Unique Laminating Films?

[newbie the newbie]

Hey guys,
Doing a bit of travelling this Christmas, and I came across this foreign PC Fair that had something of interest that I thought I should add here.

Apparently they've come up with a new way of protecting your DVDs... clear sticky labels to protect the printable side.
1) Simply peel off one end of the round clear label and align it with the edge of the DVD
2) Carefully and slowly continue peeling off the label while pressing it down onto the DVD to seal it, making sure that there are no air bubbles caught between the label and the DVD.
3) Voila! You have your DVD now protected with what looks like a laminate film! Saves you from buying a laminating machine... only thing is to make sure that your hands are good, otherwise you're going to spoil your DVD surface more than you intend to protect it!!

So what do you guys think? Have any of you heard of it before? I think they import it from Taiwan or something, because there's a lot of Chinese writing on the box.

I reckon the heat of the DVD Players would roast this plastic film thing, otherwise you'd have massive problems with the balancing of the disc (what do you expect with a MANUAL laminate?).

But if any of you guys have used it before without troubles, let me know so I can buy a whole load of them!!

[canadateck]

They sell those here in Canada at Radio Shack.

[freestyler]

They are called d_skins

[newbie the newbie]

So they're out commercially? Hmm... that's strange because I've never come across them before

Are they reliable? As in...
1) Can they come off easily?
2) Can they be affected by the heat of DVD Players?
3) Will they cause balance issues?

Btw I find the info phrase "Protect your discs against the CRUEL REALITY of scratches" really amusing!!!! Don't know why... :P

[HatchetMan]

I saw those at Best Buy, if they were cheaper I would have picked them up. Anybody try them out yet? It would be great for protecting discs you loan out, if they were reusable, are they?

[iooi]

LoveFilm seem to be using them on their rental disk these days....

[newbie the newbie]

I don't think they're reusable, hachetman- IMHO if they can be so easily peeled off, I would think that they wouldn't be much good as labels...

But if places like LoveFilm and RadioShack can be selling them, they must be pretty effective

[HatchetMan]

But they aren't labels at all, they are protective skins, I saw a commercial and the guy just slipped the disc right in to it, I did not see anyway for there to be any adhesives, so thought probably not permanent. If you look in the pic above, the guy is not using any type of applicator either.

[newbie the newbie]

Whoa- so the d-skins are not labels at all? That's new. If the guy just slipped the disc into it (in the commercial), what about the readable side?

The demo I saw at the PC Fair featured a stick-on type label. The guy (with the full speaker and mike outfit) was showing the audience how to stick it on, and how tough the stick was. He even tried peeling the clear label off to show us, and I could see that the adhesive was pretty strong because the printing actually came off with the label.

The thing was that the guy didn't actually PLAY the DVD, so I'm not sure how the balancing works out. And I'm also wondering how good it is in the long run.

So right now we're talking two different modes of protective skins. The slip-on type, and the stick-on type. You reckon a search would be good, hachetman? Or any of you guys out there who's not speaking up?

[HatchetMan]

yeah, must be talking about 2 diff things cuz those d_skins protect both sides, says "snap it on, leave it on - even while it plays"

[newbie the newbie]

Google says that there's a d_skin.com

I'll look it up tom- looks like there might be something new worth investing in!

[HatchetMan]

http://www.d-skin.com/tech_info.html
Very interesting, covers/protects readable side, is removable - but not reusable. When skin is scratched, just replace with new one. Available at wallmart too.

[newbie the newbie]

The site doesn't give any hint about protection for the printable side. I've heard that scratches mainly affect the printable side instead of the readable one, as the readable side is already coated to minimise scratch damage.

And all the stores that I can get d_skins from are in the States! I guess that discounts the fact that I'm based in Sydney

Another thing- one of the main problems I get with inkjet printing on my DVDs, is that it's hard to get my Epson to print an exact print. I usually get an overspill outside the print borders, and to overcome that in the past I've had to wipe it off manually.

That's why I'm interested in this clear label thing. Now I'm hoping that a clear label on the printable side will actually get rid of that inconvenience, at the same time protecting my discs.

[freestyler]

hehe, nice name newbie

[iooi]

Another thing- one of the main problems I get with inkjet printing on my DVDs, is that it's hard to get my Epson to print an exact print. I usually get an overspill outside the print borders, and to overcome that in the past I've had to wipe it off manually.
.

Alter the printing size then......Not all disks have te same printable area so some require the inner and outer dia to be reduced.... It may only be a matter of 1 M/M....

[newbie the newbie]

Lol "newbie" was taken when I tried signing up, so guess what comes next? Haha...

BTW I couldn't find how to change that name, since I'm most happy to say that I've progressed considerably since my time of registering!

[newbie the newbie]

iooi, the thing is that my Epson loading tray is often unpredictable and so I have to have a bigger printing diameter to accomodate for those errors. It's a dodgy way to overcome the problems, but hey- life's good!

[madvideos]

wow.. in the nick of time, thanks for this great topic. I am making family DVD's for my mom this year and I need these so I never have to worry about the media getting scratched. I am also making some custom covers and DVD's for my other family members.. I am odering these and will give some feedback through video when I get them. Thanks again.

Billy

[newbie the newbie]

No worries, madvideos. Btw you've got a great site... I wish someone would have told me about a free tut site when I was learning about DVD-making!! And black and red as theme colours is kinda cool, too

I guess I might as well go ahead and test these clear labels on my own- nobody seems to know what I'm talking about and I'll have to trial and error the John Wayne way

All the best in your adventures, hachetman!

[Matt_]

I noticed these d_skins the other day at Compusa.
If they'd help protect and thereby prolong the life of the DVD+- disc, that'd obviously be great. But is there any potential for one of these messing up somehow the dvd player (or dvd recorder if a disc with one of these d_skins on it were played in it) ?
Has anyone had a chance yet to test these ?

[Skith]

D-Skins are ment to cover the data side, and I thought they were for CD's only, not DVDs. I'll have to check, I have a pack... somewhere...

They might have the same issues with DVDs that paper labels cause.

Mabey I will post a some tests from plextools (for CDs, untill I know they work with DVDs).

[newbie the newbie]

Wow! It's been like... two months and we're still getting replies to this topic! I'm glad that there at some people in the same boat with me out there =)

I've thought about it and decided that d-skins would add an extra cost to the DVDs that I produce. You want to give your clients the most cost efficient options available, so like they say...

If it ain't broken, don't fix it!

Besides, I'm sure the DVDs will be fine if you keep them snug in their casings. So I'll just keep going with what I'm doing now.

Matt I don't think they'd give balance issues since they're so commercially accepted. But IMHO if you want your discs protected, that's what casings are good at

BTW if you're reading this MadVideos, congrads on Nic's birth! Saw it in your site!

[DaveS]

anyone try these? do they come off the disks? Very tempting to try it although I wonder about whether it slows the disk in the player / strains the motor (although they seem pretty light) and whether they can come off accidentally in the player...any experience w/ them that anyone can add?