Durabis (
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
for "you will last") is a brand name for a clear
polymer
A polymer () is a chemical substance, substance or material that consists of very large molecules, or macromolecules, that are constituted by many repeat unit, repeating subunits derived from one or more species of monomers. Due to their br ...
coating developed by the
TDK Corporation. It was unveiled at CES 2005 to remove the need for "cumbersome" protective cartridges to protect the media’s recording layer.
The need for a protective polymer arose due to the data layer on
Blu-ray
Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
discs being much closer to the surface of the disc than in other disc formats, such as
HD DVD. One of its principal applications at first was for scratch resistance in Blu-ray and other
optical disc
An optical disc is a flat, usuallyNon-circular optical discs exist for fashion purposes; see shaped compact disc. disc-shaped object that stores information in the form of physical variations on its surface that can be read with the aid o ...
s. It is claimed to be tough enough to resist screwdriver damage and make scratched optical discs (
CDs and
DVDs) a "thing of the past".
To meet Blu-ray's specifications, TDK's coating had to be less than 0.1 mm thick, be hard enough to resist considerable damage, and be transparent enough to be easily read through. According to a filing with the
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the process essentially spin-coats two layers onto discs.
One is for protection against scratches, and the other protects against stains and oils.
While Blu-ray mandates the use of a scratch-resistant coating, it does not specify what coating is used, and both
Sony
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
and
Panasonic
is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturer, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Kadoma, Japan. It was founded in 1918 as in Fukushima-ku, Osaka, Fukushima by Kōnosuke Matsushita. The company was incorporated in 1935 and renamed and c ...
have their own independent hard coating technologies that are primarily in use on Blu-ray pre-recorded discs.
A TDK spokesman says the present protective layer represents "the first generation" of the coating and that the company has been refining the technology to better suit Blu-ray Discs. Although it might seem possible to adapt the polymer to other uses in
LCD,
CRT, and
plasma screens, TDK plans to target the DVD market for now, because scratches are so common on DVDs that in the
rental market, they may only last about 12 to 13 rentals on average.
References
[{{cite patent
, country = US
, number = 7235292
, status = patent
, title = Article with composite hard coat layer and method for forming composite hard coat layer
, pubdate = 2007-06-26
, gdate = 2007-06-26
, fdate = 2003-02-17
, pridate = 2002-02-22
, inventor = Naoki Hayashida, Kazushi Tanaka
, assign1 = TDK Corp
]
External links
TDK Durabis Website* [http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220050123741%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20050123741&RS=DN/20050123741 Patent Application: Object With Composite Hard Coating Layer And Method Of Forming Composite Hard Coating Layer]
Patent Application: Methods for Producing Optical Recording Medium and Optical Recording Medium
Polymers
Brand name materials
Japanese inventions