Silver News

Kodak Introduces Silver-Alloy Rewritable CDs - Higher Reflectivity Than Current Products

Eastman Kodak Company, which has been a prime manufacturer of rewritable CDs with a gold reflecting layer, has entered the market for "silver" discs with Kodak CD-R Plus media. The new media will be available worldwide this spring.

The company said that unlike competitive discs with a silver-only reflecting layer, Kodak Silver Plus media features a proprietary silver alloy that offers the high reflectivity of silver with the durability of gold to resist corrosion. "As we enter the market for silver discs, Kodak intends to offer discs of superior longevity, durability and compatibility compared to our competition," said Cheryl Bianchi, Category Manager, Storage Business, Digital & Applied Engineering.

Silver discs have become popular in the industry due to the slightly higher reflectivity compared to gold but with a similar appearance to most CD-ROMs. Because many common-based products such as jewelry, coins and utensils can oxidize and tarnish over time, CD-R Plus media has a "silver-only" reflecting layer. The company's engineers found that by employing a stable alloy of silver, the longevity of Kodak CD-R Silver Plus media can be increased without diminishing reflectivity. In company testing, Kodak CD-R Silver Plus lasted three times longer than competitors' silver discs demonstrating that the reflecting material in Kodak's new media offers stability and durability under extreme conditions, the company said.

Analysts anticipate that between 1.5 to 2 billion CDR discs will be sold worldwide by 2000. This growth is driven by strong standards and interchangeability of the CD format, rapidly growing installed base of CD-ROM drives and CD audio players, strong consumer demand for economical, high-capacity storage and the emergence of low-cost desktop CD players. At less than three tenths of a cent per megabyte, CD-R Plus media is the most cost-effective way to store and snare large amounts of information digitally, proving more economical than paper, floppy and JAZZ-type disks. Kodak CD-R Plus media can store up to 650 Megabytes, the equivalent of 450 floppy diskettes or 240,000 8.5 x 11-inch sheets of paper.

Silver News - April/May 1999