the surface at 8000 rpm.

After they have dried a second layer, made from a mix of another fluorine-containing resin and a curing agent called acetophenone, is spread on top and cured by shining ultraviolet light onto it. Quite how the two layers work together has not been revealed, as TDK is reluctant to reveal any more detail than its newly filed patents contain.

The tough silica particles resist abrasion. Meanwhile, the fluorine-rich resins do not absorb water, so the ink forms droplets that can be wiped off. On a CD or DVD, any residual droplets are much smaller than the laser spot used to read the disc, and so cause no data loss during playback.

The new coating has also provided a boost to the upcoming high-capacity Blu-ray recording discs that Sony, Philips and Panasonic plan to launch next year as a successor to DVDs. The coating will do away with the need for any awkward cassette-style “caddy” mechanism to protect the discs.

The consortium is pleased because no consumer optical disc that uses a caddy has ever been a commercial success. For instance, the computer industry quickly stopped using caddies for CD-ROMs in the 1990s, and Commodore’s CDTV games system – launched in 1991 – was a complete flop.

TDK is not alone in developing a tough coating for hand-held gadgets. The Japanese-European joint cellphone venture Sony Ericsson this month launches its P910 internet-capable smartphone. The gadget sports an ultra-hard scratch-resistant screen that uses a hardening technology it developed in-house. However, unlike TDK, Sony Ericsson is not planning to reveal any details on the recipe for its coating.

As you've bolded, this coating will indeed be used for Blu-ray discs. I'd be surprised if HD-DVDs didn't have this as well.

Great, now I can own a copy of Mary Poppins that's tougher than me.

But seriously this sounds pretty cool. I wonder what kind of effect this will have on the sale of used DVDs/BDs.

If they really want to test it they should try dropping it off at a Blockbuster then renting it a month later. I remember seeing some time back news of a better coating for Blu-Ray to replace that cartridge. Great to hear and I hope it pans out. If you're going to have a new format might as well improve some of the inherent flaws of the old one while you're at it. I also hope layer... changes are a thing of the past with Blu-ray.

They are if you buy a Denon player! My 2200 has no layer change at all!

So I guess this means that if you buy a bad title and decide to use it as a coaster, you can still view it later with no problems. :D

Wonder if it could be used on EZ DVD's to make them last longer? :grin:

That's exactly what I was thinking. Do the Blockbuster test.

The Blockbuster test would be an interesting test. If this new technology pans out it would be interesting on how this would affect used disc sales. However, regardless this would be an improvement compared to current technology since taking a wire-wool pan scourer would scratch any CD or DVD today. It could even reduce those dreaded scratched discs from floaters. :)

i know its offtopic, but i have a 2200 and i love that feature, the video buffer, i hate layer changes, i always thought it was freezing up for a moment

LMAO!!! :lol:

So true bro.

-ant