What is the difference between Replication and Duplication?
Replication is the process of stamping CD/DVDs from raw material whereas duplication is the burning of CD/DVDs from CD-R or DVD-R media. Replication is the equivalent to what you would find off the shelf of retail stores. We recommend replication for software and contents that requires stringent data integrity such as software, movies with menus, and discs designed to autoplay.
A. During Replication a glass master is created at the outset of the production process and the information is pressed or stamped during the manufacturing process, resulting in a CD-ROM. The artwork is applied via an offset printing process onto the CD. During Duplication the content of your master is encoded onto the disc by burning microscopic holes into the dye layer of a recordable CD or DVD. The art is printed onto the face of the CD via an inkjet printing process. Replicated discs are the standard for major commercial releases; however, duplicated discs have lots of advantages, too. While Replication is the most effective avenue for quantities of 1,000 or more, Duplication is the most cost effective for orders of quantities fewer than 1,000 and can be turned-around significantly faster than Replication.
CD replication is the process of making a glass master from a pre-mastered image, creating stampers from the master, then pressing discs with the stamper by injection molding raw polycarbonate plastic. (See our PDF How CDs are Made for more detail.) CD replication requires millions of dollars worth of equipment, a specialized dust-free environment, and highly-trained technicians. Because of the initial set-up cost, this method is best suited to runs of 500 or more. Replicated discs are more reliable and more durable than duplicated ones. They are also significantly less expensive in anything other than the smallest quantities. CD duplication is the process that uses pre-manufactured CD-R’s which have a laser sensitive organic dye layer embedded under the reflective layer. During the recording process, a laser beam “burns” the vegetable dye so that some parts reflect light and some parts absorb the incoming light. Duplication produces many copies of a disc at once. Duplicators use CD-R
Disc duplication refers to the process of taking an existing blank CD-R or DVD-R disc and burning information onto that disc much the same way you copy CDs on your computer. At NationWide we use state of the art dedicated duplicating towers to manage the duplication process. These machines do a cursory evaluation of the disc to check for read and write errors and then make an exact duplicate of the disc you send us. This is the best option if you have small quantities (up to 1,000 pcs) or need quicker turn around time to meet a deadline. Typical production time for duplication is 48 hours. We can produce your project in 24 hours if needed. Disc replication refers to the manufacturing process that starts with raw material to manufacture your discs from scratch. We evaluate your original disc for read and write errors and then make a glass master of your disc. This glass master is then used to create a stamper . The stamper is mounted on the machine that uses heat and pressure to mold yo
