A few days ago, I saw a video on Bilibili that introduced a technique called "Labelflash" for engraving text and patterns onto DVD/CD discs.
Flash (Labelflash):It is a disc surface engraving technology that uses lasers to engrave patterns or text onto a specialized disc. The technology works by exposing a special coating on the disc's surface to a laser, causing a color change that creates the effect of engraved patterns and text. This technology was jointly developed by Yamaha and Fuji.
Besides "Flash Drive", there is also a technology called "Lightscribe".
LightscribeThis is a laser etching technology developed by HP in 2004. It uses an etching machine to directly create monochrome patterns on the surface of CD/DVD discs with special coatings, enabling label printing without using consumables.
Since it's possible to use optical drives with laser technology to record text or images on CDs, can we also use them to create QSL cards?
So, a few days ago, I purchased a FlashForge engraver and also looked for FlashForge-specific discs. The price was surprisingly high (10 discs for 50 yuan – this is really aggressive pricing, thankfully I had already bought the FlashForge engraver). While looking, I accidentally came across a video on Bilibili that introduced a technique for engraving text and patterns onto ordinary CD discs: DiscT@2.
DiscT@2It is a technology for creating patterns or text on the data side of optical discs, which emerged two years before the laser disc technology. Subsequently, Yamaha and Fuji collaborated to upgrade the DiscT@2 technology, resulting in "Labelflash". Some Labelflash optical drives currently available on the market support DiscT@2.
So, I downloaded Nero 8. This application is specifically designed for creating optical discs. I simply inserted a blank disc into the CD-ROM drive and performed some basic design on the disc surface, then waited for about half an hour. The result was as follows:
Do you find that the pattern is a bit unclear? That's perfectly normal, because Yamaha officially doesn't recommend using standard CDs for DiscT@2 engraving, but instead recommends using discs with the "ZAO" marking.
AZO discs are special discs that contain a specific dye. This dye causes the disc to appear blue when exposed to natural light. Unlike ordinary discs, AZO discs offer the advantage of long-term data storage at a lower price than professional green or gold discs.
So, I bought some DVD discs with AZO markings. The picture below clearly shows the difference in appearance between regular DVDs and AZO DVDs after being etched with DiscT@2.
It can be clearly seen that, after engraving the pattern on discs marked with "AZO", the results are slightly better than those of ordinary discs.
As of when I published this article, I have successfully used the DiscT@2 technology to create a complete set of CD QSL cards. Fortunately, there is an upcoming local amateur radio exam (AB class), so I will use these cards for that purpose.
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