As mentioned already, LightScribe uses specially-designed blank media. The top surfaces of the blank discs are composed of a layer of material that changes color when heated by a laser. (Rest assured that there's no burning smell during this operation!) Also bear in mind, at the risk of stating the obvious, that this operation only works once per disk. So, it isn't really suited to rewritable disks, which are intended to have their contents changed.

Numerous manufacturers have included LightScribe compatible media in their product ranges, both CD and DVD. However, these are WORM (Write Once Read Many) versions. There are no DVD-RW, DVD+RW or CD-RW products available at the moment, echoing the point we just made above. LightScribe-compatible media costs about 10% more than normal blank discs. Another drawback is that LightScribe recorders are at the bottom end of the speed spectrum - it's up to you to decide whether that's important or not.

Yes Or No

It isn't a straightforward matter to say whether you are for or against LightScribe; it really depends on what you want. If you're happy with a few words scribbled with a felt-tip pen, then forget it. The same applies if you're pressed for time, because the extra work involved in designing the label extends the overall time to complete the job quite a bit. But, if you want your CDs and DVDs to stand out from the crowd, even if labeled in monochrome, LightScribe is just about the best direct labeling solution available at the moment. If labeling is an important issue for you, then the slower recording time, resulting from the graphic creation stage, might not bother you much.