DVD Duplication
DVD Duplication or DVD Burning is a short run manufacturing process that involves copying data onto DVD-R or DVD+R blank media, then printing the disc via short run inkjet, thermal or label techniques.
DVD Replication, by comparison, has a minimum run size per title of 500 units. It involves creating a glass master and stamper, pressing and offset or screen-printing the discs. Disc replication is the manufacturing technique used for all Hollywood DVD movies and commercial DVD releases, and, as our name suggests, replication is the manufacturing process that Replicat specialises in.
Replicat DVD Duplication
Replicat, Australia, do not provide a short-run duplication service, except in those rare occasions when both short and large runs of discs need to be produced for the same project or client. In these cases, we can offer a premium service with a full range of inkjet, laminated inkjet, thermal print and short run packaging options. Our minimum run per title is 100 units, but we only offer this service if you place or have placed an order for another title that requires 500+ units. We ship domestically within Australia and globally.
This DVD duplication process may be appropriate when creating back-ups discs at home, or running off a few copies for your friends and family, but we don’t recommend DVD Duplication if you are intending to sell the discs, or distribute them in a commercial environment.
Why? Well blank media is not as reliable as replicated media. You’ve probably experienced this yourself when burning discs at home. Sometimes they don’t burn correctly due to an old or faulty laser in the DVD writer. Sometimes the actual format of the disc is incorrect, and because you can copy virtually any data to blank DVD-R, there are no independent checks to confirm that your data conforms to industry format standards for playback in a standard DVD player.
If you press DVDs (ie, replicate them from a glass master), there are two key advantages: (i) the replication plant undertakes a variety of quantitative checks to confirm that the disc complies with industry format standards (very important if you are creating an audio DVD for playback in set-top DVD players, and (ii) the discs are manufactured to far higher readability standards to ensure that they play on virtually any player. Blank media on the other hand may be created with non standard audio formats that can only be played on a computer or MP3 player, but not a standard DVD player. The media itself may also have an unacceptably high level of surface defects, rendering the disc unplayable in certain players.
