Durabis
Encyclopedia
Durabis is a brand name for a clear polymer
coating developed by the TDK Corporation. The need for a protective polymer arose because the data layer on Blu-ray Discs is much closer to the surface of the disc than in other disc formats, such as HD DVD. One of its principal applications at first was for scratch resistance in Blu-ray Disc
and other optical disc
s. It is claimed to be tough enough to resist screwdriver damage and make scratched optical discs (CD
s and DVD
s) a thing of the past.
To meet Blu-ray's specifications, TDK's coating had to be less than 0.1 mm thick, be hard enough to resist considerable damage, and yet be transparent enough to be easily read. According to a filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
, the process essentially spin-coats two layers onto discs. One is for protection against scratches, and the other protects against stains and oils.
While Blu-ray mandates the use of a scratch-resistant coating, it does not specify what coating is used, and both Sony
and Panasonic
have their own independent hard coating technologies that are primarily in use on Blu-ray pre-recorded discs.
A TDK spokesman says the present protective layer represents "the first generation" of the coating and that the company has been refining the technology to better suit Blu-ray Discs. Although it might seem possible to adapt the polymer to other uses in LCD
, CRT
, and plasma
screens, TDK plans to target the DVD market for now, because scratches are so common on DVDs that in the rental market, they may only last about 12 to 13 rentals on average.
Polymer
A polymer is a large molecule composed of repeating structural units. These subunits are typically connected by covalent chemical bonds...
coating developed by the TDK Corporation. The need for a protective polymer arose because the data layer on Blu-ray Discs is much closer to the surface of the disc than in other disc formats, such as HD DVD. One of its principal applications at first was for scratch resistance in Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
and other optical disc
Optical disc
In computing and optical disc recording technologies, an optical disc is a flat, usually circular disc which encodes binary data in the form of pits and lands on a special material on one of its flat surfaces...
s. It is claimed to be tough enough to resist screwdriver damage and make scratched optical discs (CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
s and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
s) a thing of the past.
To meet Blu-ray's specifications, TDK's coating had to be less than 0.1 mm thick, be hard enough to resist considerable damage, and yet be transparent enough to be easily read. According to a filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
United States Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that issues patents to inventors and businesses for their inventions, and trademark registration for product and intellectual property identification.The USPTO is based in Alexandria, Virginia,...
, the process essentially spin-coats two layers onto discs. One is for protection against scratches, and the other protects against stains and oils.
While Blu-ray mandates the use of a scratch-resistant coating, it does not specify what coating is used, and both Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
and Panasonic
Panasonic
Panasonic is an international brand name for Japanese electric products manufacturer Panasonic Corporation, which was formerly known as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd...
have their own independent hard coating technologies that are primarily in use on Blu-ray pre-recorded discs.
A TDK spokesman says the present protective layer represents "the first generation" of the coating and that the company has been refining the technology to better suit Blu-ray Discs. Although it might seem possible to adapt the polymer to other uses in LCD
Liquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals . LCs do not emit light directly....
, CRT
Cathode ray tube
The cathode ray tube is a vacuum tube containing an electron gun and a fluorescent screen used to view images. It has a means to accelerate and deflect the electron beam onto the fluorescent screen to create the images. The image may represent electrical waveforms , pictures , radar targets and...
, and plasma
Plasma display
A plasma display panel is a type of flat panel display common to large TV displays or larger. They are called "plasma" displays because the technology utilizes small cells containing electrically charged ionized gases, or what are in essence chambers more commonly known as fluorescent...
screens, TDK plans to target the DVD market for now, because scratches are so common on DVDs that in the rental market, they may only last about 12 to 13 rentals on average.
External links
- TDK Durabis Website
- Patent Application: Article With Composite Hard Coat Layer And Method For Forming Composite Hard Coat Layer
- Patent Application: Object With Composite Hard Coating Layer And Method Of Forming Composite Hard Coating Layer
- Patent Application: Methods for Producing Optical Recording Medium and Optical Recording Medium