Disc replication and duplication service for DVD and CD

The process of glass mastering and pressing a CD or DVD disc

The CD and DVD pressing process is very simple. The first stage of the process is to use the data on the CDR audio master or DVD video to control a laser beam recorder which copies the data to a photo sensitive layer on an optically flat glass master disc - this is what is known as the glass mastering process. This special disc is then developed in a similar way as an old fashioned camera film to leave an etched surface carrying the microscopic pits of data - this is an exact image of your master disc, there can be no error in this process, it is an exact replica. The glass master discs are quite expensive to produce, the recorder is an extremely expensive precision instrument costing hundreds of thousands of pounds. The whole process has to be performed under clean conditions, hence glass mastering is an expensive element of the CD or DVD replication process.

This etched glass master disc is not used to stamp discs itself, but is used to manufacture a metal stamper through a process called electro-forming. A layer of nickle is then organically grown onto the disc, transferring an exact copy of the etched pits on the glass into bumps in the metal disc to produce a stamper disc. For very short CD pressing runs, this stamper can be used as the direct stamper. It is more common to produce one or more daughter discs from the stamper, and then use these to produce the raw plastic CD or DVD discs. The stamped raw plastic discs are then metalised to produce a reflective layer, and this is then protected with a lacquer.

What's the difference between DVD replication and duplication

The DVD replication manufacturing procedure is a physical fabrication that requires essentially pressing the disks during manufacturing from what is recognized as a glass master. When produced the replicated discs are referred to as DVD ROM discs, with the ROM standing for 'Read Only Memory' (contrasting to Dvdr or Dvd plus r where the 'R' stands for 'Recordable').

A glass master is formed in the first instance and as the name suggests it is manufactured of glass that has been coated by a element, this is etched off with a laser. The glass master is in effect a 'negative' of the complete DVD and it is then layered with a molten metal compound and turned into a Dvd disk stamper. The stamper pushes out tiny pits in the production DVDs that draw on molten aluminium as the reflective surface and polycarbonate for the rest of the disc, you might have noticed the prices of recordable DVD disks rising in recent months - that is as a result of the rise in polycarbonate charges worldwide.

Dvd disc replication is a very swift and cheap manufacture method for bigger numbers of disks such as 500 discs or more. Owing to the prohibitive setup costs this sort of production is not suitable for minor production runs where duplication needs to be used. Replicated DVDs are then printed by means of a 5 colour silk screen or offset lithographic process, resulting in a incredibly high quality disc just like the ones you purchase in the stores!

The other main kind of CD or Dvd disc manufacture is referred to as CD disc duplication or Dvdr duplication and is appropriate for lesser production runs with quicker turnaround times. CD and DVD duplication entails burning blank CD and DVD media with a laser to add the file contents onto the discs - just like you might do at home using your own DVD burner. The next recording and burning equipment is DVD Bluray and the blank recordable media and replication services are already accessible although still at a premium cost.