What is the difference between a cd/dvd duplicator and cd/dvd burner

[wan2no]

Sorry, i am really confused. I am seeing cd/dvd duplicators for $13,000, and i know that cd/dvd burners sell for the most $200. So i am really confused. The only thing i have gotten is that cd/dvd duplicators can duplicate more cd/dvds than cd/dvd burners but if it is $13,000 for one there has to be more than just that.

Can someone help me out?

[jagabo]

Burners use a laser to burn the video into a dye layer between two sheets of plastic.

Duplicators are systems that can use many burners to burn several discs at the same time. They may also include automated feed mechanisms.

Replicators stamp the video from a glass master onto aluminum sheets which are then sandwiched between two pieces of plastic. These are fully automated.

http://www.discread.com/cd-duplication/the-difference-between-cd-dvd-duplication-and-replication/

[tinker]

CD/DVD burner will burn one disk at the time, where duplicator has few burners which will burn few CD/DVD of one session (movie or song disk) at the same time.
This is a simple answer, it gets more complicated , because it has to transfer data to all those burners as they need it.

[wan2no]

ok. I read it but there's still something missing because what i do is schedule my releases a week after testing so that at least 2 days would be left to burning on the "one off" burner. So the amount burn in a session is an inconvenience I can bear. However, i read with the replication the machine burns the information on several layers. That i find rather interesting. I would like to do a cd/dvd that after it burns, the littlest scratch does not offset the entire video.

Any suggestions

[guns1inger]

The best it can do is dual layer burning, which an burner released in the last 18 months can also do. The problem is that there is only one consistently good brand of dual layer media (Verbatim +R DL made in Singapore), and the cost per unit is up to 10 times that of a single layer disc. There is no such thing as dual layer CD media.

[wan2no]

ok. So how would i get around the issue of the dvd being scratched?

[jagabo]

Use scratchproof media. For example:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817131113&ATT=17-131-113

[SCDVD]

Replicators stamp the video from a glass master onto aluminum sheets which are then sandwiched between two pieces of plastic. These are fully automated.

Not true. The glass master is used to fabricate a mold face called a stamper. This stamper is made of nickel. The content on the disc is injection molded in a high temperature / high pressure injection mold. AFTER the discs are injection molded, the silver reflective layer is electrostatically deposited onto the disc. There aren't any "aluminum sheets"