There was a recent thread which talked about identifying the manufacturer 
of CD-R'S using ATIP information. I have since come across the following, 
I've no idea how true it is but it makes interesting reading.



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Charles Palmer, from cd-recordable.com, had this to say about the 
manufacturer identification:

"Two components that many users of these programs always take as gospel are 
Media Manufacturer and Dye Data. These two readings are next to worthless.

The reason for this is that many CD-R manufacturers (like CD- 
Recordable.com) purchase their stampers (the nickel die that all CD-R 
substrates are molded from) from 3rd party sources. These 3rd party 
sources (either other disc manufacturers, or mastering houses) encode the 
data that these 'Identification' programs read, at the time that the 
original glass master is encoded. The 'Manufacturer' information that is 
encoded is usually the name of the company that made the master. Since 
stampers made from that master will be sold to disc manufacturers the 
world over, all of discs that those manufacturers produce from those 
stampers will contain the same 'Manufacturer' information. Information 
which is obviously quite erroneous and irrelevant. Very seldom will the 
'manufacturer' information encoded on a CD-R actually tell you anything 
other than who made the original master. [...]

The second piece of data (the dye type) is also dubious. Because most 
master/stamper configurations are designed to be matched to specific dye 
types (Phthalocyanine, Cyanine, Azo, Etc), the 'Dye' information that is 
encoded when the master is produced indicates the type of dye that the 
master was designed for. This of course, does not assure that the 
manufacturer that buys and uses this stamper will be using it with the dye 
that it has been designed for. It is quite possible that a stamper/dye 
combination is used by a CD-R manufacturer that contradicts the 'dye' 
information encoded on the master. Therefore that information becomes as 
potentially misleading as the 'Manufacturer' data discussed earlier."
The only reliable piece of information in the "ATIP" region is the disc 
length. 
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-- 
Regards

Pete
Ardnamurchan    Scotland

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