CD & DVD Replication Service from Media Plant UK

At Media Plant, we specialise in DVD and CD replication, offering high volume manufacture capabilities, replicating discs to professional quality standards at consistently cheap prices.

Our CD and DVD replication service is carried out in a clean, controlled factory environment. It is carried out in separate stages:

Creation of the Glass Master

The source data (your master disc) is first checked, prior to the creation of a glass master. This process involves stripping the master cleaning, washing, drying, coating with a primer and baking prior to laser exposure; these can be used multiple times.

Disc Replication Process

During this part of the process, copy protection may be implemented usually with CSS. This uses a 40 bit data encryption technique to provide limited protection from unauthorised duplication. The laser then burns pits in the disc's photo resist layer, and a sputtering process then metallises the surface. The glass master is then used to create multiple 'Stampers' which are then loaded onto the equipment. The quality of each disc stamper is checked and each is punched to the required 8cm or 12cm diameter of the disc. A hydraulic press then utilises the stamper to injection mould the CD or DVD from a transparent polycarbonate base. DVD and CD pressing creates professional grade media discs precisely replicating the glass master source material.

CD & DVD Manufacturing

Disc manufacturing is the process by which replication of commercial compact discs (CDs) and Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) can be undertaken in mass quantities.

During manufacturing, each replicated disc is metallised to create a reflective surface which is coated with a lacquer for protection. This protective lacquer is what forms the surface for the print. DVD replication is slightly different; sometimes using two separately moulded substrates which are bonded prior to printing to create a dual layer disc also known as DVD-9. The laser in your CD or DVD drive then reads the pits in the disc and interprets that data to be your content.

CD and DVD Replication is available in a variety of media formats and disc capacities:

Replicated discs can contain audio, data or video and this process is used in the mastering of read-only compact discs. CDR's, CD-RW's, and DVD's are made somewhat differently, though the methods are broadly similar.

Glass mastering is used in CD replication, whereby glass is used as a substrate to hold the CD master image while it is created and processed; hence the name.