Information Today
                           Volume 17, Number 1 • January 2000		 Maxell Corp. Launches CD Copy Station, High-Capacity DVD-RAM Discs

Maxell Corp. of America, a leading developer of magnetic and computer storage media, has teamed with Primera Technology, Inc. and Cedar Technologies to bring limited-run CD duplication capability to the desktop with the new Maxell CD Copy Station. Maxell has also announced its new 4.7-GB single-sided and 9.4-GB double-sided DVD-RAM media.
 

CD Copy Station
The Maxell CD Copy Station combines duplication software, a CD autoloader, and two CD recorders from Cedar Technologies with a CD color inkjet printer from Primera Technology to create a turnkey system for duplicating and custom printing compact discs.

“Maxell is very excited to have partnered with these two fine companies to pioneer an affordable and compact CD-duplication system for the desktop,” said Rich D’Ambrise, Maxell’s engineering and new-product-development manager. “We believe the Maxell CD Copy Station is ideal for duplicating business presentations, training materials, software, music demos, and more in the office or at retail locations.”

The new Maxell Copy Station is capable of loading, cleaning, recording, verifying, and printing up to 50 CDs per hour automatically, recording at 8x speed. Suggested retail price is $9,995 and includes a starter consumable pack of Maxell disks, ink cartridges, jewel cases, and inserts. The color printer portion of the system prints the disc after it has been recorded and features 1,200-by-1,200 dpi resolution, printing 1.44 million pixels per square inch in about 1 minute or less. According to the company, it prints text, graphics, and photographic images with equal clarity for professional-quality results.
 

DVD-RAM Discs
In developing the new 4.7-GB and 9.4-GB high-capacity DVD-RAM discs, Maxell utilized optical thermal simulation to optimize the crystallization and diffusion speed of the phase-changed recording layer. The result is capacity that exceeds current DVD-RAM discs by a factor of 1.8 times and permits the recording of a 2-hour digital movie. In addition, Mark Edge Recording was employed in the phase-change recording layer production to increase pit density to 0.3 micrometer and track density to 0.60 micrometer. Maxell also employed submicron-controlled mastering technology and disc substrate manufacturing to ensure high reliability.

“With the increasing popularity of the Internet, the growth of digital television, and the proliferation of larger files in more and more applications, end users will increasingly demand optical media that store high capacity video, sound, and computer data,” said Rich Gadomski, national marketing manager for Maxell’s branded computer products. “We believe our new DVD-RAM … discs meet that demand with the highest quality product possible.” Single-sided DVD-RAM discs can be removed from their cartridges after they are recorded and played back in second-generation DVD video players and DVD-ROM drives. Maxell expects to begin shipping samples this month in conjunction with new drive shipments.

Source: Maxell Corp. of America, Fairlawn, NJ, 201/794-5900; Fax: 201/796-8790; http://www.maxell.com.

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