JVC White Waterdhield BD-Rs LTH–a bit OT

[Michael j Toffan]

I have not tried the JVC BD-R White Watershed disks you mention. I have used white Inkjet printable BD-R disks from Phillips, RiData and some 50 GB TDK BD-R that I use for backup. All work well for printing; however, I had a lot trouble writing to the Phillips with both an LG BD-R writer and a Pioneer BD-R writer, (most of the Phillips disks were unusable) so I will not be using Phillips disks in the future. I use an Epson Artisan 50 to print graphics and titles on the disks.

I look forward to hearing what others have used with success.

I have not tried coating with clear acrylic lacquer.

[Dave Haynie]

I steer clear of any LTH BD-Rs. This is basically DVD-R technology, organic dyes, repurposed for BD-R… LTH means low to high, as in reflectivity. The dye is changed by the laser to allow light. These have the same longevity and light fading issues as DVD-R.

The original formulation, HTL, starts out highly reflective. The material is non-organic, a sandwich of copper and silicon. When the laser writes, that section melts copper and silicon together, creating a low reflectance part. No problems with light exposure, and way more BD compatible, no software tweaks necessary.

Never used a watershield disc, I used normal inkjet printable HTL discs, with an Epson Photo 1400 printer. I think watershield is a JVC thing, and given that they had a bunch of the CD-R and DVD-R organic dye patents, it seems likely they are deep into LTH.

Not sure I trust the concept, anyway… printing water-based inks on a water-resistant surface seems sketchy.

-Dave

[Nigel O’neill]

I use Shintaro BD-R’s. They also make BD-DL.

How do you apply the acrylic lacquer? Just a standard spray can?

I used Watershield DVD-R’s, but both my Canon printers leave matte marks (roller marks?) on the glossy disc surface after printing. When I first got my printer, it did not do that, so I thought it might have been an age thing so I bought a new printer, only to get the same result 🙁

My system specs: Intel i7 970, 12GB RAM, ASUS P6T, Vegas Pro 12 (x64), Windows 7 x64 Ultimate, Vegas Production Assistant 1.0, VASST Ultimate S Pro 4.1, Neat Video Pro 2.6

[Rich Kutnick]

Great informative answers! Thanks!! I do have several follow-ups, though:

So Michael, do you recommend Ridata, then? Have you ever had any Clients complain about ink smudging after they have had their disks for awhile? Do you warn Clients to keep the disks away from any sources of moisture? With the Watershield disks, this is not a problem.

Dave, excellent explanation of LTH, HTL and the Watershield technology! So what brand of BR-R do you personally use, and do you have any after-the-fact moisture issues with the disk surfaces?

…and Nigel, where do you purchase the Shintaro BD-R’s, local or online, and from whom? Now that you mention it, I, too, see those nasty roller marks that I never used to see…hmmmmmmm.

If all three of you kindly would update your posts to answer these additional questions I would be most appreciative, as I am ready to order more BD-Rs today and want to get the best bang for the buck and for the quality/longevity!! Thank all of you in advance!!

Rich Kutnick
VIDEO IMPRESSIONS

[Dave Haynie]

[Rich Kutnick] “Dave, excellent explanation of LTH, HTL and the Watershield technology! So what brand of BR-R do you personally use, and do you have any after-the-fact moisture issues with the disk surfaces?”

Thanks. I originally used TDK HTL discs (TDKBLDRBB), which was a safe buy early on, because TDK only sold the one disc. But lately, they seem to have added an LTH disc under the TDK lable, though I don’t think they make it themselves. And many of the manufacturers are not very good about labeling little details like the disc type or the manufacturing code. You’ll find that the same “model” as sold in the stores can change over time, which is a Very Bad Thing.

These days, I like Panasonic (MEI T02 or RA1) or Sony HTL (SONY NS2, NN2, or NN3); Panasonic only makes HTL discs, and they match my camcorders :-). Sony also sells LTH, so you have to be careful. I used to buy Taiyo Youden and Ritek DVDs, but TY only make LTH discs, and Ritek makes both.

This is a useful list: https://www.hughsnews.ca/faqs/authoritative-blu-ray-disc-bd-faq/10-compatibility#10.5

I haven’t had any huge problem with moisture and disc printing. The Epson disc printing solution works great, no smudges or anything, ever (actually works better than paper — their feeders aren’t all that great, even with gravity there to assist). I thought about using some kind of spray-on finish, but haven’t so far… you have to be careful about solvents that would damage the ink, printing surface, or the disc itself, and also about spraying evenly enough to avoid unbalancing the disc.

-Dave

[Michael j Toffan]

Rich, of the two (Ridata and TDK), I certainly have more experience with the Ridata and could at least recommend the Ridata on that basis. So far, the TDK disks also seem to be doing fine, I just need more time with them before I could give them an honest rating.

So far, no complaints of smearing or water damage from clients.

I handle the disks carefully right after printing so the ink has a chance to fully dry. I also provide a good snap-in case with the disk (versus a slide in) so that may help as well.

Like you, I am taking note of other folks positive experiences and may leverage their recommendations as well.

[Nigel O’neill]

I purchase my BD-R’s from ComputerAlliance

https://www.computeralliance.com.au