I've been waiting for somebody to ask this.
In the world of M&A (mergers and acquisitions), company/product names can be misleading, after the dust has settled. While TY media is now using the JVC brand name, it's not because JVC took over.
Back in mid 2008, Taiyo Yuden acquired a majority stake in JVC's magnetic and optical media business. The original business report can be found in this Reuter's report:
http://www.reuters.com/article/CMPSR...13450420080526
So TY owns the JVC name for media. (Another company now owns the JVC brand for its other items, a holdings company created by the merged JVC and Kenwood.)
Japanese media makers have been hit hard by the economy in recent years. TY discs were once re-branded under Panasonic, Sony, Fuji, JVC, Verbatim and several other brands. But those companies cut costs by going with cheaper (and as you know, inferior) discs from the likes of Ritek and CMC, out of Taiwan.
--- (Verbatim excluded, of course, they just don't use TY discs anymore -- their MCC discs are generally superior anyhow!)
TY had no face, aside from the "That's" brand. JVC is a consumer-known name in most countries, so it's a wise move to grab it while it was available. Selling JVC media in stores may be in our future, here in North America. It's already available in Europe (
official JVC/TY site).
Fear not, your TY discs are still the same great quality.
JVC Taiyo Yuden discs can be found at these stores:
http://www.digitalfaq.com/reviews/buy-blank-discs.htm
Or check out the latest deals on the DVD media review:
http://www.digitalfaq.com/reviews/dvd-media.htm