# Are TAIYO YUDEN TAIYO YUDEN 4.7GB 16X DVD-R Thermal Printable Thermal Printable... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 21, 2007, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-taiyo-yuden-taiyo-yuden-4-7gb-16x-dvd-r-thermal-printable-thermal-printable/427263 "2007-11-21T00:24:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2007, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-taiyo-yuden-taiyo-yuden-4-7gb-16x-dvd-r-thermal-printable-thermal-printable/427263/1 "2007-11-21T00:24:12Z")
…LightScribe-type DVDs? You can see the offer at > **[TAIYO YUDEN 4.7GB 16X DVD-R Thermal Printable 100 Packs Disc Model...](https://www.newegg.com/taiyo-yuden-16x-4-7gb-dvd-r/p/N82E16817294007)** > > Buy TAIYO YUDEN 4.7GB 16X DVD-R Thermal Printable 100 Packs Spindle Disc Model DVD-ZZ100SB16 with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg! ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2007, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-taiyo-yuden-taiyo-yuden-4-7gb-16x-dvd-r-thermal-printable-thermal-printable/427263/2 "2007-11-21T00:29:28Z")
I dunno, but this is a brand I’ve never, ever heard of; probably a discount off-brand, judging by the name. Frankly, I’d stay away from them. The last time I bought off-brand DVD-Rs I had many problems with them, particularly when the disks were \>98% full. ---
**Author:** ![Yag\_Rannavach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/858c86/32.png) [@Yag\_Rannavach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yag_Rannavach)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2007, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-taiyo-yuden-taiyo-yuden-4-7gb-16x-dvd-r-thermal-printable-thermal-printable/427263/3 "2007-11-21T00:35:41Z")
Judging by the wikipedia page on them I’d say they’re a bit better than an off brand. > **[Taiyo Yuden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiyo_Yuden)** > > Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd. (太陽誘電株式会社, Taiyō Yūden Kabushiki-gaisha, translated as Sun Dielectric Co., Ltd.) is a Japanese materials and electronics company, situated in Kyobashi, Chuo, Tokyo, that helped pioneer recordable CD technology (CD-R) along with Sony and Philips in 1988. Founded 70 years ago, Taiyo Yuden currently operates factories in Japan, Singapore, Korea, China, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Malaysia. > It was well known for its recordable optical media, which were regarded by many to be t... ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2007, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-taiyo-yuden-taiyo-yuden-4-7gb-16x-dvd-r-thermal-printable-thermal-printable/427263/4 "2007-11-21T00:56:42Z")
I’m beginning to think they’re the hub-printable types, rather than the burn-it-with-a- laser types. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2007, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-taiyo-yuden-taiyo-yuden-4-7gb-16x-dvd-r-thermal-printable-thermal-printable/427263/5 "2007-11-21T05:26:03Z")
I don’t know about Taiyo Yuden and DVD-R, but they are a well known manufacturer of board-level electronic components. As a manufacturer, I trust the name, I just don’t know anything about that particular product. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2007, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-taiyo-yuden-taiyo-yuden-4-7gb-16x-dvd-r-thermal-printable-thermal-printable/427263/6 "2007-11-21T05:57:43Z")
Taiyo Yuden is a very reputable brand, especially their Japanese-made discs. I’ve used their DVDs for years without problems and seen them recommended multiple places on-line. Re: the OP, I doubt it. I’ve bought similar spindles from TY in the past and they were not. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2007, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-taiyo-yuden-taiyo-yuden-4-7gb-16x-dvd-r-thermal-printable-thermal-printable/427263/7 "2007-11-21T06:03:12Z")
[QUOTE=BarnOwl] …LightScribe-type DVDs? You can see the offer at > **[TAIYO YUDEN 4.7GB 16X DVD-R Thermal Printable 100 Packs Disc Model...](https://www.newegg.com/taiyo-yuden-16x-4-7gb-dvd-r/p/N82E16817294007)** > > Buy TAIYO YUDEN 4.7GB 16X DVD-R Thermal Printable 100 Packs Spindle Disc Model DVD-ZZ100SB16 with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg! [/QUOTE] No, they aren’t. It’s actually pretty funny that **Q.E.D.** called Taiyo Yuden a “discount off-brand,” since they actually helped invent CD-Rs and have been widely considered the best manufacturer of writable optical media in the world ever since the days of the original CD-Rs. Their discs are rebranded by high-end media sellers like Verbatim and TDK. Lightscribe media will always have the Lightscribe logo prominently displayed. Manufacturers have to license it from HP. There are very few Lightscribe manufacturers and nobody has come up with a generic equivalent. The one pack of those discs I bought eventually found their way to a trash can after I realized that etching the label had a very nasty way of corrupting some of the data on the discs. The same discs worked fine without any label on them. YMMV, I guess, but I wouldn’t take any chances with the things.