TDK has announced the availability of the world's first thermal printable BD-R Blu-ray Disc media to European customers. TDK has extended its partnership with Rimage to bring its printable surface BD-R media to the European region for use with Rimage's line of thermal BD-R disc publishing solutions.

The discs, which incorporate TDK's advanced DURABIS 2 hard coating technology, will be available in Europe at the beginning of April 2007. TDK's BD-R is manufactured to Rimage specifications for maximum color performance with Rimage's high-resolution Everest thermal printer technology.

The media is coated with a special thermal-optimised surface that not only delivers extremely bright, high-resolution full colour images and text, but also prevents warping - a potential problem with standard thermal surfaces. The printable surface extends from the outside edge of the media all the way to the centre hub for a fully produced, highly professional appearance. Wide sputtering and the absence of a stacking ring make printing quality consistent across the entire disc surface, from edge to edge.

Hard coating technology pioneered by TDK is part of the Blu-ray specification, but only TDK Blu-ray Discs have DURABIS 2, the industry's most advanced hard coating technology. DURABIS 2 increases the scratch resistance of Blu-ray Disc media by a factor of 100, as demonstrated in rigorous testing. DURABIS 2 also resists fingerprints to help eliminate errors caused by recording surface smudges.

Story filed 19.03.07