A Smartbuy branded blank DVD by Mitsubishi ?

hellady · #1 09-25-2009, 12:46 AM

I've just checked a Smartbuy dvd i had at home and Dvd identifier says it was manufactured by Mitsubishi Chemical Corp.

The Blank Dvd Media Quality Guide mentions that its manufacture is Prodisc, what you can see written in the disc aswell. How come it can happen? Any ideas to this curious case?

admin · #2 09-25-2009, 01:03 AM

SmartBuy re-brands Prodisc blank DVD media, and at one point Prodisc was using MCC codes under it's own house branding (and discs sold for re-branding). That stopped long ago, Prodisc only uses MCC on Verbatim 16x discs now, to my knowledge.

The MCC01RG20 8x DVD-R you have is probably 4-5 years old at this date. It fits the timeframe.

Good discs.

Media is definitely a complex and often-confusing topic.

hellady · #3 09-25-2009, 01:11 AM

Thats what happens when you buy discs and "forget" to use them!

So it means it's a 1's quality cd or not?

admin · #4 09-25-2009, 01:17 AM

I'm hesitant to call this a true MCC "First Class graded" disc, going by the qualifying points on our review scale. It's good, but it's still just a Prodisc disc.

If our scale was A-B-C instead of 1st-2nd-3rd, I'd give this one a B+ or an A- grade. I would rely on it for secondary backups, DVD-Video copies (duping masters), and even client dupes (which are usually on Verbatim or Sony media). No archival masters.

There is also a chance this is a "cast off" grade (B-grade) MCC disc made by Prodisc that did not meet Verbatim's/MCC's minimum standards, but was still good enough for Prodisc's own standards (which are still quite high!). I dont know for sure 100% (and I don't really want to go through the process of inquiring about it) so I'd rather err on the side of safety on the grading here.