AZO dye DVDr Reference Guide

[CHARM]

I know this has been posted but I and many other people want to buy the best quality and longest lasting media.
Everything I have heard about AZO is good, I believe the main advancement is Longevity

The reason I am making this post, since obviously its cam up in various posts. But I think by making a subject and post with content strictly to this topic, it would be a great resource when anyone searches for AZO they can find a thread focused only on the AZO process

so this is what I think the main topic DVD dye should be. (feel free to add and I will edit)

1. What is the difference between AZO and Cyanine or other possible dyes. What are AZO's comparative strengths and Cyanine's comparative weaknesses.


2. Confirmed AZO based discs. Include any pertinent details such as manufacturer and media code and if that media code wasn't always AZO what month/year it started.

[disturbed1]

1. What is the difference between AZO and Cyanine or other possible dyes. What are AZO's comparative strengths and Cyanine's comparative weaknesses.


2. Confirmed AZO based discs. Include any pertinent details such as manufacturer and media code and if that media code wasn't always AZO what month/year it started.

2. Prodisc, Optodisc, Verbatim. These all use AZO material in the dye for the DVD-R varities. Optodisc started with their 4x discs. I don't believe Prodisc 2x DVD-R was AZO, but the 4x and 8x discs are AZO based. AZO is a process created by Mitsubishi, Verbatim's parent company.

To find out the difference between AZO and Cyanine or Phythaine (sp?) just google it. There is plenty of technical information out there, though most articles are about CD-R differences.

Basically, CY and PH are said to be an organic dye, while AZO uses an organic dye with an AZO aditive (metal aditive). It does claim to yield better longevity, however, it is also said that AZO resistance to UV (light) is less than other combos of dyes being used. Some tests claim better reflectivity from AZO based dyes, while others state that there is no difference.

AZO based media can also give poor results with certain recorders when compared to those disc that use a pure organic make up, and it goes the other way around too. You would have to match your recorder to the media. Each recorder/firmware can give different results.

An AZO dye disc does have a different "look" to it compared to a non AZO disc. In the CD-R days, this was easy to see by the deep blue tint given by the media. Though Ritek does have a deep, dark tint on their DVD media, it is not AZO dye based.

Under close inspection, one can see the difference between Taiyo Yuden (organic dye) and Prodisc (AZO). The Prodisc does have a bluer tint.

You can not say that all AZO discs are the best. This just isn't true. Ricoh DVD+R discs do not use AZO, they are of great quality. Same with Taiyo Yuden. TY is not an AZO dye disc, but we all know the quality this disc has.

[cosmin]

Hi,

I used to use the good-old Kodak Ultima (Silver+Gold) until they discontinued it. I understood it was too expensive to produce, and the blanks were generally more expensive than other brands. Too bad for me, because I am interested in storing my data on something reliable, not on something cheap. My data is important, and too expensive to lose.

Right now, I am buying Verbatim CD-R and DVD-R discs on a regular basis: Verbatim DataLife Plus, with AZO on their label, and no disc has let me down so far. I don't know the difference between DataLife Plus and DataLife, and I avoid buying DataLife Value (as I usually avoid any stuff with "Value" written on it). I warmly recommend DataLife Plus to anyone who asks my opinion. Definitely look for the AZO word on the disc label.

Best regards

[lordsmurf]

You can not say that all AZO discs are the best. This just isn't true. Ricoh DVD+R discs do not use AZO, they are of great quality. Same with Taiyo Yuden. TY is not an AZO dye disc, but we all know the quality this disc has.

Yeah... GreatAZO are anything but "great".