VideoHelp Forum
+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 7 of 7
Thread
  1. Just hoping people can help me understand a few things...

    1. Are we still looking at Verbatim as the best in terms of blank discs for BD-R? Or are there other brands out there that are just as good but cheaper? How about in 50GB discs? (For what purpose? For decent storage of video for long periods of timme. I don't need 1000 years, 10 would be lovely.)
    2. Everyone talks about ensuring you have HTL discs, but no manufacturer makes it clear which type they make. How do you find out?
    3. I understand that within any brand there are some that are good and others that are known not to be good. So how do you distinguish?? Ritek's good, Ritek sucks, PlexDisc is good, Plexdisc sucks... It's so confusing with no chart or list.

    Thanks for any help!
    Quote Quote  
  2. Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    West Texas
    Search PM
    Verbatim Blu-ray has been one of the better brands for a while, but lately they have been using plain CMC mid codes instead of their own at times. I suggest you look through this thread at MyCE: https://club.myce.com/t/bd-r-blank-media-which-manufacturer-hides-behind-the-labels/305565/59

    Panasonic made media has been and still is some of the very best, but hard to get in the US unless you order from companies that import them from Japan. Last I checked there were still a few of these on Amazon and Ebay.

    I'd avoid any Ritek, MBI or Philips mid codes. CMC isn't too bad most of the time. Unfortunately, FTI/Falcon stopped production of their TDK mid code Blu-ray discs.
    Quote Quote  
  3. Originally Posted by Kerry56 View Post
    Verbatim Blu-ray has been one of the better brands for a while, but lately they have been using plain CMC mid codes instead of their own at times. I suggest you look through this thread at MyCE: https://club.myce.com/t/bd-r-blank-media-which-manufacturer-hides-behind-the-labels/305565/59
    Thanks but I don't understand how I'm supposed to use that to select discs on line when the items online don't list those codes.
    Quote Quote  
  4. Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    West Texas
    Search PM
    Look at katraine's last updated list, which was in June of 2016 in that thread and is number 60 out of 85 posts in there.

    Each type of media code is followed by the brands which are known to use them. This is as good as it gets for a guide to which media id codes are used by each brand. You can see that many brands mix and match suppliers. And you have to disregard any TDK mid codes made in UAE, as they are no longer made.

    So lets say you only want 25GB BDR discs with MEI mid codes (Panasonic). You'll note from the info in that thread that only Digistor was known to be using them, other than 6x discs with the Panasonic label straight from Japan. But information later in the thread shows that even Digistor has moved away from these expensive discs. The only sure way to get Panasonic is as I described earlier, importing straight from Japan through store fronts in Amazon and Ebay. The 4x Panasonic discs could be Ritek, even imported from Japan, so its getting harder to avoid poor discs.

    The brands listed under the Ritek, MBI and Philips mid codes show you which ones to avoid.

    Going to the next best available, you look at the CMC mid codes, and you'll see that HP (Hewlett Packard), Intenso and Verbatim are using them. Some Verbatim might also have their own mid codes still, and they are pretty good. The conclusion therefore, is that Verbatim is still the safest bet for discs.

    LTH discs will always have this designation on the cakebox, so the vast majority of discs will be HTL. You'll notice that katraine's list has LTH as a separate category with different mid codes.

    Blu-ray production is slowly falling to the wayside from the companies with smaller production numbers. Eventually I believe we will only have Ritek, MBI and CMC to choose from.
    Last edited by Kerry56; 6th Jun 2017 at 11:03.
    Quote Quote  
  5. Originally Posted by Kerry56 View Post
    Look at katraine's last updated list, which was in June of 2016 in that thread and is number 60 out of 85 posts in there....
    Ok, thank you so much, that is really useful!!
    Now, three questions...
    1. Internet searches would have one believe that Ritek/Ridata is on par with Verbatim for quality. Is that old information or simply untrue?
    2. Does anyone (other websites) take these different codes and explain why they're good or not good? To understand better the methodology?
    3. Once discs are selected, is there some way that's best for burning? I simply take video files and back them up to disc. They don't need to be played, but easy to navigate in a folder structure.

    Thanks!!
    Quote Quote  
  6. Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    West Texas
    Search PM
    Ritek has been making poor quality Blu-ray for some time. They have been known to completely lose all information in a matter of four years or so. I have had this happen to some I burned back in 2008/9. Not all Ritek discs are going to be this bad, but they are inconsistent, which makes them unreliable. I won't use Ritek discs at all, not for Blu-ray or DVD's. Even Ritek has a hard time completely screwing up CD's, so those may be ok.

    No, you won't find many sites discussing mid codes. If you need more info, I suggest haunting the Blank Media forum over at MyCE. We still have fanatics testing discs all the time there, who knows why.

    I've been using ImgBurn so long, I have a hard time recommending anything else. If you are burning as data, this is simple and quick. If there are any problems in the way you've set up the burn ImgBurn will alert you to this, so follow its instructions. You just can't do incremental burns with ImgBurn, nor should you with Blu-ray media. When you burn a disc, put all you want in that first burn and ImgBurn will close it, so that it cannot be burned again.

    Burn at moderate speeds, don't use max speed settings. This is something you'll need to set in ImgBurn. I normally burn Blu-ray at 4x, unless it is a BD-RE disc, and then its 2x.
    Quote Quote  
  7. Originally Posted by Kerry56 View Post
    I'd avoid any Ritek, MBI or Philips mid codes. CMC isn't too bad most of the time.
    That has been my experience as well.

    Kerry is also spot on with the other observations.
    Pull! Bang! Darn!
    Quote Quote  



Similar Threads

Visit our sponsor! Try DVDFab and backup Blu-rays!