Lightscribe to get color?

Apparently, the staff at TGDaily were flipping through the user's manual for one of their Lightscribe-equipped drives when they stumbled across a rather oblique mention of an upcoming color version of the current monochrome technology. They did a little journalizing and eventually contacted an HP PR staff, who informed them that "Lightscribe color background CDs are expected to be available later this year." This could be referring to the different colored Lightscribe discs that have seen release here and there, but when it comes to truly color laser CD imaging, obviously no official announcements have been made yet. We wouldn't be entirely surprised if the launch so many a Lightscribe fans have been waiting for winds up being timed to coincide with the announcement of an HP HD DVD drive or two. For right now though, we'll be sticking to our analog CD and DVD labeler, or as you may know it by its other name: a Sharpie marker.

[danielcrocker10 @ Jul 13th 2006 7:26AM]

sounds good to me

[Robin @ Jul 13th 2006 7:56AM]

This is exactly what I've been waiting for. I've been holding back getting one for a while because I figured they'd have a color one out soon. (or hoped anyway)

[Craig @ Jul 13th 2006 8:00AM]

Hopefully this is true. Lightscribe is pretty cool. There are only two problems - it takes ages at decent quality and the media is expensive.

[Matt @ Jul 13th 2006 8:04AM]

My Lightscribe Drive gives my DVD rips from Netflix that woderfull pirated momochrome look and my 4 year old can just look at the picture and put the DVD in the XBox without trying to decipher my Sharpie chicken scratch .

HP says that all Lightscribe drives will be compatible with a firmware upgrade .

[m-p{3} @ Jul 13th 2006 8:08AM]

Well, I think LightScribe is a good idea, especially againt sticky labels which can lose some colors on your fingers (it depends on the printer :) ). The only drawback is no one want to switch to a LightScribe burner when they already own a functionnal burner. If I'm gonna get one, it's gonna be when my current burner will retire.

[Chris Emerson @ Jul 13th 2006 8:20AM]

I have just bought a new lightscribe DVD-RW, it arrived today. I look forward to getting home from work and installing it...

Anyone know any decent places to get the media? Id want to buy it in bulk, a cakebox or something similar, for both CD and DVD.

[TVaughan @ Feb 12th 2007 6:48AM]

Best place is Best Buy, they have the spindles and they have the color light scribes which are cool.

[yuppicide @ Jul 13th 2006 9:16AM]

This is ancient news and besides, the quality of LightScribe isn't that good. I'd rather have a $99 Epson printer that prints directly onto printable CD's. It's got color already and better quality.

[Alex @ Jul 13th 2006 10:25AM]

Working in the consumer electronics industry, we have known about this Color LightScribe for a while since probably the beginning of the year. Chances are (I'm just a salesman) though, that it'll probably be out before Christmas.

[HP Insider @ Jul 13th 2006 10:29AM]

This is talking about the new color backgrounds not color lightscribing. There are 5 new colors Red,Orange,Gree,Blue & Yellow and the traditional Gold.

[Jacob @ Jul 13th 2006 10:58AM]

Quote from yuppicide:

"This is ancient news and besides, the quality of LightScribe isn't that good. I'd rather have a $99 Epson printer that prints directly onto printable CD's. It's got color already and better quality."

I agree that the Epson printer may look a lot better with the color that the current lightscribe discs, but the current technology is amazing crisp and precise. The edges of text are perfect, and having the ability to do it with full color would be great.

[Michael @ Jul 13th 2006 11:32AM]

What they really need to do is figure out how to burn the labels a lot faster. When it takes me 4 minutes to burn a disc, but then 30 minutes to do the label, I end up just using a sharpie instead of waiting.

[cycomachead @ Jul 13th 2006 11:57AM]

swet- now I'll go out and buy a burner in a few minths

[Jordan Amdahl @ Jul 13th 2006 11:59AM]

Colonial Day... good choice, engadget!

[Dave @ Jul 13th 2006 12:47PM]

Quote from yuppicide & Jacob:

""This is ancient news and besides, the quality of LightScribe isn't that good. I'd rather have a $99 Epson printer that prints directly onto printable CD's. It's got color already and better quality."

I agree that the Epson printer may look a lot better with the color that the current lightscribe discs, but the current technology is amazing crisp and precise. The edges of text are perfect, and having the ability to do it with full color would be great."

Based on your comments, I am supposing that you have never used the epson CD printer. I had one for work & it was terrible. Once I used all the ink from the printer, I requested a canon all in one printer & went back to using my Casio CD printer. It is just B&W, but it works.

[TurboFool @ Jul 13th 2006 1:50PM]

Dave: I HAVE used the Epson CD printers (I own an R220), and they're nothing short of flawless. Beautiful color, crisp, clean printing. Far above anything you could get from this Lightscribe technology. I'll skip their propritetary, overpriced discs and print on the readily-available printable media on my R220. Much better results.

[Kris @ Jul 13th 2006 2:03PM]

Sounds pretty cool... but no huge advancement. They're just releasing discs that have colors other than gold. It's still going to be the same monochrome printing though. It seems like full color printing would be very difficult with the technology, and would be quite costly.

[Danny @ Jul 13th 2006 4:05PM]

It's cool, but as others have said, *painfully* slow. I'd be more interested in a faster etch than color.

[NNTPgrip @ Jul 13th 2006 4:38PM]

Yeah, CASIO CW-100 all the way. I would like to see some of the full-color, full disc thermal printers come down in price.

[Chris @ Jul 13th 2006 9:03PM]

I had the opportunity to attend an HP training session some time back and the rep made mention that sometime in Q3 or Q4 of '06 HP was hoping to release "color" litescribe discs that were red, green, blue, yellow, etc. but were still monochromatic. The rep did say that HP was working on a full color version but because of the complexity they had no estimated date.

[Sp`ange @ Jul 14th 2006 12:28AM]

Concerning using laser for full color printing-

There a two possible ways that I can see this working:

a) Lightscribe CDDVDs come with layers of Red, Green & Blue the laser burns deeper for each shade. It would probably end up looking muddy at best.

b) Light sensitive media with using Red, Green & Blue lasers. Similiar to the Oce Lightjet http://www.oceusa.com

I think that either way you go, a thermal printer would be waaaay cheaper in the futere and not media dependent. If you are looking for color labels on your CDDVDs, get an Epson CD printer.

You can even convert an Epson 640 to a CD printer. You can find one on ebay for under $30.

http://www.videohelp.com/forum/userguides/177053.php

[Mack @ Jan 4th 2007 4:57PM]

Sp`ange,

Wouldn't the emulsion on the CD have to be some sort of CMYK because RGB doesn't recreate all the colors when you're dealing with pigmentation. (RGB only works with light)

I would think they'd have to come up with something like colour-film that would need to be exposed by the laser.

[Camperton @ Jul 14th 2006 6:40AM]

At this point why bother with this slow, underdeveloped technology.

Epson CD printers are cheap, full color and FAST.

[Denny @ Jul 14th 2006 10:35AM]

HP has just introduced the DVD/CD printable tattoo. Far superior then anything that Epson has to offer including longterm wear and tear.

HP CD/DVD Tattoos - Feature
• Translucent, super-gloss technology for attractive, durable glossy labels
• Innovative anti-curl technology prevents labels from wrinkling or curling or warping disc, even after exposure to extreme temperature conditions
• Water, smudge and fade resistant labels are made more durable
• Built-in label applicator in the package makes bubble-free application easy
• HP to provide free online design templates to enable easy personalization

[yuppicide @ Jul 14th 2006 11:53AM]

Dave: I own the Epson printer I was speaking about. It's fabulous. 6 ink tanks, excellant quality and color, and fast!

My only gripe is the loading tray.. you can only load one CD at a time. Gets tedious if I wanted to make 20 copies of one all the same.. and sometimes the tray doesn't load right you have to push it in yourself.

But those problems aside it's a great printer for $99, does photos, CD's, and normal papers also.

[bob @ Jul 15th 2006 5:03AM]

cool idea, but FROZEN PETS is not for me, FROZEN dogs, FROZEN cats, FROZEN birds yuk

[Jennifer @ Jul 19th 2006 2:26PM]

All of the new technology coming out is great, you should check out Cableorganizer.com where they have label printers that you can hook up to your PC so that you can design your own labels. Check it out, they have models by Brother, Dymo, and even K-Sun (which has the printer you can hook up to your PC.)

[DIO @ Aug 4th 2006 1:51PM]

Wonder how much the media will cost...

[My Wedding Memoirs @ Aug 5th 2006 4:11AM]

Yup, that will be a concern. I print LightScribe DVDs for my clients when I produce their wedding videos and although they like it, they don't like the fact that its in grayscale. If this isn't too expensive then maybe I can take a look at it.

[ShopNewsBank @ Aug 6th 2006 12:14PM]

I'm also eagerly anticipating when the colour LightScribe will go on sale. Think there might be a market for this product.

[TVaughan @ Feb 12th 2007 6:55AM]

I have two epson printers, the 320 and 220 and love them but have the same issues with the loading tray. I went to OfficeMax last week and found out HP came out with a cd printer and the loading tray is "built in". It's only 99.00 also, so it might be worth a try.