Are all JVC branded disks Taiyo Yuden disks?

[kpmedia]

Quote:

Are JVC branded disks Taiyo Yuden disks?
I talked to two people at Supermediastore who said that JVC branded disks are NOT TY disks, but made by another manufacturer.
They said I had to get JVC/Taiyo Yuden to get TY disks.
Thanks

That is not accurate information.
At least not in the current tense, from anything manufactured in 2010-2011.

In terms of blank CDs/DVDs, JVC (Victor Company of Japan) is a brand. Only a brand. It's always been this way.
"Victor" is another brand name used in Asia. Victor = JVC.

From about 2006-2008, JVC re-branded discs from several "junk quality" manufacturers, such as Wealthfair Investments (media ID: WFKA). I have several different crap-quality JVC discs from the pre-TY days. A lot of it was made in China, or made in Hong Kong.

In mid 2008, Taiyo Yuden took out a majority stake in the JVC brand, for optical media. So Taiyo Yuden owns the JVC brand name, as used for CD/DVD/Blu-ray blank discs. Much of the JVC brand was sold off to various companies. Matsushita still owns the core JVC business, along with Panasonic.

You can read more about the merger/acquisition here: JVC takes over Taiyo Yuden? What's this about?
Direct link: http://www.digitalFAQ.com/forum/show...over-1760.html

Taiyo Yuden now uses the JVC brand exclusively for it's own media -- that's why they bought it. TY needed more general consumer brand recognition, and JVC is a long-known brand outside of Japan.

Any non-TY JVC-branded DVD-R is going to be old stock, from per-acquisition. That's one reason so many companies use the "JVC Taiyo Yuden" name in their store literature. They need to distinguish pre-TY and TY JVC discs. (And the reason they still have all that old pre-TY JVC stock is because it's essentially unsellable.)

If you have any follow-up questions or comments, register and/or login to the forum, and ask here.

Thanks.

This question was asked via email. Site Staff no longer answer tech questions via email, so that others may read and benefit from our expertise. Please continue the conversation here. Either login or join as a Free Member, and we can continue troubleshooting your video, photo or web related issue. Thanks for understanding our tech Q&A policies.

[Bill Downing]

This was extremely helpful response. Thank you.
I got the same response from at least 3 on-line stores.
So - one more question?
How do I know what I'm buying is TY?
Is it marked somehow?
Is it listed as JVC / TY?

[admin]

Taiyo Yuden media is only manufactured in Japan. That's the easiest way to see who has made the media in the package, as no other manufacturer (to my knowledge) is currently manufacturing blank DVDs in Japan. By law, in the USA, products must carry the country of origin. (Laws in other countries vary.) This includes blank CDs and DVDs.

The cheap media is all made in places like China, Hong Kong, Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, etc. For the JVC brand, cheap media also comes from Taiwan. (Note that "in general" decent media comes from Taiwan and India, just not in this case, in reference to the JVC brand.)

As per the last response, many stores call it "JVC Taiyo Yuden" simply to distinguish old stock JVC (non-TY) from the new stock JVC (TY).

Also remember that the people you tend to get on the phone are customer service reps -- and not people who have any intimate knowledge of the products. That's simply not their area. These phone operators and salesmen tend to read from scripts, rely on customer-supplied info (often erroneous), as well as simply guessing.

In the United State, Microboards is the official importer of TY media. If you want the most authoritative answer, contact somebody there. Hopefully you won't end up with another clueless phone answerer, however.

They're at http://www.microboards.com -- and if something has changed, they will know.

Like other companies in this recession, TY has been hit, too. They've scaled back production, lowered cost with some outsourcing duties (packing the Japan-manufactured media in China, for example), and are using tape wrap instead of costly spindles. Anywhere that they can cut -- excluding media quality -- they seem to have cut.

My only guess at JVC being used beyond TY media would be if they've succumbed to the same pressures as Verbatim, who now uses low-grade discs in their "Value Series" and "Life Series" packages. Only the DataLife, DataLifePlus and AZO-marked spindles now carry the high quality Mitsubishi (MCC, MKM) discs.

TY media is under the "JVC Advanced Media" label.
Possibly a new (and something I've not see or heard of) cheap series is being made? I really doubt it, but it's not outside possibility. I have several contacts that work directly with Microboards (too busy to ask myself), and can see what they know or can find out.

If it's any different than what's already posted here (TY=JVC only) then I'll be sure to reply again.

Thanks.

[Bill Downing]

THANK YOU - finally someone with the knowledge who will take the time to answer a lowly consumer. I appreciate it.

The Verbatim info is also appreciated. Speaking of Verbatim.
They seem to be EXTREMELY expensive compared to JVC/TY.
For example, their archival grade is almost 10 times more than JVC's.
This begs the question - are they worth it across the board; and if so, why?

[admin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Downing

THANK YOU - finally someone with the knowledge who will take the time to answer a lowly consumer. I appreciate it.

It's why the forum has a blank media discussion section. Glad to help.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Downing

The Verbatim info is also appreciated. Speaking of Verbatim.
They seem to be EXTREMELY expensive compared to JVC/TY.
For example, their archival grade is almost 10 times more than JVC's.
This begs the question - are they worth it across the board; and if so, why?

This has been answered in your other new post: Verbatim - worth it?
Read that for more info.

Thanks.